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ben_magyar 's review for:
To Paradise
by Hanya Yanagihara
My irks with this book stem from its strengths. Each story leaves you wanting more. But goddam, I wanted more. I needed the end of each story, I needed to know what happened to my Davids and to Charlie.
Each story succeeds in its own way. By far the first is comparably the least interesting, but the alternate history adds a level of intrigue, even if its delivery is rendered incomplete by the 180 pages. The second story, split in two two, delves into firstly, the intricacies of dying in a way I had never read before, and secondly the meaning of what it means to be Hawaiian. In this way it is wholly novel and I loved it.
The final story, Yanagahara tries her hand at sci-fi and succeeds in creating a dystopian, realistic future that is gritty but fleshed out, futuristic but grounded. That story, despite some unevenness in the two sides of the story, nearly made me cry, and was by far the most cohesive.
Yanagahara used three distinctive narrative styles for each time period, tracking a family through the 90s of the 1800s, 1900s and 2000s. All are engaging, (I had some grief with the final one, finding the diary entries far less interesting than the main story, usually relegated for plot dumps).
Ultimately, with the difficult task of following up A Little Life, Yanagahara succeeds in making you care about 3 distinctly different protagonist, in three fleshed out alternate worlds, in three very different styles, while delivering a cohesive novel.
I will read everything she writes now.
Each story succeeds in its own way. By far the first is comparably the least interesting, but the alternate history adds a level of intrigue, even if its delivery is rendered incomplete by the 180 pages. The second story, split in two two, delves into firstly, the intricacies of dying in a way I had never read before, and secondly the meaning of what it means to be Hawaiian. In this way it is wholly novel and I loved it.
The final story, Yanagahara tries her hand at sci-fi and succeeds in creating a dystopian, realistic future that is gritty but fleshed out, futuristic but grounded. That story, despite some unevenness in the two sides of the story, nearly made me cry, and was by far the most cohesive.
Yanagahara used three distinctive narrative styles for each time period, tracking a family through the 90s of the 1800s, 1900s and 2000s. All are engaging, (I had some grief with the final one, finding the diary entries far less interesting than the main story, usually relegated for plot dumps).
Ultimately, with the difficult task of following up A Little Life, Yanagahara succeeds in making you care about 3 distinctly different protagonist, in three fleshed out alternate worlds, in three very different styles, while delivering a cohesive novel.
I will read everything she writes now.