Marie Iida

Allison Markin Powell

Osamu Dazai

The novella that first propelled Dazai into the literary elite of post-war Japan. Essentially the start of Dazai's career, Schoolgirl gained notoriety for its ironic and inventive use of language. Now it illuminates the prevalent social structures of a lost time, as well as the struggle of the individual against them--a theme that occupied Dazai's life both personally and professionally. This new translation preserves the playful language of the original and offers the reader a new window into the mind of one of the greatest Japanese authors of the 20th century.

Schoolgirl

aywen

The truth is that I secretly love what seems to be my own individuality, and I hope I always will, but fully embodying it is another matter. I always want everyone to think I am a good girl. Whenever I am around a lot of people, it is amazing how obsequious I can be. I fib and chatter away, saying things I don't want to or mean in any way. I feel like it is to my advantage to do so. I hate it. I hope for a revolution in ethics and morals. Then, my obsequiousness and this need to plod through life according to others' expectations would simply dissolve.

arabelle tiara

“There I go again—pondering the purposelessness of my day-to-day life, wishing I had more ambition, and lamenting all the contradictions in myself—when I know it's just sentimental nonsense. All I'm doing is indulging myself, trying to console myself.”

Fiona

And once when I was putting rice into an ohitsu serving bowl, I was struck by—well, it would be an exaggeration to call it inspiration but I felt something charging within my body—zipping through me like, how shall I say, I would almost call it a philosophical glimpse—and I gave myself over to it, then my head and my chest became transparent all the way through as a sense of my own existence floated down and settled over me and, silently, without making a sound, as pliant as tokoroten before you make them into noodles, I felt at the mercy of these waves, a light and beautiful feeling that I would be able to live on this way.

morgan

Tomorrow will probably be another day like today. Happiness will never come my way. I know that. But it's probably best to go to sleep believing that it will surely come, tomorrow it will come.

And there, on the back streets of Paris, in the corridor of a squalid flat, a girl just my age was furtively laundering her things, and smiling at this same moon—I hadn't the slightest doubt, I could see her as clearly as if through a telescope, in distinct and vivid color in my mind. Nobody in the world understood our suffering.

We have a vague notion of the best place we should go, or the beautiful places we should like to see, or the kinds of places that would make us grow as a person. We yearn for a good life. We have real hopes and ambitions. We feel impatient for an unshakable faith that we can rely on. But it would require considerable effort to express such things in our typical life as a girl.

sani

felt like reading my own diary when i was a schoolgirl. 

“Really, I don't know which is the true me. What ever will I do when there aren't any more books to read, or when I can't find another role model to imitate? Probably just wither away, helpless and sniveling profusely.”

each and every line struck my heart. it was marvelous, absolutely beautiful. 

“I always want everyone to think I am a good girl.” i still do, unfortunately. 

also, these lines were so painfully beautiful. “You wait and wait for happiness, and when finally you can't bear it any longer, you rush out of the house, only to hear later that a marvelous happiness arrived the following day at the home you had abandoned, and now it was too late. Sometimes happiness arrives one night too late. Happiness ... ”

i wish i had read this when i was still a schoolgirl.

Marz 

My first Dazai reading experience and it certainly won't be my last. 

Schoolgirl is a unique piece of work, you spend an entire day in the mind of a young girl, experiencing every thought that passes through her head. Despite being a bit abstract I enjoyed reading it, the writing felt really authentic to what a young girl thinks like and about at that age. The random bursts of melancholy, the slight self-importance, the endless hopes for the future, all very real for a young girl. Lots of interesting themes were explored despite its brief nature, I really enjoyed seeing the narrator examine her relationship with grief and self-image. Another standout was watching the narrator speak about her mother and watching her think about how she should treat her. 

Overall a really interesting piece of writing

Djasri.

𓆨

this is and always will be a favorite of mine it's so well written and so realistic,i couldn't give it less than 5 stars rate because i really enjoy reading it and of course i had to disregard a thing or two it wasn't that flashy so i guess it's alright

Claudia Beneyto

salem

“I'll read one book and be completely wild about it—I'll trust it, I'll assimilate it, I'll sympathize with it, I'll try to make it a part of my life. Then, I'll read another book and, instantly, I'll switch over to that one. The sly ability to steal someone else's experience and recreate it as if it were my own is the only real talent I possess.” 

osamu dazai's schoolgirl is a short but relatable glimpse into the life of a depressed teenager.

y✦

✦ hope is not lost, but it WILL soon run out
✦ short but far from a light read
✦ only the 2nd book i've read of dazai's but i've alr found a new fave author in him
✦ he just gets it, unfortunately, i think he got it too much

Ismail 

“It made me miserable that I was rapidly becoming an adult and that I was unable to do anything about it. I suppose there is no choice but to give myself over to what is happening, to wait and see as I become a grown up”
- 
what a beautifully depressed ride reading all dazai’s books best decision i have made this year, one thing i hated about theses wonderful stories is the parts where i see myself in. 5/5

Nihan 

Barat Laut

Extremely depressed and sad. (Me after finished this book)

miu ⭐️

she's just like me im gonna 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 the line where she says 

"the sly ability to steal someone else's experience and recreate it as if it were my own is the only real talent i possess" got me so bad tears sprung out

ཐིཋྀ

jennifer 

“As I begin to realize from various experiences in my life just how enormous our instincts are and how powerless we are against the force that drives us, sometimes I think I might lose my mind”

Excerpt From “Schoolgirl” Osamu Dazai

she’s just a girl

charisa

oh, dazai. why are you so depressing yet so relatable sometimes? anyway, i liked this one a lot more than no longer human. he captures the essence of loneliness and its fluctuations quite well.

ravio

i honestly loved this novella. such a short and easy read, i could of read in one sitting.
basically a stream of consciousness of a single day of high school girl's life. and oh boy is it quite realistic. she is just so perfectly all over the place, all the time, very relatable. found myself within many of these ideas and thoughts of hers. quite the lighthearted introspective read and not hard to get through at all. the language is very playful and easygoing despite the many different depressing ideas expressed throughout the story. i can see why this is a classic.

Ashley J

3.5- I would’ve made this book my personality if I read it in jr high

acacia

honestly the character was so relatable that it hurt. Literally all of the things I've thought about have been mentioned in this book, one one hand, it makes me feel not so alone but on the other it just makes me feel basic(?). Definitely buying a paperback if i can find it.

 "In time, when we became adults, we might look back on this pain and loneliness as a funny thing, perfectly ordinary, but—but how were we expected to get by, to get through this interminable period of time until that point when we were adults? "

another one 

"I had been staring like this for a very long time, and would be staring from now on, just like this, sitting here in the doorway to the kitchen, in the same pose, thinking the same thing, looking at the trees out front. It felt as if the past, the present, and the future had collapsed into one single instant."

ronghui

this book was relatable and raw, quite a refreshing read

laila

sometimes this made me feel horribly seen and understood. i would read it again and again and find even more pieces of writing that mess with my brain. i really need to get my hands of a physical copy of this so i can write all over it

Schoolgirl

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