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daltonsnyder 's review for:
To Paradise
by Hanya Yanagihara
4 stars
To Paradise spans three centuries, each detailing the lives of different characters, loosely tied together. Because of this, I feel it pertinent to consider each part it’s own book; it feels as if they are, each attempting to do its own thing, building upon the previous story, to create Yanagihara’s impeccable description of life and love and happiness and sadness and everything in between.
Washington Square: The first story begins with David, a twenty something man who is overshadowed by his own families incredible legacy. David, the outcast of his prestigious family, is offered a marriage, one that his Grandfather implores him to consider (and take). All the while, David meets Edward, a young, unpredictable man, with a lust for life, and—at least to David—adventure. Thusly, he is forced to consider his arranged marriage with an older, seemingly unattractive man, or the curious and largely mysterious Edward. His decisions create turmoil within himself, as he uses one man when he can’t have the other. And, by the end, his own affection seems to blind him as secrets are revealed and decisions are forced to be made. However right or wrong such decisions seem, David is secure in his feelings of correctness and his resolve is unfaltering as he makes his way To Paradise.
Lipo-Wao-Nahele: Set in two parts, it follows a father and son, delving incredibly deep into their relationship; the fathers failures and the sons “betrayals.” David has seemingly forsaken his heritage and family, moving to New York to live his life, where he finds himself in love with a wealthy, older man. His life, on the outside, or at the briefest of glance, is near perfect: his partner loves him, he has a job, he is surrounded by wealth. But upon deeper inspection, his past, specifically his father, seems to be hounding him incessantly. It isn’t until he reads a letter he receives from his family that he is forced to confront his past, ending the first part. The second begins and we quickly learn that it is David’s father, telling his son the story of his life; it is the truth of how he failed as a father. He tells of his own childhood, how he came to be before his son, and, thusly, the downfall of himself as he surrenders and submits to someone else.
Zone Eight: In the future, in 2093, America is no more; instead is a land broken, resembling what used to be New York, plagued with viruses and diseases. Using this backdrop, Yanagihara writes what it means to be human, to love, to lust, to feel pain, in a dystopian society, and what a dystopian society even is. Set in multiple part, the story follows Charlie, a twenty something woman, a survivor of one of the worst plagues, while the other perspective is her grandfather as he’s writing emails and letters to a friend in a different country. Both stories had incredible moments and both stories had dull moments. Overall, however, I felt that I connected the most with this story; perhaps it was because it was the longest, but I really just loved the grandfather, and because of his love for his granddaughter, I then, too, fell in love more with Charlie.
I would be lying if I said that I found this book perfect. This book is disconnected. It’s slow. It’s frustrating. It’s beautiful. It’s a lot of things, but it’s not perfect. For the most part, I am able to submit myself to Yanagihara’s writing because it truly is transcendent—meaning even when I find the story dull, or the characters boring, I can continue to love the story simply for the writing. I can’t say that that happened throughout the novel; specifically within the second part of the second story, and small parts of the third. There were parts where I just forced myself through because it was incredibly boring, and not even the writing was enticing enough for me to love what was happening. But, this books tackles so much, it’s scope is so large, that it’s hard to not love it and all of its flaws.
To Paradise spans three centuries, each detailing the lives of different characters, loosely tied together. Because of this, I feel it pertinent to consider each part it’s own book; it feels as if they are, each attempting to do its own thing, building upon the previous story, to create Yanagihara’s impeccable description of life and love and happiness and sadness and everything in between.
Washington Square: The first story begins with David, a twenty something man who is overshadowed by his own families incredible legacy. David, the outcast of his prestigious family, is offered a marriage, one that his Grandfather implores him to consider (and take). All the while, David meets Edward, a young, unpredictable man, with a lust for life, and—at least to David—adventure. Thusly, he is forced to consider his arranged marriage with an older, seemingly unattractive man, or the curious and largely mysterious Edward. His decisions create turmoil within himself, as he uses one man when he can’t have the other. And, by the end, his own affection seems to blind him as secrets are revealed and decisions are forced to be made. However right or wrong such decisions seem, David is secure in his feelings of correctness and his resolve is unfaltering as he makes his way To Paradise.
Lipo-Wao-Nahele: Set in two parts, it follows a father and son, delving incredibly deep into their relationship; the fathers failures and the sons “betrayals.” David has seemingly forsaken his heritage and family, moving to New York to live his life, where he finds himself in love with a wealthy, older man. His life, on the outside, or at the briefest of glance, is near perfect: his partner loves him, he has a job, he is surrounded by wealth. But upon deeper inspection, his past, specifically his father, seems to be hounding him incessantly. It isn’t until he reads a letter he receives from his family that he is forced to confront his past, ending the first part. The second begins and we quickly learn that it is David’s father, telling his son the story of his life; it is the truth of how he failed as a father. He tells of his own childhood, how he came to be before his son, and, thusly, the downfall of himself as he surrenders and submits to someone else.
Zone Eight: In the future, in 2093, America is no more; instead is a land broken, resembling what used to be New York, plagued with viruses and diseases. Using this backdrop, Yanagihara writes what it means to be human, to love, to lust, to feel pain, in a dystopian society, and what a dystopian society even is. Set in multiple part, the story follows Charlie, a twenty something woman, a survivor of one of the worst plagues, while the other perspective is her grandfather as he’s writing emails and letters to a friend in a different country. Both stories had incredible moments and both stories had dull moments. Overall, however, I felt that I connected the most with this story; perhaps it was because it was the longest, but I really just loved the grandfather, and because of his love for his granddaughter, I then, too, fell in love more with Charlie.
I would be lying if I said that I found this book perfect. This book is disconnected. It’s slow. It’s frustrating. It’s beautiful. It’s a lot of things, but it’s not perfect. For the most part, I am able to submit myself to Yanagihara’s writing because it truly is transcendent—meaning even when I find the story dull, or the characters boring, I can continue to love the story simply for the writing. I can’t say that that happened throughout the novel; specifically within the second part of the second story, and small parts of the third. There were parts where I just forced myself through because it was incredibly boring, and not even the writing was enticing enough for me to love what was happening. But, this books tackles so much, it’s scope is so large, that it’s hard to not love it and all of its flaws.