>>3
I read it after I stopped being a hikikomori, and I was, for some reason, surprised by the realism of the book: the drinking, taking drugs, sleeping more than twelve hours a day. I used to be a chain smoker, literally lighting the next cigarette with the previous one. Since getting out of bed was only really necessary to go to the toilet or get more food I would try to build a large tower of cigarette butts in my ashtray, trying to keep it stable like a house of cards.
The book is more relevant than ever.