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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Hanya Yanagihara has such a range and all of her three books are so incredibly different. So when I started reading this book I was a little bored and wanted the book to have more. Once I got to the end of the second I really started to enjoy it and its subtly progressing avant-garde presentation. The way the stories all connect is extremely satisfying and makes the beginning more understandable. I think that all her books really branch to different audiences so I am interested to see if this book ends up getting mixed reviews due to the number of people that wanted essentially another A Little Life book. I liked her first book more than this one its called The people in the trees. (A little life is obviously the best though) and I think its a good read if you like her other work.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This book is a gigantic fucking mess. It’s too long, by at least 200 pages. It doesn’t coalesce the way the author clearly thinks it does. It sends mixed messages often, and has so many points to make that it ends up hitting the bullseye on almost none. The writing can be repetitive and cloying (repeatedly referring to a 15 year-old as “The Baby” is not cute, it’s just annoying) and the entire second section of Book 2 could have been dispatched in a two page f remembrance. AND YET…
Book One, though incredibly derivative of Edith Wharton and (intentionally) Henry James, is almost immediately arresting and sumptuous. Had the whole novel been set in this world, it would have been pretty great.
The first section of Book Two is the closest Yanagihara’s writing gets to her previous (excellent) novel, A LITTLE LIFE. It is harrowing and detailed and sad. The second part of book two is a bit of a disaster in my opinion. Written in the form of a letter (seriously, a 200 page, neverending missive that somehow miraculously arrives in an envelope instead of a box), the aimlessness of this section seriously threatens to derail the entire endeavor.
By the time Book Three arrived, this book was skating on thin ice for me. It is wobbly to start, and drags ass for the first half of this section. However, as Charlie develops as a character and the threads between the characters start to connect, the author manages to right the ship in time for a last 100-or so pages that are actually incredibly moving if not entirely satisfying on a narrative level.
So yeah—this is a mixed bag. 3.5 is more accurate. Worth reading if you’re into Yanagihara’s style but don’t feel bad if you find yourself zoning out during stretches of the second and third parts.
Book One, though incredibly derivative of Edith Wharton and (intentionally) Henry James, is almost immediately arresting and sumptuous. Had the whole novel been set in this world, it would have been pretty great.
The first section of Book Two is the closest Yanagihara’s writing gets to her previous (excellent) novel, A LITTLE LIFE. It is harrowing and detailed and sad. The second part of book two is a bit of a disaster in my opinion. Written in the form of a letter (seriously, a 200 page, neverending missive that somehow miraculously arrives in an envelope instead of a box), the aimlessness of this section seriously threatens to derail the entire endeavor.
By the time Book Three arrived, this book was skating on thin ice for me. It is wobbly to start, and drags ass for the first half of this section. However, as Charlie develops as a character and the threads between the characters start to connect, the author manages to right the ship in time for a last 100-or so pages that are actually incredibly moving if not entirely satisfying on a narrative level.
So yeah—this is a mixed bag. 3.5 is more accurate. Worth reading if you’re into Yanagihara’s style but don’t feel bad if you find yourself zoning out during stretches of the second and third parts.
I was initially intimidated by the length but the fact that this is essentially three barely-related novels instead of one monster one really helped.
She is a beautiful writer. In three sections we reexamine history and imagine a future. Pandemics, gay writes, and overbearing governments, but mostly some well developed characters to tie the story together.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Loved the first and third sections. Middle part was totally uninteresting. Felt like nothing happened at all in that timeline. She's such an intriguing author, I'd love to know what she's like in real life. Cool premise, interesting execution.
While it was way longer than needed I was moved to finish it. The dystopian future-and the ways in which the miserable way we dealt with AIDS and the quirkily utopian past hung together occasionally and but I feel like it could’ve been more powerful with editing.