My Brain Overheated While Reading 'Everyone But Me Is a Stranger' and Listening to Teizo Kato's Podcast [Book Review]
The novel that won the Dazai Osamu Prize, "Everyone But Me Is a Stranger."
If you interpret the title literally, you might think it's a story about drawing a line between yourself and others, dismissing even your own family as "strangers."
However, as you read on, the exact opposite begins to emerge.
The protagonist lives seriously, properly, and without causing trouble for others.
Yet, they find no hope in human relationships or the future, living a life devoid of positive emotions like "joy" or "pleasure" in both work and private life. On the other hand, when they see people who are causing trouble for others, their feelings of "anger" and "sorrow" swell.
I am not causing trouble for others. And, I cannot forgive others who cause trouble for me.
In other words, the protagonist lives by an "other-centered" axis—believing "everyone but me is a stranger" while simultaneously trying "not to cause trouble for others."
The process of how they are strangely sensitive to "causing trouble for others" and eventually become self-destructively bound by rules created by someone else somewhere is depicted so vividly that it gives me goosebumps.
By the way, I was listening to a podcast while reading this book. It was a guest episode featuring Teizo Kato, a master of radio life counseling.
In this episode, Kato defines movements of the heart like "being trapped" or "anxiety" as "inferiority complex." He says that when you have an inferiority complex, you cannot notice your true self, you choose safe places and paths, and you can never grow.
The book entering through my eyes, "Everyone But Me Is a Stranger," depicts a protagonist who is disappointed in others and barricades themselves within their own ego, while the audio entering through my ears preaches, "People who become unhappy have no will of their own. Because of an inferiority complex, they cannot notice their own will. Live true to yourself."
It felt like having a life consultation and its answer playing simultaneously, and my brain overheated.
People cannot live without causing trouble for others. We live by interacting and forgiving one another... If your heart is worn down by the raw reality of the protagonist in "Everyone But Me Is a Stranger," for whom such logical arguments do not apply, you might want to try listening to Teizo Kato's "Telephone Life Consultation" (Nippon Broadcasting System), which relentlessly points out the weak points of those who are struggling.
[Reference]
Everyone But Me Is a Stranger (Tankobon --) Tankobon – 2023/12/1
Toru Nishimura