Reviews with content warning for Ableism - A Little Life

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1416 reviews

gindergrill93's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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tamagofish's review against another edition

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They're staying in "the happy years" and there's nothing you can do to stop me

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lunanireads's review

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4.5

there is… a lot to unpack here. i’ve heard a lot of things about this book, some good, some bad. i also am aware that the author is very ignorant when it comes to mental health and it shows up at times in her writing but i wanted to read this book because no matter how many articles i read or youtube videos i watched on the topic of this book essentially spoiling the whole story for me, i couldn't get it out of my mind. i knew i had to read it so my brain would quiet. and i don't regret my decision. now, i have a lot of opinions on this book. it's going to be a bit messy, basically just a blurb of my thoughts but lets start first where my problems lie with this book.

firstly, as i said before, hanya yanagihara is very ignorant when it comes to mental health and even a bit pretentious from what i’ve seen in interviews. she has stated openly that she believes talk therapy does not work and that therapists should encourage suicide despite never having participated in talk therapy herself, which is an absolutely disgusting view on mental illness and therapy. she's basically implying that some people are completely unfixable and the only way to fix some people is to end their own life. i highly disagree with this, as most would. some people may not want to be fixed but that doesn't mean that they are unfixable. talk therapy does work and it is a team effort.

i also don't care for the way hanya yanagihara talks about queerness. there's one line in the book about an unnamed female character “turning lesbian” which i didn't appreciate very much. now as for willem, i understand the confusion with his own sexuality — trust me, i get it, as a queer person myself. but the fact that it was implied that he HAD to pick between gay or straight irked me. it's okay to be bisexual. that doesn't just go for willem but for anyone else reading this too. it's okay to be attracted to more than one gender.

now, i know a lot of people don't like this book because most consider its constant tragedy to be “trauma porn”. it can be heavy and hard to read and just downright tragic. not everyone wants to kick back with a book like that, to read about constant dispair and i totally understand that. especially considering the great detail some of these tragedies are described, specifically jude’s sexual abuse and self harming.

speaking of jude’s self harming, i’ve heard a lot of people think it's harmful that jude was written this way, that all depressed people are categorized into being only extremely sad, only ever wanting to inflict self harm all the time, and while i agree that not every depressed person is like this, some are. some have felt like jude. and while i do not agree with hanya yanagihara’s views of mental health and think she's extremely ignorant and close-minded, i do think she captures pain and grief very well in her writing.

now, i’m going to get into how i feel, personally, about the book. yes, i think at some points the detail is excruciating, especially the parts touching on jude’s adolescence but that aside, i actually really see myself in jude, in how he views himself and life, which is pretty damn bleak. pretty gloomy. at a lot of points in this book, when jude would get in his head, when he'd self destruct, it felt as though the words were taken right from my brain and put on paper. not only this but i loved jude and willem’s dynamic. it wasn't always healthy, but sometimes i wish i had someone like willem for myself. someone who made waking up every day worth it.

so, to put it simply, i found comfort (as wild as it may seem) in a lot of parts in this book. even though jude isn't real, i know some people relate to the way he views life and knowing i’m not alone in my own struggle with mental health is very validating.

i’ve heard some didn't like the ending but i personally did. i think the way it ended in harold’s point of view (W harold, by the way. best dad ever) was the perfect touch. i like the way the reader sees jude through harold’s eyes, as someone who loved jude unconditionally.

i’m giving the book 4.5 stars because i found myself feeling more heard and comforted than heartbroken. even if the book is not perfect, i still enjoyed it, my views on the author aside.

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themisres's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

I wish Jude freedom from this author’s horrid imagination.
The way I look at this book changed drastically after I learned about Hanya Yanagihara’s opinions about therapy (how she thinks it’s not really useful and some people are fvcked beyond help) . At first I was fooled to think she had a point with this book but after hearing her talk for more than half a minute, I was quite convinced that she wasn’t capable of making any point. This book is long, boring, and sad just for the sake of it. I kept reading with hopes that it would pick up a little. But it didn’t. I paid a lot of money for this book in my country’s currency, and that was the only motivation I had to finish it.
Reminder for my future self: If a book has like 50 or so content warnings, maybe don’t read it.

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ethanlowden's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Yanagihara is a sadist; both to every character in the book and to the reader, for making them endure the miseries of this beautifully disturbing book.

I have never read a book so hopeful yet so hopeless; watching a car crash without a predetermined outcome in slow motion.

So hopeful that things will turn around for Jude, that he will finally be at peace and find joy in his life. But feeling so hopeless, that he has had to experience all of these horrific things, that he thinks he is deserving of them. And ultimately feeling both once he decides to die, hopeful that everyone around him can find peace but also hopeless that it got to that point.

Despite the beautiful prose and story telling of the book, written in such a way which entices the reader, giving breadcrumbs of Jude’s story until it is finally all revealed, there are several issues I have with it.

SPOILERS BELOW!!

Ultimately I believe that the believability of the story is lacking. Firstly all the hardships and abuse Jude has to suffer, and then how he is unable to overcome this but still thrive within his professional life and be a “functioning” human. Secondly the successes of him and all of his friends, despite their somewhat humble beginnings within very competitive fields.

Furthermore, the way in which all of his friends are able to surround him and support him during all of this, when in reality they would have abandoned him. How quickly the Jude x Willem relationship arose and how their sex life was explored, with Willem unrealistically cheating on him with women.

I also did not appreciate how the tone of the book shifted from the initial dynamic of their friendship group to how much misery can we make Jude withstand. Personally I feel the abuse and “clients” endured became repetitive and just honed in a point which was already established, purely to shock the reader without adding more depth to Jude’s character. At points it felt like what other ailment and trauma can we give Jude now?

The love story with Willem and Jude is beautiful and haunting. The feeling of desperation to keep a partner and their memories was especially moving. When Jude describes missing Willems scent and doing anything to keep that smell I was reminded of similar moments in my life.

The ending of the book is absolutely devastating, with the final 5 pages being what made be bawl. However, the fact that for the previous 500 pages we had to endure Jude’s suffering from his perspective, I felt the audience where cheated of discovering Jude’s final thoughts and instead reliving the moment through Harold’s eyes.

Harold and Jude’s relationship is also beautiful yet very unrealistic. The final chapter gives a clear sense of the dynamic changes, and how much Harold loved Jude, how he cared for him even when Jude reverted to childlike tendencies, and how he finally was able to live as a normal child, now as a 50 year old man. Harold’s final thoughts about Jude are heart breaking and perfectly describe how the reader views Jude’s nihilism and self hatred, and how everyone wanted him to live, but ultimately knew his fate was inevitable.

My biggest issue overall with the book is the glamorisation of suicide. Jude is written as a character who has it all, a healthy family dynamic, caring loving partner, friends surrounding him and a good job. However he is never able to run from his past and his trauma, and thus it is implied that his only resolution is suicide, as the damage is too great to be repaired. But we saw his relationship with Willem, with Harold, with Andy, his ability to connect with those around him. Maybe I am too optimistic but I do not believe he was beyond being helped and able to live a happy little life, despite all his hardships.

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