Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
i have a lot of thoughts and most of them are not positive
edit: ok sorry my thoughts are a little scrambled but i had time to think and here they are
i loved a little life and i hated the people in the trees. i put off reading this for a year because i was afraid that i was going to put all this energy into reading a 700+ page book without any payoff.
my major (initial) issue with this book is the structuring. three separate stories that have no relation to one another besides the names of the characters and the home in washington square park. it's a cool concept, yes, but ultimately did not do.. what yanagihara wanted it to do, IMO. it felt like she had three different novel ideas that could have been individual books that she never fully fleshed out, and instead centered the story on this one home to create some kind of link between the stories? i hate that each story is left on such a cliffhanger and we get no clarity or any kind of explanation of the characters lives or stories
in the first story, the rewriting of america's history felt... uncomfortable to say the least? in this 1890's version of america, the south succeeded from the US bc of gay marriage; which, interesting, though yanagihara doesn't rly touch on the subject of race in any meaningful way, which feels... weird. we follow a character who is boring, a gay man who wants to leave the safety of the free states that his family fought (and paid $$$) for, to follow a mysterious, poor (and possibly evil) man out west, where homosexuality is illegal. just when his story finally starts to get interesting, we finally reach the conflict in the story, the narrative is cut. we never return to this story. just when it's starting to get good!!!
the second part of the story takes place in 1990's, aids epidemic in NYC. the story is split in two; the first about a relationship between a young gay hawaiian man dating an older white lawyer (again living in the same washington square apartment. also all the characters throughout each book have the SAME NAME when they're completely different characters which was incredibly confusing and weird. like why not just change the names i don't understand why she chose to do this) the second part of the story is a .. letter? the mind of? the hawaiian man's father who is about to die. his story is so pointless; him lamenting about the life he lived in which he does absolutely nothing in terms of making his own choices. he's manipulated by this other man to live off the land /essentially become homeless for no apparent reason? and instead of leaving (he's given MANY opportunities TO LEAVE and expresses multiple times he WANTS TO LEAVE he continues to stay because he can't make any decision) this was my least favorite story out of the three
the final story takes up at least half of the book, and at the longest story, takes place in a dystopian 209o's version of america. i actually really liked this story and kind of wish we just had this one because with some editing i think this could've been really good. at the same time, i'm so over reading about pandemics 'post-covid'; especially a facist police state created out of necessity after 4 or 5 pandemics throughout the 21st century. (ALSO the main character, who at one point was a lively little girl, becomes sick during one of those pandemics and she gets a vaccine that completely alters her personality and also sterilizes her and i was like ok.. it's giving anti-vax???) i did like the story line and the switching between timeslines/the letters but like, i don't understand why this alone couldn't have been a book. PLUS, at the central conflict, THE STORY ENDS! we don't get any clarity, no closure!
i am sad that i disliked this book so much because i do think hanya yanagihara is a great novelist, and i do like her writing and the emotional depth she builds for her characters. but this... was incredibly disappointing to me
edit: ok sorry my thoughts are a little scrambled but i had time to think and here they are
i loved a little life and i hated the people in the trees. i put off reading this for a year because i was afraid that i was going to put all this energy into reading a 700+ page book without any payoff.
my major (initial) issue with this book is the structuring. three separate stories that have no relation to one another besides the names of the characters and the home in washington square park. it's a cool concept, yes, but ultimately did not do.. what yanagihara wanted it to do, IMO. it felt like she had three different novel ideas that could have been individual books that she never fully fleshed out, and instead centered the story on this one home to create some kind of link between the stories? i hate that each story is left on such a cliffhanger and we get no clarity or any kind of explanation of the characters lives or stories
in the first story, the rewriting of america's history felt... uncomfortable to say the least? in this 1890's version of america, the south succeeded from the US bc of gay marriage; which, interesting, though yanagihara doesn't rly touch on the subject of race in any meaningful way, which feels... weird. we follow a character who is boring, a gay man who wants to leave the safety of the free states that his family fought (and paid $$$) for, to follow a mysterious, poor (and possibly evil) man out west, where homosexuality is illegal. just when his story finally starts to get interesting, we finally reach the conflict in the story, the narrative is cut. we never return to this story. just when it's starting to get good!!!
