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A review by inherbooks
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
3.0
“The only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are – not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgiving – and then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad – or good – it might be, and to trust the, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well.”
I don't recommend you read this. I don’t know that I’ll be singing to a different melody from the rest but here are my two cents.
A Little Life, written by Hanya Yanagihara, starts off slowly – so slow that I had no idea how invested I actually was until much later. This novel inaudibly wrapped its pages around my heart, placed its stakes and tugged mercilessly. Jude, Willem, JB and Malcolm existed in real time for me over the last few weeks. From Massachusetts to New York, these four friends grew together, sometimes apart, while their ambitions guided them through their twenties and on. Their friendship felt natural and intensely heartwarming. If I wasn’t reading, I still worried about Jude, hoped Willem would speak up and felt as helpless as Andy.
To say I went through ALL of the emotions (ex. joy, love, grief, sadness, disbelief, anger, hurt) wouldn’t capture a fraction of this reading experience. This is singlehandedly the most gut-wrenching novel I’ve *ever* read. So much so that the beauty of the author’s prose was lost in the background as trauma took centre stage. I took frequent breaks to cry, to feel, to return, to let the frog in my throat dissipate.
This book has so many triggers. I usually gravitate towards emotional books. This was different. The feelings sat with me for days. I had a hard time shaking off the immediate emotions and to then be able to recognize the feelings that showed up later.
If I had to base my decision on writing style only, this would be one of my favourite reads of 2021. Hanya’s prose is by far one of the best I’ve read. Having said that, I don’t believe that’s enough to offset the triggering content. I'd have a difficult time recommending this to a friend, let alone a stranger.
I don't recommend you read this. I don’t know that I’ll be singing to a different melody from the rest but here are my two cents.
A Little Life, written by Hanya Yanagihara, starts off slowly – so slow that I had no idea how invested I actually was until much later. This novel inaudibly wrapped its pages around my heart, placed its stakes and tugged mercilessly. Jude, Willem, JB and Malcolm existed in real time for me over the last few weeks. From Massachusetts to New York, these four friends grew together, sometimes apart, while their ambitions guided them through their twenties and on. Their friendship felt natural and intensely heartwarming. If I wasn’t reading, I still worried about Jude, hoped Willem would speak up and felt as helpless as Andy.
To say I went through ALL of the emotions (ex. joy, love, grief, sadness, disbelief, anger, hurt) wouldn’t capture a fraction of this reading experience. This is singlehandedly the most gut-wrenching novel I’ve *ever* read. So much so that the beauty of the author’s prose was lost in the background as trauma took centre stage. I took frequent breaks to cry, to feel, to return, to let the frog in my throat dissipate.
This book has so many triggers. I usually gravitate towards emotional books. This was different. The feelings sat with me for days. I had a hard time shaking off the immediate emotions and to then be able to recognize the feelings that showed up later.
If I had to base my decision on writing style only, this would be one of my favourite reads of 2021. Hanya’s prose is by far one of the best I’ve read. Having said that, I don’t believe that’s enough to offset the triggering content. I'd have a difficult time recommending this to a friend, let alone a stranger.