The author and translator certainly realistically portray the emotional conflicts and feelings of a teenage girl. Those feelings were true at the time this was written and remain true at present. ( )

This is a literary novella following a day in the life of a schoolgirl in Japan. That is a very basic premise and it's very hard to include more detail as not much happens. What makes this book work so well is the use of language. It is a very bleak book with no happy ending and no salvation and I really liked it for this. ( )

A novella which charts the musings of an adolescent girl over the course of a day. It has a stream-of-consciousness style, but one which is very easily followed. The unnamed girl goes through a whole range of moods from gratitude to despair. She is highly critical of strangers and occasionally her mother. She is somewhat like a female Holden Caulfield. I think Dazai manages to give a convincing portrait of adolescent angst and although some would say she's merely a female stand-in for Dazai himself, I think he also proves insightful into a female experience. There's much talk of 'purity in the narrative and maybe a fuller understanding of the codes of behaviour for women in Japan at that time is necessary on my part. It was particularly incisive in the observation that 'A mere smile can determine a woman's fate'. The tension too between conformity and authenticity is well explored. Ultimately she is searching for a purpose in her life which is complicated by the gap left with her father's death. I think Salinger studied this carefully as the tone is very similar to 'Catcher' though I think the girl sees more beauty in the world and though she says she can never be happy, you have more cause for optimism for her than Holden. ( )

Muy triste y miserable todo lo que cuenta. Y no sé porqué todos los cuentos tienen como narradora en primera persona a un mujer. ( )

Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai is a short book of less than 100 pages from One Peace Books and is translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell. The novella, which reads more like a narrative poem, has readers spend the day with a teenage girl who is adjusting to life after the death of her father and as a blossoming women in a post-WWII Japan. Readers clearly see the clash between traditional Japanese customs of women who are quiet and subservient to others needs with the young woman’s need to express herself and be an individual.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2012/01/schoolgirl-by-osamu-dazai-translated-by-alli... ( )