Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - A Little Life

There were things I took away from reading "A Little Life" that were either positive or cathartic (myself having quite a few similarities to Jude). BUT, I am quite concerned about what exactly is being suggested at the end.

When I got to the end where Jude committed suicide I was taken a back and wondered what Yanagihara was trying to say about him going through with that after everything. At first, the line that caught my attention the most was Harold, in trying to understand Jude's death, saying; "It isn't only that he died, or how he died; it was what he died believing. And so I try to be kind to everything I see, and in everything I see, I see him". I thought that by diving into the psychology of Jude and getting the reader to care about him, by taking him away at the end of everything she was perhaps trying to show the complex suffering someone can experience. And this line had me wondering if at the end Yanagihara wishes to push the audience to consider the cruelty they are complacent to and to retire that complacency (I thought of the ministers at the church who would stand by something so cruel in particular). Bringing attention to how what Jude so deeply believed about himself was created and perpetuated by cruelty. But then, I've seen what she's said. From my understanding she did no research for "A Little Life" and has suggested that some people are too far gone in their mental illness to seek treatment like therapy. I fear that with the previous line Yanagihara is suggesting that there are people whose beliefs (mental health) are so far gone that it is better for them to take their life. If that is what she intended, I am really confused because there are points earlier in the book that I would say suggest the opposite of her point. Ana's quote; "You'll find you own way to discuss what happened to you. You'll have to, if you ever want to be close to anyone" implies the benefit of exploring, discussing, and attempting to improve your mental health (and it began to work at least a little with Willem!) and that it is all a process anyone can do, but then Yanagihara insists otherwise? Yanagihara also provides wonderful moments OF JUDE BEING HAPPY!!! Of being amazed by how wonderful of people and things he has surrounded himself with. So, why give the idea that he should still kill himself? Why, whether you intend it or not, write a story that could so easily be read as suggesting suicide as an answer? It reminds me too often of people conflating a life full of physical pain as one not worth living. Chronic physical and mental pain are both extremely difficult and possibly never "curable" conditions. But they can still be managed and leave one with a wondrous and joyful life, that happens to be weaved in with pain.

TLDR; I want to say I liked "A Little Life" completely, but I can't. The ending is highly questionable and Yanagihara's commentary has only worsened my suspicions. I'm going to try to hold onto the positives I found or interpreted as there were things in here that meant quite a bit to me, but man can an author's dissonance sour a book.

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tazch1701's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

The prose of this book is exquisite. Adored the writing of the friendship dynamic. Especially appreciated Willem's thoughts regarding Jude, his career, his parents etc. It felt very real and really grounded the character.
With regards to Jude, I wish there was more of an exploration of his thoughts and how his adverse childhood shaped his self worth as an adult. It was easy to extrapolate the fact that what happened to him as a child is what makes him act the way he does as an adult, but I specifically would have liked to have seen an explanation of that in his own words/ inner monologue.
I have a major issue with the end. It could have been a brilliant way to explore how choosing to take the steps to recover doesn't always mean you will recover. Or the fact that recovery is not linear, that normal is different or almost has no meaning at all when your childhood has been so wrought with strife. An aspect of mental health I think is ill explored is the very real risk of actually not seeing improvement despite leaning on a support system and taking steps to get better, if the book explored that it would have felt complete. Instead, it ended in a way that makes the book seem like its only purpose was to make Jude suffer physical abuse from either other or himself. Not to say Jude's ending didnt make sense, given what happened to Willem I fully understand why he did what he did. But it robbed readers of an ending that would have left us a little more enlightened and equally as heartbroken.
I still have to rate the book fairly highly despite how much I hated the ending because its taken up so much space in my mind and its taken me almost a year to properly articulate my thoughts on it.

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nnoammoa's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.0

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canisand's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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aaliyah_lomas15's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I was captivated in the first quarter of the book. It was beautifully written, I was interested in the characters who felt real, and enjoyed the exploration of their friendship, their own feelings and backgrounds. However, it becomes a novel that is entirely focused on Jude, and Willem to some extent. Malcolm and JB are basically there in the rest of the book to advance the plot in some way. I think the author didn't know how to continue with their lives and therefore essentially removed them from Jude's life in one way or another.

Jude's backstory is tragic. As a result, he is deeply traumatised. I understand the effects of trauma, but what he does is so repetitive. I understand that's the point, the exploration of the cycle of abuse and how it affects him, but the author doesn't add anything new or nuanced to the conversation. It seems like they didn't research the effects of abuse on real life survivors, so they just kept repeating the same ones.

I know this is a fictional novel, but the characters are unbelievable. Unlike others I do not perceive the extent of Jude's abuse as unbelievable, but I do view all of his talents and accomplishments as such. The main four friend group consists of people that are all incredibly successful in their careers and life in general. The only person who really fucks up is JB, but we barely hear from him afterwards which is such a shame as I think his story is personally the most interesting. JB is the only character in this novel who isn't explicitly good or bad. The author writes characters who are black or white (not racially), good or bad. There is no grey area for their characters. The only one who falls into that category is JB, and we don't get to explore his life more. We don't get to explore his feelings on being expelled from his friendship group. After the 200 page mark we only really see JB randomly, usually to advance the plot in terms of aggravating Jude and Willem, to point out how 'shallow' he is with his 'unserious' problems compared to what Jude has faced.

Sure, Jude's childhood is hellish and he's working to deal with it throughout the book. But in his adult life he is surrounded by people who love him (and slightly enable him). All his friends love him; he's incredibly skilled in mathematics, baking, playing piano, etc; he gets a very well paying job in which he is completely idolised; he has a relationship with the perfect person; he is adopted by loving parents at the age of 30. My point is that despite his childhood, nothing goes wrong for him in adulthood (until the last 100 pages). His adult life is so unbelievable. Jude is focused on for basically the entire book, yet I don't think his character is truly explored. What he does is incredibly repetitive, and it's very boring as a reader. This book could easily have been edited down, probably even 200 pages down, and I think it would be more impactful. There are plenty of novels that have truly impacted me far more than this one has. Yes, it's traumatic and sad, but it could be so much more. The writing is beautiful; the characters could be so more nuanced and interesting; friendship could be properly explored (like the blurb promises).

TLDR: This book has a lot of potential. The beginning is well written and fascinating, but it's too drawn out and repetitive. The first half and second half of the book feels completely disconnected from each other. It feels like the author decided to change their focus, and the novel truly suffers as a result.

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synthwhoa's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

0.25

As a book about gay men this book is outright offensive, a hate crime, pages and pages of outright loathing of gay men and their lives. It should not read by anyone.

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blakeisik's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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? It's complicated

3.5

Very difficult to pinpoint how i feel about this book. Beautifully written, but full of trauma-porn.

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