A review by hannahmayreads
Real Life by Brandon Taylor

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 This is a beautiful book, but hauntingly so.

I read a decent number of campus novels as part of my degree, but none were like this. It feels modern and relevant in ways the ones on my reading lists never were while maintaining that essential rarefication of academic life. Taylor however brings 'real life' to this cosseted world.

It is written with nuance and sensitivity to the complexities and contradictions of the characters, and nothing is just for the shock of it. The tone is precise and observant, the narrative is detail orientated. That description also sums up Wallace rather well. Despite this precision, it feels like the novel (and Wallace) could slip away at any moment - it is fragile, almost liquid (as the Guardian observed). I felt like we got to know Wallace intimately - we are after all privy to his innermost thoughts and the workings of his mind. And yet for all the intimacy remains entirely unknowable, an enigma.

To put it succinctly, this is the book I wanted A Little Life to be. Taylor has written a novel that is deeply intimate but is balanced where A Little Life wasn't by its clinical narrative. 
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