The Flowers of Buffoonery

The Flowers of Buffoonery is a darkly humorous and fresh addition to Osamu Dazais masterful and intoxicating oeuvre, set in a seaside sanatorium where Yozo Oba is being kept after a failed suicide attempt.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 80 pages
Publication date: 07 March 2023
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation

The Flowers of Buffoonery, a novel by Osamu Dazai, opens in a seaside sanatorium where Yozo Oba, the narrator of No Longer Human at a younger age, is being kept after a failed suicide attempt. As he recovers, his friends and family visit him, along with other patients and nurses who come and go from his room. Despite the dreary and depressing atmosphere, everyone strives to maintain a light-hearted and even clownish demeanor. They engage in activities such as playing cards, smoking cigarettes, vying for attention, cracking jokes, and trying to make each other laugh.

While No Longer Human delves into the darkest depths of human consciousness, The Flowers of Buffoonery takes a satirical approach to these same emotions. It pokes fun at the follies and hardships of youth, love, self-hatred, and depression. The novel offers a glimpse into the lives of a group of outsiders in pre-war Japan, providing a darkly humorous and fresh addition to Dazai's masterful and intoxicating oeuvre.

Weight: 110g
Dimension: 202 x 131 x 12 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780811234542