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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh wow. Okay yeah. Umm. This may or may not keep me up at night. Parts of it dragged but overall this is such a dense meditation on love in all its forms and the lengths we go to protect the people we care about.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
I've heard from SO many people how devastated they were by A Little Life. Although I can't say I felt any particularly strong emotion while reading this book, what's clear is Yanagihara's knack of drawing the reader into her worlds. I'll tackle her back catalogue once I'm ready to face another 700 pager...
To Paradisehas a nifty structure, centring around a single stately house in New York as the sands of two centuries (late 19th to late 21st) shift around it. Something very Cloud Atlas about the way we slowly work out how each section relates to the previous. Its perceptions about the circularities of history are astute and not overstated (as David Mitchell's might be). I liked the way her writing style shifts ever so slightly between each of the three books - the first expansive with clause piled upon clause, the last clinical, in a coming age where words are dangerous.
She imagines how what it means to be human might change across this time. Relationships of all kinds are examined, not only gay male ones - characters find themselves unable to argue with love and its illogicalities. She also weighs in on the plight of indigenous peoples. Maybe there's just too many huge issues packed into this book for it to hold together.
Her interest in loners and people who are slightly socially maladapted reminded me a lot of Kazuo Ishiguro. There's something about the observational standpoint of outsiders looking in that both writers play with so well.
Its third book imagines a near future America where some of the big ticket problems of the past few years - pandemics, big brother, climate disaster, and authoritarianism - are imagined frighteningly believably. Very Klara and the Sun - the quiet desperation at the world our children's children might inherit, narrated with such eloquence and integrity.
But in the same way I enjoyed Klara least out of Ishiguro's books, I think To Paradise is just a bit too sci-fi for my liking. Book Three had a very cool pincer structure, so the reader learns about this new age from gradually from two different perspectives and times - but it meant it was nearly 350 pages, about 150 too long.
Like other books that involve several narrators and time shifts, I think I'll remember the experience of reading this book more than the story itself.
To Paradisehas a nifty structure, centring around a single stately house in New York as the sands of two centuries (late 19th to late 21st) shift around it. Something very Cloud Atlas about the way we slowly work out how each section relates to the previous. Its perceptions about the circularities of history are astute and not overstated (as David Mitchell's might be). I liked the way her writing style shifts ever so slightly between each of the three books - the first expansive with clause piled upon clause, the last clinical, in a coming age where words are dangerous.
She imagines how what it means to be human might change across this time. Relationships of all kinds are examined, not only gay male ones - characters find themselves unable to argue with love and its illogicalities. She also weighs in on the plight of indigenous peoples. Maybe there's just too many huge issues packed into this book for it to hold together.
Her interest in loners and people who are slightly socially maladapted reminded me a lot of Kazuo Ishiguro. There's something about the observational standpoint of outsiders looking in that both writers play with so well.
Its third book imagines a near future America where some of the big ticket problems of the past few years - pandemics, big brother, climate disaster, and authoritarianism - are imagined frighteningly believably. Very Klara and the Sun - the quiet desperation at the world our children's children might inherit, narrated with such eloquence and integrity.
But in the same way I enjoyed Klara least out of Ishiguro's books, I think To Paradise is just a bit too sci-fi for my liking. Book Three had a very cool pincer structure, so the reader learns about this new age from gradually from two different perspectives and times - but it meant it was nearly 350 pages, about 150 too long.
Like other books that involve several narrators and time shifts, I think I'll remember the experience of reading this book more than the story itself.
More like 3 books in one, loosely connected by theme of doing the right thing vs the ethical thing, a right to love, identity, and climate collapse.
I loved the detailed portrayal of relationships between Edward and David and grandparents and children.
The portrayal of dystopian future ruined me a bit- too close to reality.
I loved the detailed portrayal of relationships between Edward and David and grandparents and children.
The portrayal of dystopian future ruined me a bit- too close to reality.
I've read other reviews to see if people have felt the same way that I do. They seem to...
