[Audiobook CD] Shayo (Part 2) (3-CD set) (Voice Message Audiobook)

[Commentary] One of Dazai's most famous works, "Shayo," is said to have been inspired by his firsthand witnessing the decline of his family, the Tsushima family of Tsugaru, a large landowner, following the GHQ's land reforms after the war, and his feeling that it was similar to Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard." He then learned that his acquaintance, Ota Shizuko, also a member of the fallen class, had kept a detailed diary after the war. He borrowed the diary and began writing the novel in February 1947 at a ryokan in Mitsuhama, Izu. The novel draws heavily on Shizuko's diary, and during the writing process, Dazai learns that she is pregnant with Dazai's child (later known as the writer Ota Haruko), a fact that strongly influences the content of the work. The female protagonist, Kazuko, moves from Nishikatamachi, Tokyo, to Izu with her elderly mother after the family falls into decline after the war. Her younger brother, Naoji, eventually returns from the war, but takes his money and lives a self-indulgent life as a drug addict living with Uehara, a novelist in Tokyo. Although she had a husband, she was attracted to Uehara, so she went to Tokyo to visit him and became pregnant. This led to their divorce, and Naoji blames himself. When her mother dies of tuberculosis, Kazuko's "battle begins." The very morning she returns to Tokyo and reunites with Uehara, Naoji has committed suicide, leaving behind a suicide note...

[Reading Time] 3 hours and 4 minutes (3 CDs) [Reading] wis (Naito Sachiko: A female reader known for her clear, calm voice.)