Author: Osamu Dazai
See also: No Longer Human
summary
After a failed suicide attempt, Yozo’s friends and family visit him in a hospital ward by the seaside, creating a lively atmosphere to lighten the gravity of the situation. The novella is a more lighthearted take on the same themes explored in Dazai’s No Longer Human, featuring the same protagonist.
thoughts
This novella convinced me that Osamu Dazai is the funniest writer I’ve read. He inserts cheeky lines between scenes as the narrator, livening up the story and making it absurd, funny, and thought-provoking at the same time. The translator also did his humor a lot of justice with the word choices. One of my favorite lines has to be, “Once a writer loses his affection for his subject, his sentences display a marked decline in quality. Actually, I take it back. That last one there was snazzy.” The juxtaposition between the dark situation and the witty narration makes Flowers of Buffoonery memorable and endearing.
highlights
Trust me, dear reader, if I were to present you with a real-life artist, you would puke before you made it through but three lines of description, guaranteed. If you don’t believe me, why not try writing a novelistic portrait of an artist for yourself? — location: 103
Artists never do things just to do them, you know.” — location: 156
Behind any given suicide, there’s always going to be some external factor, something too big for the person who goes through with it to see. — location: 158
These friends know all kinds of expressions that could smooth things over. At least ten different gradations for conveying what essentially means “no.” Long before any type of conflict can emerge, they’re exchanging gestures of diplomacy. And while they dance across the surface with their smiles and their handshakes, in their minds they’re both saying the same thing: what an idiot! — location: 170
The next morning was peaceful and clear. The sea was calm. White smoke from the volcano on Oshima, just above the horizon, drifted up into the sky. Never mind. I hate describing scenery. — location: 175
To them, laughing was safe, but not laughing posed a serious risk. They found it irresistible. One might say that they were gluttonous for laughter, unable to pass up even a stray crumb, out of fear they might be questioned for withholding. The sad thing about all of this, however, is that none of them could laugh from the bottom of their bellies. — location: 223
On the inside, Yozo barely laughed at all. He wouldn’t be surprised if Kosuge had made the whole thing up. And yet he laughed out loud, as loudly as the others. His friends were making a good effort to be social with him, unlike yesterday, and in an effort to repay them for their kindness, he cracked up even harder. Hida and Mano got the picture. As long as Yozo was laughing, they laughed too. — location: 247
Their laughter had knocked down the most treacherous of walls standing between them. — location: 256
Yozo lowered his eyelashes. All manner of forces swarmed his heart. Haughtiness. Sloth. Flattery. Guile. Vice. Fatigue. Ferocity. Murder. Despair. Fragility. Deceit. Infection. He came this close to letting them spill out. But instead, he played the role of the heartsick man and groaned. — location: 265
As I started saying earlier, these boys didn’t debate to share ideas, so much as to improve whatever mood they happened to be in. — location: 269
In the middle of a pompous speech, there would sometimes be a phrase of brutal honesty. The things we say without a thought are often how the truth comes out. — location: 271
Inside the hearts of these young men, you’ll find nothing but chaos, that and senseless obstinacy. Or maybe you could sum all of it up as self-importance. And a rarefied self-importance at that. One that shivers and quakes in the slightest breeze. No sooner had they suffered an insult than they wished that they were dead. — location: 273
This pattern of inserting myself as the narrator between scenes, so that I can burden you with endless rants that no one needs to hear, has an ulterior motive. — location: 309
Once a writer loses his affection for his subject, his sentences display a marked decline in quality. Actually, I take it back. That last one there was snazzy. — location: 323
But he stopped himself midsentence. Yozo grew solemn. Working with me, for once, rather than against me. What a sport. — location: 329
Needless to say, what Kosuge saw as pitiful was not actually Yozo, in his current situation, but the idea of himself in the same situation, or perhaps the situation as a general idea. Adults are thoroughly schooled in this way of seeing, which makes it quite easy for them to empathize with others. Each teardrop is a source of pride. — location: 385
What part of what you see here is carefree? If only you could understand the sadness of the ones who grow the delicate flowers of buffoonery, protecting them from but the slightest gust of wind and always on the verge of despair! — location: 477
It was absurd. But it was tough work. What kept me going was this fantasy of being some kind of an enlightened person. That only got me so far, though. — location: 592
You can tell they’re being honest if they hide behind a laugh. — location: 599
The desire for perfection. The lure of the masterpiece. — location: 690
“That’s right. He’s always saying how he wants to paint something extraordinary.” This made Mano blush from ear to ear. “He’s serious. But being serious, or serious like that, can put you through a world of pain.” — location: 697
Proof that if a man is dumb enough, he can do harm without lifting a finger. — location: 703
They blushed, in spite of themselves. They had an understanding. A desire to console each other filled their hearts. They were suckers for fragility. — location: 738
But the real farce is the fact that this manuscript spent the majority of its time on submission serving as a coaster for my editor’s teapot and was mailed back to me with a big black ring burned into the top page. — location: 759
Life’s a farce, so we might as well make it a good one. — location: 764
A man crushed by reality puts on a show of endurance. — location: 763
What am I but a tangle of uncertainty and pride? — location: 780
thinking that swagger will conceal how far I’ve fallen. — location: 761