Reviews

this book is infuriating, and not entirely for the reasons it's intended to be. this book would've greatly benefited from leaving out the final chapter. maybe this is my bad on assuming, but i assumed this book was supposed to be written in a way that sort of mimicked revisionist history-type writing. with that in mind, it would make zero sense for norton to have even written the chapter detailing his rape of his son. he believes himself to be this great figure in science that will go down in history for the work he's done, and he's just going to write in graphic detail an act that he knows no one but his colleague could forgive? sorry, but it made no sense, and it was so needless and heavy-handed. we know he did it. it's clear he's a bad enough person to commit such a vile act. it didn't need to be described to us. i think hanya yanagihara herself could benefit a lot from listening to the people telling her she's weird for how often she writes, in great detail, about grown men raping young boys.

this book could've been really smart. its full focus needed to be on the destruction of an entire set of islands of peoples caused by the selfishness and the evil of one man made to represent a much bigger and centuries deep systematic issue. i thought that was the entire point. i thought that the sexual violence committed against his son, landing him in prison was going to be an afterthought, given that the book is written through the eyes of the man that commited the crime and edited by a man that is so thoroughly stuck up norton's ass that the outright states that he doesn't care if norton raped his son because everyone should just be focusing on how smart he is instead. it's clear by now that i think this, but it ruined the entire book.

tarrowood's review against another edition

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5.0

Reading this felt like reading the reciprocal to
A Little Life; through the lens of a scientist that will do anything for his satisfaction, for him to feel important, almost godlike... Yanigahara’s debut sets the stage for her sophomore novel. Yanigahara is a name every English major should know (I want to take away a quarter of a star due to low points in engagement, however these were still crucial to the story’s integrity)

desireeslibrary's review against another edition

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5.0

Hanya has definitely become a favorite of mine after this one.... holy shit. Let me start by saying that if you are uncomfortable with moral relativism and prefer to view the world in black and white, this isn't for you. This book challenges everything you think you understood about science, and intellectually touches on topics such as misogyny, colonialism, environmentalism, naturalism, speciesism, ethics, morality, sociopathy, pedophilia, aging and death and so much more. This is by absolutely no means an easy read, nor it is easily digestible. There are a shit ton of footnotes, that you absolutely HAVE to read because they become their own story, and certain chapters you have to go back and re-analyze in order to weave the plot together. But I promise you.... it is sosososo worth it. This is not a novel for those of you who want an "easy read". This is for those of you who want to be ripped out of their comfort zone, who want to be shaken out of complacency.
And the WRITING??? Wow just wow. It is perfect. It is immensely powerful and memorizing and I cannot say enough good things about it.

I had seen a blog post or a review somewhere that brought these questions into the conversation when referencing this novel and I had to share because a lot of these were questions I had scribbled in the margins: What happens when man aspires to be a god? When we encroach on the world of the gods, when we see what we are not meant to see, how can anything but disaster follow? Or to be even more direct: what price do we place on progress? What are we willing to sacrifice and forgive? How do we view a man with a great mind who's not so great in his personal life? Is he a legend or a monster? Should one, like Faust, sell his very soul for immortality? Does the very quest for the forbidden turn us into something less-than-human?

One of the best books, if not THE best I have read all year. Deeply disturbing and provocative.

a_handful_of_dates's review

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dark medium-paced

4.0

alosersbookshelf_'s review

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

Hanya’s books are very well written. That being said, I dragged myself through this book. It was slow, and the ending was brutal. I wouldn’t recommend it, respectfully.

abhanana's review

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slow-paced

2.0

tomblyc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A strange one. Shows the author's ability to craft character and write in a very convincing manner that makes you believe the world and people presented to you.

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