You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by pascalthehoff
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
5.0
I think I could never have read this in text-form. The incessantly rambling nature going into minute details of each character's emotions is maybe the novel's biggest strength, but it also works to its detriment. Sometimes – especially with reading sessions of less than (at least!) half an hour – it feels like the narrative just doesn't move on.
Usually, I'm not one for audiobooks when it comes to fiction, but this novel was perfect for this format. Especially with the outstanding performance (yes, performance) by Oliver Wyman giving each character their distinct voice and feel – in the non-dialogue narration as well.
As for the story itself, it was as moving as it was painful to read. Especially in the end, I felt like it veered a bit too much into stacking devastating events on an already dismal basis, but I guess that is the point of this novel. And in that way, it fits.
The focus on upper-class characters with seemingly infinite amounts of money to burn tainted the story a certain way. The straight-faced American Dream arc of the main characters ("they who work hard get what they deserve") feels slightly out of place in a novel from 2015. At times, this makes the novel feel like it's about rich people problems.
However, with these two things being my main criticisms, the novel deserves praise for how it doubles down on them. Yes, life can suck THAT bad sometimes. Yes, even privileged actors and lawyers aren't immune to severe emotional stress or mental illness.
A Little Life doesn't hurry to show just a little piece of its main characters' lives but their entire lives from beginning to end, not sparing a single major moment. The fact that a novel which focuses so much on its characters' inner workings always manages to keep a steady (albeit deliberately slow) pace speaks volumes about the author's capabilities of describing intangible concepts in a tangible way.
Usually, I'm not one for audiobooks when it comes to fiction, but this novel was perfect for this format. Especially with the outstanding performance (yes, performance) by Oliver Wyman giving each character their distinct voice and feel – in the non-dialogue narration as well.
As for the story itself, it was as moving as it was painful to read. Especially in the end, I felt like it veered a bit too much into stacking devastating events on an already dismal basis, but I guess that is the point of this novel. And in that way, it fits.
The focus on upper-class characters with seemingly infinite amounts of money to burn tainted the story a certain way. The straight-faced American Dream arc of the main characters ("they who work hard get what they deserve") feels slightly out of place in a novel from 2015. At times, this makes the novel feel like it's about rich people problems.
However, with these two things being my main criticisms, the novel deserves praise for how it doubles down on them. Yes, life can suck THAT bad sometimes. Yes, even privileged actors and lawyers aren't immune to severe emotional stress or mental illness.
A Little Life doesn't hurry to show just a little piece of its main characters' lives but their entire lives from beginning to end, not sparing a single major moment. The fact that a novel which focuses so much on its characters' inner workings always manages to keep a steady (albeit deliberately slow) pace speaks volumes about the author's capabilities of describing intangible concepts in a tangible way.