Schoolgirl (Hardcover)

Schoolgirl (Hardcover)

THE COMPLEXITY OF GROWING UP IS BEAUTIFULLY UNRAVELED IN THIS STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOVEL FROM PRE-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.

Biographical Notes:

Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) is one of the most highly respected authors of modern Japan and is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in post-war Japanese literature. He was widely known by contemporaries for his eclectic lifestyle, inventive use of language, and his multiple suicide attempts, which led to his final, successful attempt in 1948. His two major novels, No Longer Human and The Setting Sun, continue to be widely read and leave a vibrant legacy for one of Japan’s greatest writers.

Quotes/Reviews:

“Narrated by the eponymous girl, the book is an unsung, prewar Japanese Catcher in the Rye” — The Guardian

“Concise enough to be read in one sitting, “Schoolgirl” combines Dazai’s familiar themes of melancholy, alienation and despair with levity and humor, the contradictions of the teenage narrator’s thoughts drawing us into a tale whose lightness and uncertainty are virtues.” — The Japan Times

“Dazai’s writing is concise, and the evocative despair cuts like an X-Acto knife. The expressed sentiments are also universal enough that when Dazai is quoted out of context, his sentences read like depressive bromides.” — Dirt

Title Notes:

• The paperback edition (which will remain in print alongside this new hardcover edition) has sold 37,000 copies since 2012 — 30,000 of these have sold since April 2021
• Publication coincides with 85th anniversary of the original novella
• Through a strange river of events, author Osamu Dazai has become a viral sensation on TikTok, catapulted by a popular anime, Bungo Stray Dogs
• New translation retains the irony and playfulness of the original Japanese
• Appeals to adults and young adults

More details on Osamu Dazai:

More works by Osamu Dazai

Publisher’s Twitter account