Was thinking about reading some Japanese classics. How are Dazai

I haven't read much of his oeuvre, only No Longer Human, The Setting Sun, Schoolgirl and a few stories of Blue Bamboo.

Very melancholic and relatable to the average anon. Most of his book deal with dissociation and the inability to adapt to "normal life".

I could describe his style as "comfortably morose". Overall, he's very worth your time.

Drab, like most nip lit.

He's like an 8/10- not secret Jap Joyce, but maybe hipster Nipp Celine.

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On a similar note, (but with a slight age difference), how difficult is pic related versus how worthwhile it is to read?

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<----------------------- This guy. Read this guy.

Favorite Dazai work is his short story Run! Melos.
Touching, and uncharacteristic of how he is perceived.

Soseki's The Grass Pillow (The Three-Cornered World) is great. I fell in love with O-nami. Also like I Am a Cat. Shit, though, any Soseki I think is fucking diamonds.

MIshima. Everyone fucking loves Mishima. Good reason for it, too. Like how he shows the fucked-up Japanese soul after the War.

Oe, if you really really dig reading about how protagonists masturbate. Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids was great, and if you can find a copy of 17&J it is an interesting short read.

Maybe not classic, but some good ones I liked are Banana Yoshimoto and Tawara Machi. Kitchen was so much more fucking better than I thought it could ever have been, and Salad Anniversary is just cute. Fucking cute.

Dazai is fantastic in general but his favorite work of mine is Schoolgirl.

He is rather introspective and often weary in his work

Seems like being an author of Japanese classics means you die before you turn 50, most likely of suicide