This book is beautifully written - there are some incredible sentences, as strange as that is to say - but it is also confusing structurally. I think I understand the effort here, but it just does not feel finished. Most of the time, it feels like 3 separate books, and I don't think I ever came to truly understand why they were all put together. The links are weak, if there are meant to be any at all.
The stories are good, but they end abruptly and without any sort of satisfaction in the resolution. That can be intentional, of course, and is likely what the author was going for here, but each book felt unfinished to me in a way that was a disservice to the characters. I also found it took me until about halfway through each story to really get into it, so it increased my disappointment then when things felt unfinished in the conclusion. Overall, and I really hate to say this, it felt like a draft to me. I had moments I liked, moments I loved, moments I hated. I really tried to love it, but I just will settle at I liked it, though there's a part of me that wants to say it was just OK.
This book is beautifully written - there are some incredible sentences, as strange as that is to say - but it is also confusing structurally. I think I understand the effort here, but it just does not feel finished. Most of the time, it feels like 3 separate books, and I don't think I ever came to truly understand why they were all put together. The links are weak, if there are meant to be any at all.
The stories are good, but they end abruptly and without any sort of satisfaction in the resolution. That can be intentional, of course, and is likely what the author was going for here, but each book felt unfinished to me in a way that was a disservice to the characters. I also found it took me until about halfway through each story to really get into it, so it increased my disappointment then when things felt unfinished in the conclusion. Overall, and I really hate to say this, it felt like a draft to me. I had moments I liked, moments I loved, moments I hated. I really tried to love it, but I just will settle at I liked it, though there's a part of me that wants to say it was just OK.
Contrived. Unnecessary. Beige. That about sums up this tome. Parts were excellent. Parts were meh. The immense bulk of it was like slogging through a slushy puddle with crocs on while wishing you didn’t wear socks instead of realizing you made a grave error in footwear. Was a single star, but that doubled because Book III was the novel. If the author focused and developed it into the 704 pages instead of making the reader drag through Books I & II, this would be epic. As they are truly unrelated? Do yourself a favor and only read Book III.
4 stars
To Paradise spans three centuries, each detailing the lives of different characters, loosely tied together. Because of this, I feel it pertinent to consider each part it’s own book; it feels as if they are, each attempting to do its own thing, building upon the previous story, to create Yanagihara’s impeccable description of life and love and happiness and sadness and everything in between.
Washington Square: The first story begins with David, a twenty something man who is overshadowed by his own families incredible legacy. David, the outcast of his prestigious family, is offered a marriage, one that his Grandfather implores him to consider (and take). All the while, David meets Edward, a young, unpredictable man, with a lust for life, and—at least to David—adventure. Thusly, he is forced to consider his arranged marriage with an older, seemingly unattractive man, or the curious and largely mysterious Edward. His decisions create turmoil within himself, as he uses one man when he can’t have the other. And, by the end, his own affection seems to blind him as secrets are revealed and decisions are forced to be made. However right or wrong such decisions seem, David is secure in his feelings of correctness and his resolve is unfaltering as he makes his way To Paradise.
Lipo-Wao-Nahele: Set in two parts, it follows a father and son, delving incredibly deep into their relationship; the fathers failures and the sons “betrayals.” David has seemingly forsaken his heritage and family, moving to New York to live his life, where he finds himself in love with a wealthy, older man. His life, on the outside, or at the briefest of glance, is near perfect: his partner loves him, he has a job, he is surrounded by wealth. But upon deeper inspection, his past, specifically his father, seems to be hounding him incessantly. It isn’t until he reads a letter he receives from his family that he is forced to confront his past, ending the first part. The second begins and we quickly learn that it is David’s father, telling his son the story of his life; it is the truth of how he failed as a father. He tells of his own childhood, how he came to be before his son, and, thusly, the downfall of himself as he surrenders and submits to someone else.
