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A review by cooper_michael
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
5.0
To Paradise is the kind of novel you want to read so years from now when it becomes a work of classic literature you can tell your kids you remember reading it when it first came out. It is a work of fiction so expertly crafted that you must revel in the language as long as possible. This is a book to keep your eye on, because it is going to be big!
It may have taken me a few months to read this (though the book is not to blame... acting conservatory takes up all my time and brain power), but every second I spent with it was worth it. Yanagihara has crafted a novel that blends times and reimagines an America that is subtly different to ours yet scarily similar. It takes the form of three stories, all connected by characters of the same names and themes of human suffering. Anyone who has read A Little Life will know that Yanagihara seems to be enthralled by this subject. To Paradise is much less traumatic in a visceral way, but scarily predictive of a society that we could easily slip into. I was blown away by the way the language shifted with the time period and Yanagihara's masterful characterizations. These were real people in real worlds experiencing very real things and that was clear. Yanagihara is a writer of our generation. I review on the back cover claims To Paradise is better than War and Peace and even though I haven't read any Tolstoy, I believe it. This is a generational literary accomplishment.
There was much to love in To Paradise. The expert storytelling, the flawless and effortless world building, the language (The reason Yanagihara is quickly becoming my favorite author), and the beautifully flawed characters. I could not have asked for anything better. However, my biggest gripe with this novel is that I felt some choices were not fully realized. I'm sure length was a constriction, but I felt Yanagihara would introduce a minor plot point that could lend well to the story, then it would disappear and not be looked at again. Or she would build to a big moment and that big moment wasn't really as big as the build was suggesting. This wasn't enough to ruin the book for me though. It is still easily worth 5 stars.
Yanagihara has captured my soul again. To Paradise was brutal, painful, visceral, hopeful, and all around astonishing. I'm simply blown away.
It may have taken me a few months to read this (though the book is not to blame... acting conservatory takes up all my time and brain power), but every second I spent with it was worth it. Yanagihara has crafted a novel that blends times and reimagines an America that is subtly different to ours yet scarily similar. It takes the form of three stories, all connected by characters of the same names and themes of human suffering. Anyone who has read A Little Life will know that Yanagihara seems to be enthralled by this subject. To Paradise is much less traumatic in a visceral way, but scarily predictive of a society that we could easily slip into. I was blown away by the way the language shifted with the time period and Yanagihara's masterful characterizations. These were real people in real worlds experiencing very real things and that was clear. Yanagihara is a writer of our generation. I review on the back cover claims To Paradise is better than War and Peace and even though I haven't read any Tolstoy, I believe it. This is a generational literary accomplishment.
There was much to love in To Paradise. The expert storytelling, the flawless and effortless world building, the language (The reason Yanagihara is quickly becoming my favorite author), and the beautifully flawed characters. I could not have asked for anything better. However, my biggest gripe with this novel is that I felt some choices were not fully realized. I'm sure length was a constriction, but I felt Yanagihara would introduce a minor plot point that could lend well to the story, then it would disappear and not be looked at again. Or she would build to a big moment and that big moment wasn't really as big as the build was suggesting. This wasn't enough to ruin the book for me though. It is still easily worth 5 stars.
Yanagihara has captured my soul again. To Paradise was brutal, painful, visceral, hopeful, and all around astonishing. I'm simply blown away.