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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Solid 4 stars. Hanya Yanagihara’s writing style is so incredible that even during the book’s dull/tedious points, I was still hooked. This book had a lot of moving parts - complex world building but in a familiar sense (how global/US society developed under different circumstances). The closeness of the setting to our current world made it all the more unsettling, intriguing, and easy to read.
I have come to look back at A Little Life and kind of despise it, but reading this book reminded me why I pushed through and finished A Little Life in the first place (because she is such a phenomenal story teller and knows how to make you fall in love/empathize with characters and their situations). The moral relativism is still on full blast, but in this book it felt more readable/digestible.
I have come to look back at A Little Life and kind of despise it, but reading this book reminded me why I pushed through and finished A Little Life in the first place (because she is such a phenomenal story teller and knows how to make you fall in love/empathize with characters and their situations). The moral relativism is still on full blast, but in this book it felt more readable/digestible.
What I took away from this is that all three stories were set in dystopias; the last was the only one in which the protagonist really felt the effects of it, but the others were dystopic all the same.
In To Paradise, Yanagihara continues exploring themes from her first published work, The People in the Trees, to great effect. I still think The People in the Trees is my favorite of hers, but this book is a decent companion to that one. Here, she again explores colonization and the "threat" that racialized people and queer people pose to the structures of colonial society as well as the ways in which they can be complicit in and reproduce that society. She also, again, explores illness and the fear of illness in a way that I feel ties thematically to the aforementioned explorations of colonization and race.
What didn't I like? Well, it was extremely long, but fortunately the interesting stuff was really packed into the latter half of the book, so it never felt like the slog that A Little Life became. I also didn't really like or understand the first half of the second story.
I hope that Yanagihara continues to explore these themes, and I especially hope that she continues to branch out into speculative fiction and science fiction. The third story was especially strong (she shines in first person writing honestly!).
In To Paradise, Yanagihara continues exploring themes from her first published work, The People in the Trees, to great effect. I still think The People in the Trees is my favorite of hers, but this book is a decent companion to that one. Here, she again explores colonization and the "threat" that racialized people and queer people pose to the structures of colonial society as well as the ways in which they can be complicit in and reproduce that society. She also, again, explores illness and the fear of illness in a way that I feel ties thematically to the aforementioned explorations of colonization and race.
What didn't I like? Well, it was extremely long, but fortunately the interesting stuff was really packed into the latter half of the book, so it never felt like the slog that A Little Life became. I also didn't really like or understand the first half of the second story.
I hope that Yanagihara continues to explore these themes, and I especially hope that she continues to branch out into speculative fiction and science fiction. The third story was especially strong (she shines in first person writing honestly!).
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There are a lot of themes (and character traits) that run through every section of To Paradise, but the one that sticks with me is ambiguous endings. Frustratingly so, but also very clever because I can't stop thinking about them - and part III in particular.
I also think it's interesting that parts I and II - which make up the first half of the book - took me three weeks to read. Part III - the second half on its own - I devoured in three days. It's not that the first two parts weren't beautifully written or interesting stories. But they were slow, and I quite often just didn't understand the point. And while there were some brilliant characters, some of them did start to grate on me a little.
But part III? That has haunted me, burrowed its way into my brain in true Yanagihara style. It's alarming how easily you can imagine this version of the future in a post-Covid world. And because of the nature of this society it takes a lot to gain any small nugget of information about the characters, so when I did (and when it connected to the past stories), I treasured them. The moral implications of Charles's decisions and their repurcussions could be endlessly discussed, and I still don't know who was on the right side. But it's bleak, brutal and at times strangely beautiful.
Having sat with this book for a few days, I think ultimately parts I and II were necessary, if only to enhance part III - which really does all the heavy lifting. There are so many tiny connections (and some that smack you right in the face), I almost want to go back and start again knowing what I do now. But I can't help wondering if I would've enjoyed part III as much if it stood on its own. One thing's for sure: it might not be A Little Life, but To Paradise is in my head.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a really long book, actually 3 books. I liked each section in its own way but the last one was the best. I'm not sure why this wasn't just 3 separate books.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5
3 stories in 3 different centuries, all looking for a sense of hope, purpose, belonging, and ultimately their own way To Paradise.
3 stories in 3 different centuries, all looking for a sense of hope, purpose, belonging, and ultimately their own way To Paradise.
The story was good but it was very hard to follow. Several of the characters have the same name. It makes it difficult to notice the connections between the characters throughout book 1 - 3 when several characters names are David and Edward. I had to push myself to finish it. It was a bit disappointing.
I think I like this one more than A Little Life. The last novella was especially prescient.