• The Setting Sun

  • New Directions Book
  • By: Osamu Dazai
  • Narrated by: June Angela
  • Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (80 ratings)

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The Setting Sun  By  cover art

The Setting Sun

By: Osamu Dazai
Narrated by: June Angela
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Publisher's summary

This powerful novel of a nation in social and moral crisis was first published by New Directions in 1956 - and now, for the first time, is available in audio, with the spellbinding narration of June Angela.

Set in the early postwar years, it probes the destructive effects of war and the transition from a feudal Japan to an industrial society. Ozamu Dazai died, a suicide, in 1948. But the influence of his book has made "people of the setting sun" a permanent part of the Japanese language, and his heroine, Kazuko, a young aristocrat who deliberately abandons her class, a symbol of the anomie which pervades so much of the modern world.

©1956 New Directions Publishing Corp. (P)2020 New Directions Publishing Corp.

What listeners say about The Setting Sun

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MORE OSAMU DAZAI TRANSLATIONS PLEASE!!!!!

That is all. More of this master's works to explore the human condition. Thank You.

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Better tragedy than Shakespeare

I am not a fan of Japanese literature simply because it is Japanese. I am a fan of good literature. This is good literature. Please set aside time to read it. The narrator is very good and easy to listen to. The story is excellent.

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Another great work by Osamu Dazai!

This was a very moving story with excellent use of symbolism and imagery. As in most of his books, I felt a profound sadness at his writing, but it’s a beautiful thing too. Dazai will always be one of my favorite authors because he writes from the heart.

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i really enjoyed this

tbh i started this because of bungo stray dogs, but i stuck around for the good story. it’s not a happy one, and there are times where i questioned the purpose of the book. but as i reached the end, i felt for the main character, and i almost wish there was more to read

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The main character was a pick me girl & annoying

Imagine writing a man over and over who doesn’t want you especially one whose a drug addicted alcoholic with a wife and mistress… then when he continuously doesn’t respond she finds him? Terrible story

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Beautiful and Sad Recording

The Narrator has a real empty, sorrowful, and monotone expression, as someone who is tired and wishing for change, the ending really touched me personally, in a hopeful way.

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Simpleand complex all in one

The story is sweet and tragic. the story is sad and entertaining. You struggle with the characters and live through them. You pity their struggle,but you envy their place. Though much time has passed the lives of aristocrats in a far away place is not much different than the middle class of today.it is pitiful but you envy the place they live

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a worthwhile read in every sense.

Dazai Osamu truly writes characters in a mesmerizing way, and June narrated this book perfectly.

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