Notes from the Underground

            A Cup of Rage , written by Brazilian author Raduan Nassar, is a short, yet very intense drama. A drama which is acted out in seven emotional parts by two very emotional characters. The story follows a day in the life of a farmer who is in a passionate, yet extremely turbulent relationship with a younger journalist. The story focuses on an argument that breaks out between the two after the farmer discovers that ants had chewed through one of his hedges overnight. This argument, which is more of a battle of egos, becomes a furious power struggle between the two lovers. The fight is filled with cruel insults, childish mockery, and even physical altercation, but it also brings about intelligent observations on ethics, morality, politics, and identity. In the end, despite the mental and physical turmoil between the two, they are inseparable, unable to live without one another. The entire story, told beautifully by Nassar, consists of just seven sprawling sentences, which make up

            “Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being” (21). These are the striking opening words of Osamu Dazai’s 1948 novel, No Longer Human. The story is told through the discarded notebooks of Oba Yozo, an estranged, dejected, wretched, and utterly hopeless man, and our protagonist. We follow Yozo as he navigates his way through his miserable, isolated life. This novel is one of the most bleak and utterly despairing pieces of fiction ever written, yet it is also beautiful, and you should read it.             The story opens with a prologue, featuring an unnamed narrator who, when presented with three pictures of our main character, describes his appearance as something other than human. Oba Yozo was born in a small village in Northeastern Japan to an affluent, “well-to-do” family. From an early age, Yozo felt completely disconnected from those around him. He could not understand human beings. He had a mortal