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A review by 16nnovs
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
1.0
edit: i think i’m going to give this book one star. every time i think i’m done commenting on this book, something else pops up into my head proving just how much this book was such an uncomfortable experience for me. i’m done editing my review although i don’t think i could ever stop venting about this book. blegh
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this novel has left me speechless. i finished this read a couple of weeks ago and genuinely struggled to find the words to make this post. hanya yanagihara has shaken me to my core.
to begin, it is undeniable that hanya is lethal with the pen. her writing, her prose, and the way she can take certain topics pertaining to a character and transform them into something so beautiful that i sometimes have to stop my reading and stare at a wall for a moment. it's like watching a small flame hatch into a phoenix. the process of it all just leaves me at a loss for words.
here are some of my favorite quotes/excerpts that stayed with me:
“The axiom of the empty set is the axiom of zero. It states that there must be a concept of nothingness, that there must be the concept of zero: zero value, zero items. Math assumes there’s a concept of nothingness, but is it proven? No. But it must exist. “And if we are being philosophical — which we today are — we can say that life itself is the axiom of the empty set. It begins in zero and ends in zero. We know that both states exist, but we will not be conscious of either experience: they are states that are necessary parts of life, even as they cannot be experienced as life. We assume the concept of nothingness, but we cannot prove it. But it must exist.”
“Jude,” Harold says to him, quietly. “My poor Jude. My poor sweetheart.” And with that, he starts to cry, for no one has ever called him sweetheart [. . .] “My sweetheart,” Harold says again, and he wants him to stop; he wants him to never stop. “My baby.” And he cries and cries, cries for everything he has been, for everything he might have been”
“But what in life wasn't connected to some greater, sadder story?”
“You’ll find your own way to discuss what happened to you. You’ll have to, if you ever want to be close to anyone. But your life—no matter what you think, you have nothing to be ashamed of, and none of it has been your fault. Will you remember that?”
another thing i enjoyed so much about this read was the meticulous way hanya builds her characters. i loved how we were introduced to jude, jb, malcolm, and willem as a quartet, and then the following chapters were each about their individual lives: their relationships with their families, their love lives, their insecurities, feelings, and so on. i imagined myself as a guest in one big home they all shared, going around opening each of their bedrooms and peering into their lives to see who they were. when the four of them were together, it felt so incredibly intimate in terms of friendship and brotherhood. every scene with them felt like they were huddled over a small fire together, shoulders and knees touching, whispering secrets to each other. i almost felt like a fly on the wall of their lives.
the little moments of tenderness and love within the relationships in the novel made me cry. even though it couldn’t save him, jude was always surrounded by love. his loved ones were like lighthouses, beacons of light, unwavering at sea; they were always there. reflecting on this book made me realize how those brief moments of love always stuck with me.
as much as i loved the relationships jude had, i also came to despise the people around him. when jude’s close friends learned the extent of his self-harm, why did they not commit him at once???? if they were so dedicated to loving him and not leaving him, why did they not keep a watchful eye on him early on?? willem. i’m looking at you???? and especially andy. oh my god, he pissed me off. that sorry excuse of a doctor. YOU ARE A DOCTOR!! YOU ARE HIS DOCTOR BEFORE YOU ARE HIS FRIEND AND EVEN IF YOU WERE HIS FRIEND FIRST, YOU ARE HIS FRIEND!!!! DOES THAT NOT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU???? he knew what jude was going through for the longest and he knew the extent, which is why i am so disappointed and upset with his character. some say it was a lack of understanding, some say they wanted him to have autonomy, and so on and so forth. but if you truly loved jude, you would cherish him more than you cherish your relationship with him. you would love him enough to burn your bridge and help him. what good is a friendship if one of you is constantly suffering? how can you wake up every day and not try?? and when they finally did it was far too late. i believe there was a reason for why these characters did this and it has to do with hanya herself.