the second part of the story takes place in 1990's, aids epidemic in NYC. the story is split in two; the first about a relationship between a young gay hawaiian man dating an older white lawyer (again living in the same washington square apartment. also all the characters throughout each book have the SAME NAME when they're completely different characters which was incredibly confusing and weird. like why not just change the names i don't understand why she chose to do this) the second part of the story is a .. letter? the mind of? the hawaiian man's father who is about to die. his story is so pointless; him lamenting about the life he lived in which he does absolutely nothing in terms of making his own choices. he's manipulated by this other man to live off the land /essentially become homeless for no apparent reason? and instead of leaving (he's given MANY opportunities TO LEAVE and expresses multiple times he WANTS TO LEAVE he continues to stay because he can't make any decision) this was my least favorite story out of the three
the final story takes up at least half of the book, and at the longest story, takes place in a dystopian 209o's version of america. i actually really liked this story and kind of wish we just had this one because with some editing i think this could've been really good. at the same time, i'm so over reading about pandemics 'post-covid'; especially a facist police state created out of necessity after 4 or 5 pandemics throughout the 21st century. (ALSO the main character, who at one point was a lively little girl, becomes sick during one of those pandemics and she gets a vaccine that completely alters her personality and also sterilizes her and i was like ok.. it's giving anti-vax???) i did like the story line and the switching between timeslines/the letters but like, i don't understand why this alone couldn't have been a book. PLUS, at the central conflict, THE STORY ENDS! we don't get any clarity, no closure!
i am sad that i disliked this book so much because i do think hanya yanagihara is a great novelist, and i do like her writing and the emotional depth she builds for her characters. but this... was incredibly disappointing to me
I should get credit for three books after reading this one . . .I can’t say Yanagihara is an enjoyable author to read, but she gives you plenty to think about.
Not the book I was expecting and so much more and was the ending! I was so surprised and enraptured and I don’t even know! Good God it was good.
With a strong Hawaiian theme this dystopian novel almost had the format of a collection of short stories, except all the short stories were intertwined with each other at some level, and in some capacity.
I’m a sucker for a good dystopian novel and this was one. I didn’t really turn into a dystopian book until the last half my God,
With a strong Hawaiian theme this dystopian novel almost had the format of a collection of short stories, except all the short stories were intertwined with each other at some level, and in some capacity.
I’m a sucker for a good dystopian novel and this was one. I didn’t really turn into a dystopian book until the last half my God,
A beautiful exploration of humanity and what it means to find love, to find your own paradise and break from prisons of society’s making or your own to do so. Written memoir-style and letter-style encompassing a timeline from speculative historical fiction to a near future, this book really takes you on a journey, makes you feel what it might mean to hold multiple marginalized and privileged identities in the midst of different versions of our society (which of course reflect a truth within our society). It leaves you unsatisfied in a gripping way, leaving you to think on and imagine for yourself whether characters find their paradise or not. Absolutely brilliant.
This has been one of my more interesting reads as of late. Though I enjoyed it quite a bit, I found myself not quite able to connect the different pieces. Though it is one novel, it is essentially three different sections. Each section has its own unique story, though many pieces (names and places) overlap. I think that each Bingham is a distant relative of the one before, but I'm not really sure. I also can't quite figure out how the stories are connected. I think if that were more clear, the narrative would have felt more powerful. I also really enjoyed the ambiguity of each ending. The reader gets to make a lot of choice.
This one took me a little longer than A Little Life… it also took me longer to start than A Little Life because I wasn’t ready to have my heart wrenched out of my body again.
To Paradise still broke my heart but in a softer, yet somehow deeper way. Spanning 200 years and 700 pages, Yanagihara gives time to dig in and really sting you with a strange hopelessness.
I both love and hate reading Yanagihara. Her writing creates and stirs such intense emotions that the next few books I read are met with numbness, authors barely scraping the surface layer of feeling.
Flew through Book I and Book II but Book III dragged ever so slightly, largely due to my general disinterest in dystopian novels, which is obviously not the authors fault but the only reason I haven’t given 5 stars!
To Paradise still broke my heart but in a softer, yet somehow deeper way. Spanning 200 years and 700 pages, Yanagihara gives time to dig in and really sting you with a strange hopelessness.
I both love and hate reading Yanagihara. Her writing creates and stirs such intense emotions that the next few books I read are met with numbness, authors barely scraping the surface layer of feeling.
Flew through Book I and Book II but Book III dragged ever so slightly, largely due to my general disinterest in dystopian novels, which is obviously not the authors fault but the only reason I haven’t given 5 stars!
The first book in an incredibly long time that I just am not going to finish. I’ve been working through it since it came out two months ago, am about 700 pages in, and just can’t anymore.
The only reason I gave this book 2 stars was because of Hanya's writing style. Her words are smooth and natural. But, the story was horrid. It is unfair to compare To Paradise to A Little Life; but when one is a favorite, it is hard not to be disappointed when the author comes out with a dud like this.
Phew, this book is very special. Usually with books as long as this, I often get tired off it around the 70% mark, but not this book. The three parts certainly helped
First story: best written ⭐️⭐️⭐️,5 / 5
Second story: the ever-changing timeline was confusing, also the weakest story ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Third story: moving and very frightening ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,5 / 5
First story: best written ⭐️⭐️⭐️,5 / 5
Second story: the ever-changing timeline was confusing, also the weakest story ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Third story: moving and very frightening ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,5 / 5