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A review by sagabrodersen
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Honestly I’ve never been happier (or correction: relieved) to finish a book. It was as stated, a brutal read. I wanted to throw it aside so many times, leave it in a box somewhere deep down in a storage unit. Yet…. I absolutely loved it.
And for many reasons.
I mean, I get why the book has gotten the criticism it has gotten. One could easily say the book is filled with torture-pornographic details and excessive violence. But having read it and also having listened to Yanagihara in interviews I do not agree with the critics anymore. The book is not about excessive violence and “torturing gay characters” - it’s about friendship, love, trauma, memory and how life doesn’t always have a happy ending. I think why I loved it so much is because having PTSD myself - I’ve never read something that portrays the extreme sorrow, anger and pain that comes with it. And a lot of the times people’s lives (people living with immense traumas) ends up with suicide.
For me the book wasn’t “unbelievable” because I know these kinds of life destinies are real.
Also what stayed with me the most after finishing the book wasnt the graphic scenes of abuse. Not at all actually. What really stayed with me was (and is) the friendship and love between Willem and Jude, the storyline with Harold, with Andy. All those small moments - small yet so incredibly beautiful almost painfully so. And Yanagihara is extraordinarily talented at portraying those beautiful moments and feelings.
And for many reasons.
I mean, I get why the book has gotten the criticism it has gotten. One could easily say the book is filled with torture-pornographic details and excessive violence. But having read it and also having listened to Yanagihara in interviews I do not agree with the critics anymore. The book is not about excessive violence and “torturing gay characters” - it’s about friendship, love, trauma, memory and how life doesn’t always have a happy ending. I think why I loved it so much is because having PTSD myself - I’ve never read something that portrays the extreme sorrow, anger and pain that comes with it. And a lot of the times people’s lives (people living with immense traumas) ends up with suicide.
For me the book wasn’t “unbelievable” because I know these kinds of life destinies are real.
Also what stayed with me the most after finishing the book wasnt the graphic scenes of abuse. Not at all actually. What really stayed with me was (and is) the friendship and love between Willem and Jude, the storyline with Harold, with Andy. All those small moments - small yet so incredibly beautiful almost painfully so. And Yanagihara is extraordinarily talented at portraying those beautiful moments and feelings.