moving on to the subject matter, the content of this novel was extremely hard to read. every time i read something horrific, i would think to myself, “okay, this is it; now it’s time for jude to find peace,” but he never did. it always got worse. i’ve heard a lot of buzz around this book and knew it was extremely triggering, but i did not anticipate it to this extent. i tried my best to avoid spoilers, so when i read through this book, i was completely gobsmacked. why were there no trigger warnings? why was jude put through all this? after some research and reading through an interview she did (i’ll link it below), i found that hanya doesn’t believe in trigger warnings, doesn’t believe in therapy, and did not do research for jude’s psychological trauma. (these points were also mentioned in several other reviewers posts)
hanya’s reasoning for that is that she was more focused on the extremities of human endurance and depicting cycles of trauma, grief, and survival, rather than clear resolutions (which sometimes is okay, but not in this case). she also believes that trigger warnings dilute the intensity of the emotional experience and the realism she aims for in this book. when i read that, i was like, ??? is that it??? you just wanted to shock people???? many people (myself included) believe that authors should be aware of how the content they create might affect readers—vulnerable readers at that. i do believe there is some sort of ethical responsibility to readers, and i just feel that the justifications for creating something like this are not enough. a lot of people love this book because it evokes such strong feelings, but just because a book can bring these emotions out of you does not necessarily make it a good or healthy book.
i don’t think hanya is a bad person for making this book; in fact, i think she is an incredible author. but dealing with the subject of csa/sa/sh and simply being “interested in the subject matter” is not enough. there has to be a sense of responsibility when writing about such things because this is a reality for so many people in the world. the fact that all of those topics and more were put into one book with such detail and intensity honestly frightened me a bit. this book feels like one huge inside thought, and i don’t think it should have been shared with the world. it feels unnatural.
the horrifying things that happened to jude made it hard to focus on what this book was actually about. what was this book about?? the cycles of trauma?? how much a human being can take??? the unseen struggles?? i felt like a bystander waiting for the worst to come, and when it did, it did not stop. i wish she had expanded more on jb and malcolm; they were just tossed aside. malcolm became a non-factor and jb was just...?? i don’t even know how to describe him. jb became disappointing and just plain stupid. i will never get over how he, towards the end of the book, just kissed jude like that out of the blue?? no pov from him afterward, no explanation, just some stupid kiss? and for what?? so jude can suffer some more??? he survived the four of them, and i did not feel a single thing about it. the ending felt unfinished; the best way i could describe it is an open bottle of water tipped over the side of a table, and the water is pouring out endlessly while i just watch it.
i feel like this review is all over the place, but that’s how i felt reading this book. it started off sweet and just spiraled into whatever this is. i’m giving this a 3 because i genuinely do not know how to rate it, so this will be a placeholder. if you enjoyed this book, i’d love to take whatever you’re on.
hanya yanagihara's interview w/ Electric Lit: https://electricliterature.com/a-stubborn-lack-of-redemption-an-interview-with-hanya-yanagihara-author-of-a-little-life/
__________________________________________________________________
this novel has left me speechless. i finished this read a couple of weeks ago and genuinely struggled to find the words to make this post. hanya yanagihara has shaken me to my core.
to begin, it is undeniable that hanya is lethal with the pen. her writing, her prose, and the way she can take certain topics pertaining to a character and transform them into something so beautiful that i sometimes have to stop my reading and stare at a wall for a moment. it's like watching a small flame hatch into a phoenix. the process of it all just leaves me at a loss for words.
here are some of my favorite quotes/excerpts that stayed with me:
“The axiom of the empty set is the axiom of zero. It states that there must be a concept of nothingness, that there must be the concept of zero: zero value, zero items. Math assumes there’s a concept of nothingness, but is it proven? No. But it must exist. “And if we are being philosophical — which we today are — we can say that life itself is the axiom of the empty set. It begins in zero and ends in zero. We know that both states exist, but we will not be conscious of either experience: they are states that are necessary parts of life, even as they cannot be experienced as life. We assume the concept of nothingness, but we cannot prove it. But it must exist.”
“Jude,” Harold says to him, quietly. “My poor Jude. My poor sweetheart.” And with that, he starts to cry, for no one has ever called him sweetheart [. . .] “My sweetheart,” Harold says again, and he wants him to stop; he wants him to never stop. “My baby.” And he cries and cries, cries for everything he has been, for everything he might have been”
“But what in life wasn't connected to some greater, sadder story?”
“You’ll find your own way to discuss what happened to you. You’ll have to, if you ever want to be close to anyone. But your life—no matter what you think, you have nothing to be ashamed of, and none of it has been your fault. Will you remember that?”
another thing i enjoyed so much about this read was the meticulous way hanya builds her characters. i loved how we were introduced to jude, jb, malcolm, and willem as a quartet, and then the following chapters were each about their individual lives: their relationships with their families, their love lives, their insecurities, feelings, and so on. i imagined myself as a guest in one big home they all shared, going around opening each of their bedrooms and peering into their lives to see who they were. when the four of them were together, it felt so incredibly intimate in terms of friendship and brotherhood. every scene with them felt like they were huddled over a small fire together, shoulders and knees touching, whispering secrets to each other. i almost felt like a fly on the wall of their lives.
