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A review by beccabookworm
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is the most tragic and emotionally draining book I've ever read. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing or as something that counts against my rating of the book. In a Vulture article the author wrote about the book, she basically says that she sought to write a tragic novel that gets darker and sadder and more "sick" (her word) as the narrative progresses. I think she succeeded in that. In fact, although I found myself getting frustrated with and fatigued by all the constant tragedy, knowing that that was the author's intentions actually raises the book in my estimation because it shows the skill of the writer to create exactly what she set out to create.
Of course, there's no way to know - unless you read interviews and reviews before reading the book - the extent of the tragedy and darkness, or that it progresses the way it does. That said, while I understand the "tragedy porn" comments, I don't agree with the sentiment behind them. Maybe it is tragedy porn, but so what? It's supposed to be. While this novel is a portrait of a life and set in the real world, I don't think it's meant to be true and authentic to life and a conceivably real person's story. Some positive reviewers have held this novel up as a beautiful and honest portrait of queer men's lives. Maybe I don't have a right to say this because I'm not a queer man, but I don't agree with that either. I think the goal of writing a book wherein everything gets darker and more tragic as it progresses and never really gets light again save for brief sparks of fading light is contradictory to writing an honest portrait of life. Yes, people live tragic lives and it doesn't always get better, but life ebbs and flows and there's usually some hope to latch onto. Whether or not you believe that hope is futile, there is still hope.
That is not the case in this story. It is almost a complete downward trajectory with tiny blips of peace or semblances of happiness. The longest section is called "The Happy Years" and most of that section is not happy. You feel that happiness towards the end of the section, but then the section ends with a terrible, last straw, throw-the-book-across-the-room-in-anger thing happening. The very existence of Jude as a character (though not to discount anyone who's lived through horrible experiences) presents a kind of over-the-top tragedy when applied to a single person. Almost every extreme violent trauma he could be subjected to, he was. For those reasons, this book is not, to me, reflective of real life big picture. So, it should not be read/reviewed that way. From my understanding, it's just supposed to be a sad book for the sake of being sad. The fact that it succeeds in that is, to me, commendable.
There were some elements I really didn't like, particularly some of Yanagihara's treatment of race and sexuality. This includes the early insinuation that "real Haitians" in New York were so perpetually poor that they would and could never rent out an art studio space separate from their living space; Malcom lamenting not being Black enough because he didn't see himself as a wounded, perpetually angry victim; Harold's assertion that the 13th amendment is the remains of politics past and, therefore, not sexy enough to write about (which I admittedly don't even know what that means); Harold enjoying provoking JB to make "outrageous and borderline racist statements," which means JB was all too ready to make such statements; and presenting no counter to characters insisting that Willem is gay when he starts dating Jude, completely ignoring his decades of dating and sexual history with all the women he's loved and slept with in long-term relationship and casual hookups. Yes, Yanagihara is a brilliant writer for writing this story the way she wanted to, but she also wrote characters who are really crappy people. They're not even crappy in an entertaining and redeemable way - they just suck.
Of course, there's no way to know - unless you read interviews and reviews before reading the book - the extent of the tragedy and darkness, or that it progresses the way it does. That said, while I understand the "tragedy porn" comments, I don't agree with the sentiment behind them. Maybe it is tragedy porn, but so what? It's supposed to be. While this novel is a portrait of a life and set in the real world, I don't think it's meant to be true and authentic to life and a conceivably real person's story. Some positive reviewers have held this novel up as a beautiful and honest portrait of queer men's lives. Maybe I don't have a right to say this because I'm not a queer man, but I don't agree with that either. I think the goal of writing a book wherein everything gets darker and more tragic as it progresses and never really gets light again save for brief sparks of fading light is contradictory to writing an honest portrait of life. Yes, people live tragic lives and it doesn't always get better, but life ebbs and flows and there's usually some hope to latch onto. Whether or not you believe that hope is futile, there is still hope.
That is not the case in this story. It is almost a complete downward trajectory with tiny blips of peace or semblances of happiness. The longest section is called "The Happy Years" and most of that section is not happy. You feel that happiness towards the end of the section, but then the section ends with a terrible, last straw, throw-the-book-across-the-room-in-anger thing happening. The very existence of Jude as a character (though not to discount anyone who's lived through horrible experiences) presents a kind of over-the-top tragedy when applied to a single person. Almost every extreme violent trauma he could be subjected to, he was. For those reasons, this book is not, to me, reflective of real life big picture. So, it should not be read/reviewed that way. From my understanding, it's just supposed to be a sad book for the sake of being sad. The fact that it succeeds in that is, to me, commendable.
There were some elements I really didn't like, particularly some of Yanagihara's treatment of race and sexuality. This includes the early insinuation that "real Haitians" in New York were so perpetually poor that they would and could never rent out an art studio space separate from their living space; Malcom lamenting not being Black enough because he didn't see himself as a wounded, perpetually angry victim; Harold's assertion that the 13th amendment is the remains of politics past and, therefore, not sexy enough to write about (which I admittedly don't even know what that means); Harold enjoying provoking JB to make "outrageous and borderline racist statements," which means JB was all too ready to make such statements; and presenting no counter to characters insisting that Willem is gay when he starts dating Jude, completely ignoring his decades of dating and sexual history with all the women he's loved and slept with in long-term relationship and casual hookups. Yes, Yanagihara is a brilliant writer for writing this story the way she wanted to, but she also wrote characters who are really crappy people. They're not even crappy in an entertaining and redeemable way - they just suck.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Terminal illness, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Biphobia, Infidelity, and Dementia