Zone Eight: In the future, in 2093, America is no more; instead is a land broken, resembling what used to be New York, plagued with viruses and diseases. Using this backdrop, Yanagihara writes what it means to be human, to love, to lust, to feel pain, in a dystopian society, and what a dystopian society even is. Set in multiple part, the story follows Charlie, a twenty something woman, a survivor of one of the worst plagues, while the other perspective is her grandfather as he’s writing emails and letters to a friend in a different country. Both stories had incredible moments and both stories had dull moments. Overall, however, I felt that I connected the most with this story; perhaps it was because it was the longest, but I really just loved the grandfather, and because of his love for his granddaughter, I then, too, fell in love more with Charlie.
I would be lying if I said that I found this book perfect. This book is disconnected. It’s slow. It’s frustrating. It’s beautiful. It’s a lot of things, but it’s not perfect. For the most part, I am able to submit myself to Yanagihara’s writing because it truly is transcendent—meaning even when I find the story dull, or the characters boring, I can continue to love the story simply for the writing. I can’t say that that happened throughout the novel; specifically within the second part of the second story, and small parts of the third. There were parts where I just forced myself through because it was incredibly boring, and not even the writing was enticing enough for me to love what was happening. But, this books tackles so much, it’s scope is so large, that it’s hard to not love it and all of its flaws.
To Paradise spans three centuries, each detailing the lives of different characters, loosely tied together. Because of this, I feel it pertinent to consider each part it’s own book; it feels as if they are, each attempting to do its own thing, building upon the previous story, to create Yanagihara’s impeccable description of life and love and happiness and sadness and everything in between.
Washington Square: The first story begins with David, a twenty something man who is overshadowed by his own families incredible legacy. David, the outcast of his prestigious family, is offered a marriage, one that his Grandfather implores him to consider (and take). All the while, David meets Edward, a young, unpredictable man, with a lust for life, and—at least to David—adventure. Thusly, he is forced to consider his arranged marriage with an older, seemingly unattractive man, or the curious and largely mysterious Edward. His decisions create turmoil within himself, as he uses one man when he can’t have the other. And, by the end, his own affection seems to blind him as secrets are revealed and decisions are forced to be made. However right or wrong such decisions seem, David is secure in his feelings of correctness and his resolve is unfaltering as he makes his way To Paradise.
Lipo-Wao-Nahele: Set in two parts, it follows a father and son, delving incredibly deep into their relationship; the fathers failures and the sons “betrayals.” David has seemingly forsaken his heritage and family, moving to New York to live his life, where he finds himself in love with a wealthy, older man. His life, on the outside, or at the briefest of glance, is near perfect: his partner loves him, he has a job, he is surrounded by wealth. But upon deeper inspection, his past, specifically his father, seems to be hounding him incessantly. It isn’t until he reads a letter he receives from his family that he is forced to confront his past, ending the first part. The second begins and we quickly learn that it is David’s father, telling his son the story of his life; it is the truth of how he failed as a father. He tells of his own childhood, how he came to be before his son, and, thusly, the downfall of himself as he surrenders and submits to someone else.
Zone Eight: In the future, in 2093, America is no more; instead is a land broken, resembling what used to be New York, plagued with viruses and diseases. Using this backdrop, Yanagihara writes what it means to be human, to love, to lust, to feel pain, in a dystopian society, and what a dystopian society even is. Set in multiple part, the story follows Charlie, a twenty something woman, a survivor of one of the worst plagues, while the other perspective is her grandfather as he’s writing emails and letters to a friend in a different country. Both stories had incredible moments and both stories had dull moments. Overall, however, I felt that I connected the most with this story; perhaps it was because it was the longest, but I really just loved the grandfather, and because of his love for his granddaughter, I then, too, fell in love more with Charlie.
I would be lying if I said that I found this book perfect. This book is disconnected. It’s slow. It’s frustrating. It’s beautiful. It’s a lot of things, but it’s not perfect. For the most part, I am able to submit myself to Yanagihara’s writing because it truly is transcendent—meaning even when I find the story dull, or the characters boring, I can continue to love the story simply for the writing. I can’t say that that happened throughout the novel; specifically within the second part of the second story, and small parts of the third. There were parts where I just forced myself through because it was incredibly boring, and not even the writing was enticing enough for me to love what was happening. But, this books tackles so much, it’s scope is so large, that it’s hard to not love it and all of its flaws.