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A review by documentno_is
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A long and winding saga about tragedy, disability, love, and friendship. I went into this novel knowing people found it depressing and sort of pointless and I can agree and disagree with that assessment.
Pros:
-The characters were deep, particularly Harold, Jude, Willem, ans JB were written with complexity and nuance.
-A stark and harrowing realness established the tone; I didn’t find this novel gratuitously sad just as difficult to sit with as much of the subject matter it dealt with.
- The chapters on Jude and Willem dealing withthe complex nature of their ability share intimacy were my favorite chapters, the author painstakingly built our understanding of both of their motivations and drive which made me sympathetic to their difficulty in finding closeness that was suitable for each other.
-I found Harold and Jude’s relationship particularly special, finding a new way to be a father after losing his son while never conflating the two of them was beautiful
Cons:
- there was a general pessimism, and almost ridiculous amount of tragedy the author threw at these characters it felt almost gratuitous at times, in the content warning sections the bottom I realized it contained graphic descriptions of almost every kind.
-Where the fuck was Malcolm for like 85% of this book? Removed in editing after setting him up to be such an interesting character was almost a disservice to the reader.
-I was really hoping for somewhat of a JB redemption arc but he really stayed the villain until the end, especially after Malcolm and Willem died I was hoping he would step up but instead we got the kiss, regardless I was interested in his addiction story.
- I hated that the mystery of Jude’s tragedy was being used as a narrative device / the entire “ what happened to him” angle too closely mimicked the overly comfortable way in which society invades disabled people’s autonomy and almost counteracted the authors purpose/theme because a lot of what made Jude’s life so unbearable was people’s inability to give him agency and decision in his own life.
Ultimately an often poignant and sometimes overly long tale of friends navigating the difficulties of life. I recommend, with heavy SA trigger warnings.
Pros:
-The characters were deep, particularly Harold, Jude, Willem, ans JB were written with complexity and nuance.
-A stark and harrowing realness established the tone; I didn’t find this novel gratuitously sad just as difficult to sit with as much of the subject matter it dealt with.
- The chapters on Jude and Willem dealing with
-
Cons:
- there was a general pessimism, and almost ridiculous amount of tragedy the author threw at these characters it felt almost gratuitous at times, in the content warning sections the bottom I realized it contained graphic descriptions of almost every kind.
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-
- I hated that the mystery of Jude’s tragedy was being used as a narrative device / the entire “ what happened to him” angle too closely mimicked the overly comfortable way in which society invades disabled people’s autonomy and almost counteracted the authors purpose/theme because a lot of what made Jude’s life so unbearable was people’s inability to give him agency and decision in his own life.
Ultimately an often poignant and sometimes overly long tale of friends navigating the difficulties of life. I recommend, with heavy SA trigger warnings.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail