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A review by kuya_kes
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0
They say people in your life are seasons, for they come & they go. But in Hanya Yanagihara's beautifully detailed, emotionally devastating yet cathartic construction about the lives of four lifelong friends through their turbulent, profound and traumatic relationships with each other and the world around them, you feel like you've spent a lifetime of seasons in their world within it's 720 pages.
Centralised through the life and times of Jude St. Francis, one of the most emotionally complex characters ever commited to fiction, the reader is tasked with navigating through empathy and sympathy as you see Jude through his own eyes, often with distortion, and through those who are within his orbit.
To know Jude St. Francis through his friends is to love Jude St. Francis. But to know Jude St. Francis through his own eyes is to fear (for) Jude St. Francis. I've read a number of books that deal with neglect, abuse and feeling unloved but none until now have taken me on the same visceral journey of turmoil, shame and blame they way this has. At times when I felt frustrated, angry or sunken at character behavior, I would then go on to feel guilty about it due to the complexity of how someone's damage and self sabotage destroys reason. Marvelous writing did this to me.
The expertly ways in which Yanagihara weaves perpectives which add more layers into each character makes you care & invest when they are effected, get frustrated when they use poor judgement and widen your eyes to both re-read and rapidly read on continue to verify when something unthinkable happens to them as if the trauma also involves you.
After closing the book, I find myself still thinking about the characters. Not only how they ended up but where things could have been different or what they would have experienced all along the way in the time in between what the book covered. I felt a sense of loss saying goodbye to the characters and thankful to have escaped it's world's ugliness.
This may end up becoming one of the best reads of my life.
Centralised through the life and times of Jude St. Francis, one of the most emotionally complex characters ever commited to fiction, the reader is tasked with navigating through empathy and sympathy as you see Jude through his own eyes, often with distortion, and through those who are within his orbit.
To know Jude St. Francis through his friends is to love Jude St. Francis. But to know Jude St. Francis through his own eyes is to fear (for) Jude St. Francis. I've read a number of books that deal with neglect, abuse and feeling unloved but none until now have taken me on the same visceral journey of turmoil, shame and blame they way this has. At times when I felt frustrated, angry or sunken at character behavior, I would then go on to feel guilty about it due to the complexity of how someone's damage and self sabotage destroys reason. Marvelous writing did this to me.
The expertly ways in which Yanagihara weaves perpectives which add more layers into each character makes you care & invest when they are effected, get frustrated when they use poor judgement and widen your eyes to both re-read and rapidly read on continue to verify when something unthinkable happens to them as if the trauma also involves you.
After closing the book, I find myself still thinking about the characters. Not only how they ended up but where things could have been different or what they would have experienced all along the way in the time in between what the book covered. I felt a sense of loss saying goodbye to the characters and thankful to have escaped it's world's ugliness.
This may end up becoming one of the best reads of my life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, and Violence