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A review by greatgodbird
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
5.0
What a ride. There's definitely the shock-value there, but I don't think it is nearly as upsetting as I had heard it would be. Looking back at reviews I've seen of this book, I think it's actually a little more unsettling that people think you have to be "mentally disturbed/ill" to write or appreciate this book, that people think this is trauma-porn. But the thing is, anything in book could be real to a real person. Be realistic. This world can be, has been, and continues to be horrible in many ways. Why is this surprising? Where have you been living? I'm scared one day one of you will actually have a conversation with someone like Jude. Or maybe I hope you will. This book demonstrates disgust, pleasure, pride, ambition, shame, love, and pain, from all angles (well-written, too!), and the beauty of being loved.
The topic of suicide, assisted death, etc. is interesting to me, especially the idea that one can only take so much. Is dying by a physical injury so different to a mental one? I can't really say, but I can say that by the end the pleading to Just Hang On! is as infuriating in the book as in real life. Illness doesn't owe anyone anything, and sometimes there aren't happy endings. Or there are! It's all part and parcel of each of our own Little Lives.
The topic of suicide, assisted death, etc. is interesting to me, especially the idea that one can only take so much. Is dying by a physical injury so different to a mental one? I can't really say, but I can say that by the end the pleading to Just Hang On! is as infuriating in the book as in real life. Illness doesn't owe anyone anything, and sometimes there aren't happy endings. Or there are! It's all part and parcel of each of our own Little Lives.