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A review by badbrad002
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
5.0
An exquisitely-written, intense, heart-breaking, and profound (fictional) story. The novel primarily centers on four college roommates, their lives in NYC, and the ways in which their pasts affect their present and define their futures.
It questions the value of those with whom you surround yourself, the value you provide them, and the self-perceived difference between the two; how the benefits and challenges we present to each other are mutual and contribute to an equilibrium (or lack thereof) within these relationships. It poses the question -often starkly: are the adverse times in our lives as valuable as the best in delivering our present?
It highlights how subjectively success, happiness, our lives & relationships are defined; and in doing so, it challenges the traditional definition of each. It shows how this transforms as we mature, and challenges one to follow a true self instead of relying on societal expectations for definition. But it also admits that in the end, our selves and our values are derived individually, with or without external input.
The story is set in New York -which always infuses a sense of familiarity for me- but I also saw many parallels to my own life, and recognized traits in a number of characters that exist in myself. Perhaps this was intended by the Author, to showcase how we have a lot more in common with each other than we realize (or care to admit).
In short: Read. This. Book.
It questions the value of those with whom you surround yourself, the value you provide them, and the self-perceived difference between the two; how the benefits and challenges we present to each other are mutual and contribute to an equilibrium (or lack thereof) within these relationships. It poses the question -often starkly: are the adverse times in our lives as valuable as the best in delivering our present?
It highlights how subjectively success, happiness, our lives & relationships are defined; and in doing so, it challenges the traditional definition of each. It shows how this transforms as we mature, and challenges one to follow a true self instead of relying on societal expectations for definition. But it also admits that in the end, our selves and our values are derived individually, with or without external input.
The story is set in New York -which always infuses a sense of familiarity for me- but I also saw many parallels to my own life, and recognized traits in a number of characters that exist in myself. Perhaps this was intended by the Author, to showcase how we have a lot more in common with each other than we realize (or care to admit).
In short: Read. This. Book.