Yet readers may become impatient with, if not disgusted by, the self-pity, inconsiderateness and misogyny revealed in these stories. Despite Dazai's lament, after reading "Self Portraits" one is acutely aware of his suffering - the death of an older brother of tuberculosis, a failed first marriage, drug addiction, alcoholism and poverty. Admired by young Japanese as a free spirit who challenged the literary establishment, the prolific Dazai gained recognition as the voice of the postwar generation in 1947 with the publication of his novel "The Setting Sun." He killed himself the next year, however, in a suicide pact with a young widow. Fuji," one of the 18 autobiographical stories in this volume. "A lot of people have written me off as a spoiled, selfish child, but how many really know how I've suffered inside?" pleads Osamu Dazai (1909-48) in "One Hundred Views of Mt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |