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A review by whatsshwereading
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
TW: Sexual abuse, physical abuse, pedophilia, self-mutilation, drug-abuse, suicide, grief from death of a loved one, rape, toxic relationships and violence.
A Little Life has got to be one of the most heart breaking books I've ever read. Yanagihara, in devastatingly beautiful prose tells you the story of Jude St Francis, Willem Ragnerson and their world. She brings to life a New York that exists in a vacuum of presentness (no sense which years the book is set in, no indication to real time events) and a host of characters who will endear themselves to you through their sheer devotion for the irreparably damaged Jude. The writing is so compelling that once I started reading, I just couldn't stop. I had to know if Jude gets the happy ending I so desperately wished for him.
“What he knew, he knew from books, and books lied, they made things prettier.”
Whatever you say of Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life, you could never, ever accuse it of making things prettier. In fact, the opposite. There's just SO MUCH of everything. Yanagihara, herself, said in an interview that she wanted to put in an excess of everything, to see how much a reader could take, how far they could be pushed. I'd say, target achieved. And this is my main grouse with the book. Did Jude really have to go through everything he did? At one point, it got unrealistic - the excess of traumas he's made to undergo, took away from the colossal heartbreak the book would've otherwise caused (not that it didn't. I still think about Jude and weep)
That aside, A Little Life is one of the best odes to adult male friendships that I've read. It's a masterclass in character study and development, a thought-provoking narrative - how mentally exhausting is it to maintain a relationship with someone so damaged that they do not want to be helped? How do you go on, knowing that someone you unconditionally love is bent on destroying themselves? How do you save someone who does not want to be saved?
A Little Life is the kind of book that will be your favourite but one you will never be able to re-read. Did I love the book? I don't know, it's complicated. Did it make me cry? For hours. Will I recommend it? Yes, but with a whole lot of warnings.
A Little Life has got to be one of the most heart breaking books I've ever read. Yanagihara, in devastatingly beautiful prose tells you the story of Jude St Francis, Willem Ragnerson and their world. She brings to life a New York that exists in a vacuum of presentness (no sense which years the book is set in, no indication to real time events) and a host of characters who will endear themselves to you through their sheer devotion for the irreparably damaged Jude. The writing is so compelling that once I started reading, I just couldn't stop. I had to know if Jude gets the happy ending I so desperately wished for him.
“What he knew, he knew from books, and books lied, they made things prettier.”
Whatever you say of Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life, you could never, ever accuse it of making things prettier. In fact, the opposite. There's just SO MUCH of everything. Yanagihara, herself, said in an interview that she wanted to put in an excess of everything, to see how much a reader could take, how far they could be pushed. I'd say, target achieved. And this is my main grouse with the book. Did Jude really have to go through everything he did? At one point, it got unrealistic - the excess of traumas he's made to undergo, took away from the colossal heartbreak the book would've otherwise caused (not that it didn't. I still think about Jude and weep)
That aside, A Little Life is one of the best odes to adult male friendships that I've read. It's a masterclass in character study and development, a thought-provoking narrative - how mentally exhausting is it to maintain a relationship with someone so damaged that they do not want to be helped? How do you go on, knowing that someone you unconditionally love is bent on destroying themselves? How do you save someone who does not want to be saved?
A Little Life is the kind of book that will be your favourite but one you will never be able to re-read. Did I love the book? I don't know, it's complicated. Did it make me cry? For hours. Will I recommend it? Yes, but with a whole lot of warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt