Description:
The Complete Manual of Suicide (完全自殺マニュアル, Kanzen Jisatsu Manyuaru, lit. Complete Suicide Manual) is a Japanese book written by Wataru Tsurumi. He is the writer on the problem of "hardness of living" in Japanese society.
It was first published on July 4, 1993, and sold more than one million copies. In the postscript the author says: "To think that at the worst crucial moment one can escape from the pain by committing suicide, one can live for the moment easier. So by distributing this book, I want to make this stifling society an easier place to live. That is the goal of this book. And I never
The Complete Manual of Suicide (完全自殺マニュアル, Kanzen Jisatsu Manyuaru, lit. Complete Suicide Manual) is a Japanese book written by Wataru Tsurumi. He is the writer on the problem of "hardness of living" in Japanese society.
It was first published on July 4, 1993, and sold more than one million copies. In the postscript the author says: "To think that at the worst crucial moment one can escape from the pain by committing suicide, one can live for the moment easier. So by distributing this book, I want to make this stifling society an easier place to live. That is the goal of this book. And I never intend to encourage readers to commit suicide."
Although this book is a manual, the author explains his philosophy throughout and opposes the social pressure to live strong. In every suicide method, he rates different aspect of suicide such as painfulness, gruesomeness of the body, probability of failure and costs in event of failure, and so on. The fact that one can easily identify the least painful and easiest method of suicide was controversial at the time of the publication.
Since the book was intended to be a manual, the author did not spend too much space on discussing the reasons and philosophy behind suicide, although he does rhetorically pose the question "Why must one live?". Wataru simply lays out the methods of suicide one by one and then analyzes each of them in detail.
This 198-page book provides explicit descriptions and analysis on a wide range of suicide methods such as overdosing, hanging, jumping and carbon monoxide poisoning. The book provides matter-of-fact assessment of each method in terms of the pain it causes, effort of preparation required, the appearance of the body and lethality. It covers 11 suicide methods:
Overdosing
Hanging
Self-defenestration
Slashing the wrist and carotid artery
Collision
Gas poisoning
Electrocution
Drowning
Self-immolation
Freezing
Miscellaneous
Each chapter begins with a graph assessing the method in question in terms of painfulness, time/effort required, the appearance of the body, trouble/inconvenience to others, impact and deadliness. Each of these matters is rated by 1–5 skulls, with 5 skulls indicating the highest rating.
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Manufacturer: Ohta Publishing co.
Release date: 4 July 1993
ISBN-10 : 0 |
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