the little moments of tenderness and love within the relationships in the novel made me cry. even though it couldn’t save him, jude was always surrounded by love. his loved ones were like lighthouses, beacons of light, unwavering at sea; they were always there. reflecting on this book made me realize how those brief moments of love always stuck with me.
as much as i loved the relationships jude had, i also came to despise the people around him. when jude’s close friends learned the extent of his self-harm, why did they not commit him at once???? if they were so dedicated to loving him and not leaving him, why did they not keep a watchful eye on him early on?? willem. i’m looking at you???? and especially andy. oh my god, he pissed me off. that sorry excuse of a doctor. YOU ARE A DOCTOR!! YOU ARE HIS DOCTOR BEFORE YOU ARE HIS FRIEND AND EVEN IF YOU WERE HIS FRIEND FIRST, YOU ARE HIS FRIEND!!!! DOES THAT NOT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU???? he knew what jude was going through for the longest and he knew the extent, which is why i am so disappointed and upset with his character. some say it was a lack of understanding, some say they wanted him to have autonomy, and so on and so forth. but if you truly loved jude, you would cherish him more than you cherish your relationship with him. you would love him enough to burn your bridge and help him. what good is a friendship if one of you is constantly suffering? how can you wake up every day and not try?? and when they finally did it was far too late. i believe there was a reason for why these characters did this and it has to do with hanya herself.
moving on to the subject matter, the content of this novel was extremely hard to read. every time i read something horrific, i would think to myself, “okay, this is it; now it’s time for jude to find peace,” but he never did. it always got worse. i’ve heard a lot of buzz around this book and knew it was extremely triggering, but i did not anticipate it to this extent. i tried my best to avoid spoilers, so when i read through this book, i was completely gobsmacked. why were there no trigger warnings? why was jude put through all this? after some research and reading through an interview she did (i’ll link it below), i found that hanya doesn’t believe in trigger warnings, doesn’t believe in therapy, and did not do research for jude’s psychological trauma. (these points were also mentioned in several other reviewers posts)
hanya’s reasoning for that is that she was more focused on the extremities of human endurance and depicting cycles of trauma, grief, and survival, rather than clear resolutions (which sometimes is okay, but not in this case). she also believes that trigger warnings dilute the intensity of the emotional experience and the realism she aims for in this book. when i read that, i was like, ??? is that it??? you just wanted to shock people???? many people (myself included) believe that authors should be aware of how the content they create might affect readers—vulnerable readers at that. i do believe there is some sort of ethical responsibility to readers, and i just feel that the justifications for creating something like this are not enough. a lot of people love this book because it evokes such strong feelings, but just because a book can bring these emotions out of you does not necessarily make it a good or healthy book.
i don’t think hanya is a bad person for making this book; in fact, i think she is an incredible author. but dealing with the subject of csa/sa/sh and simply being “interested in the subject matter” is not enough. there has to be a sense of responsibility when writing about such things because this is a reality for so many people in the world. the fact that all of those topics and more were put into one book with such detail and intensity honestly frightened me a bit. this book feels like one huge inside thought, and i don’t think it should have been shared with the world. it feels unnatural.
the horrifying things that happened to jude made it hard to focus on what this book was actually about. what was this book about?? the cycles of trauma?? how much a human being can take??? the unseen struggles?? i felt like a bystander waiting for the worst to come, and when it did, it did not stop. i wish she had expanded more on jb and malcolm; they were just tossed aside. malcolm became a non-factor and jb was just...?? i don’t even know how to describe him. jb became disappointing and just plain stupid. i will never get over how he, towards the end of the book, just kissed jude like that out of the blue?? no pov from him afterward, no explanation, just some stupid kiss? and for what?? so jude can suffer some more??? he survived the four of them, and i did not feel a single thing about it. the ending felt unfinished; the best way i could describe it is an open bottle of water tipped over the side of a table, and the water is pouring out endlessly while i just watch it.
i feel like this review is all over the place, but that’s how i felt reading this book. it started off sweet and just spiraled into whatever this is. i’m giving this a 3 because i genuinely do not know how to rate it, so this will be a placeholder. if you enjoyed this book, i’d love to take whatever you’re on.
hanya yanagihara's interview w/ Electric Lit: https://electricliterature.com/a-stubborn-lack-of-redemption-an-interview-with-hanya-yanagihara-author-of-a-little-life/