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scarily amazing
It’s been two months since i finished A Little Life. I think. I don’t know, maybe three. It’s truly the best book I've ever read. I just can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve been trying to find something- anything -that will make me feel the way this book made me feel, and I just can’t find anything. This book filled me up inside just to leave a big hole in my chest when it ended. I wonder if Hanya Yanagihara will write something like this. Only god knows how much money I would pay for a book like this one. So heartbreaking. I won’t ever forget about Jude. He’s always in the back of my mind.
Cathryn Conroy
An Elegiac, Heartbreaking Story That Is a Literary Masterpiece
This truly exceptional book by Hanya Yanagihara is a literary masterpiece. It is, quite possibly, a work of genius. It is also the saddest, most upsetting book I have read—perhaps ever.
This is not a book I would casually recommend to anyone. It is dense. It is intense. It is more about misery than joy, and it sucks the reader down into that misery like quicksand. It is desolate. There is (extremely) disturbing violence. More than anything, it is absolutely, totally heartbreaking. (See below for my reasons why you should read a book that is so melancholy and deeply sorrowful.)
This is the story of four college friends and roommates—Willem, Malcolm, JB and Jude—who presumably, although it is only implied, went to Harvard. The book begins soon after they have graduated and ends decades later. Brilliant and creative, each is flawed in some important way. Eventually, the story focuses more on Jude, the most damaged and broken—physically and psychologically—of the four men, who was abandoned as an infant and was severely abused, both physically and sexually, throughout his childhood. He shields and protects the dark and tragic secrets of his past from his three very close friends. We readers gradually learn the gritty, obscene and absolutely appalling details of Jude's past, but only in bits and pieces, until eventually all is revealed. And it is truly horrific. This is not for the weak-hearted. The one thread of hope that runs throughout the book is the salvation we find in the love of enduring and abiding friendship.
So…why read a book like this, a book that is nothing but depressing and will make you feel absolutely wretched? One simple reason beyond the fact that it is truly incredible literature: It will make you a better person. It will give you empathy and understanding for those who are suffering unimaginable curses of their past. If you love someone who is depressed, suicidal, or engages in self-harm, this may give you more understanding so you can perhaps help or comfort—even if it's only in a small way.
This is definitely not a book that I can say I enjoyed reading. Quite the opposite, in fact. But I am in awe of it. And that counts for a lot. (Near the end of the book is this line: "What he knew, he knew from books, and books lied, they made things prettier." NOT this one!)
Told with remarkable perception of the human psyche, this elegiac work of art will haunt me for a long time to come.
Sarah W.
Real love involves acceptance
This book served to challenge my ideas about friendship, love, romance and self-regard. The central characters are drawn in such a realistic fashion the reader is drawn into a world that is new, but often familiar, an existence that is both painful and beautiful. Although there is plenty of ugliness in the story, the overall result is one of a sad but serene resolution and acceptance of things as they are. I will always remember this book.
Jen F.
Tender, achingly human
I listened to this book rather than read it, however, the writing style still was a page turner. Yanagihara created characters and relationships that were real, and circumstances that made me want more. It was so sad, but so good.
Susan Coene
A Short Love Letter to Hanya...
I don't want to go into detail about how much I truly loved this book (Davina knows, I told her I might be delayed with a review I am scheduled to due because I was reading "A Little Life" and could not put it down). The only reason why I am writing this is to urge all Book Browse readers to try this book. It is well worth the time. The other reviewers said it better than I can. Truly one of the great reading experiences. Do yourself a favor - try it!
Kathy H.
Friendship is its own miracle
Brace yourself is right. There are no words available to do this lovely, sprawling book justice. It touched me and taught me and had me marveling at the beauty of love - seeing it in a completely different light. Jude St. Francis is a marvel - he at turns had me sobbing, fearful, in pain and infuriated. "Life" is not an easy book to read, but it's SOOOO worth it. I can't think of another book I've EVER read that had the same effect on me (except maybe "The Goldfinch"). Yanagihara is a fabulous, fabulous writer, and "A Little Life" is the book of the year for me. That she is able to juggle the scope of such a story, and yet make it feel so personal, so involved, so real and close.
"He would have kept living his little life; he would have never known the difference..."
And the cover...it's so wonderful, so much what I think Jude would look like...
P.S. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC! Many thanks!!
Diane S
Little Life
Such an incredibly hard book to read, and yet a beautiful book too, on the true meaning of friendship. Written so tenderly, poignantly and with raw honesty. The characters run the gamut from those among us who are the most cruel, the most hateful and those who are able to offer a love that is profound, unconditional and where many of us probably fall, wanting to be netter than we are.
The characters are human, flawed, some almost too good to be true, and yet it is the moments we don't see, that we hear about that defines this book, in the thoughts of the characters, the empty spaces. How does one forgive one's own past, a place and upbringing that was not ones choice? Why do we hang on to a place, a state of mind, that causes us nothing but pain?
The writing is exemplary, the abuse scenes can be graphic, but offset by friendships that are amazing, love that is wonderful. I have read so many articles where critics and readers both decry, "Where are the published books that will later be considered a classic?" I think this one will, one of the best, most sincere, if painful books, I have read in a long time.
AmberBug
Went straight into my top 10.
Is it too much to say this book is one of my all time favorites? Ever!? Well too bad! I'm going to stick by this statement. I haven't read a book that made me cry so hard in a LONG time. A Little Life is tragic, emotional, heartbreaking but beautiful, loving and warm at the same time. Right from the start, we are introduced to this close knit group of friends that intertwine in so many ways but all the lines end with Jude. Jude is the private, quiet but sentimental sweet one. He is also looked out for by the group due to a disability. You don't have to try very hard to love Jude, I guarantee you'll be as head over heels with him as I was within the second/third chapter. Not to say that all the other characters don't have as much to give, because they each have a great personality and story to tell. Malcolm; the ambitious architect, JB; the talented addicted artist, Willem; the theater boy turned famous actor, and Jude; the tortured lawyer. The list of amazing characters doesn't even end there though, we have Harold; the kind old man who mentors Jude and Adam; the overcaring doctor that tends to Jude at whatever day or time is needed.
When I first read the description of this book, I have to admit I did an eye roll... ayep. I'm so OVER the friendship stories that span a lifetime, yes... they speak to me and I can relate to them BUT enough of them already! Boy, I was in for a treat. I had read Yanagihara's first book, "The People in the Trees" and really enjoyed it and if it wasn't for that, I probably would have missed out on this excellent piece of literature. I would like to kiss Yanagihara's feet for this book (and I HATE feet). Some parts of this book had that brilliance that we got to see in her first book, like when Harold drones on and on about law, but ultimately, this dribble of a speech is fascinating. Who would have thunk!? Yanagihara, thank you so much for coming into my life! I need more books, please! Let me gift you with a few glorious parts I had to save for later:
"Fairness is for happy people, for people who have been lucky enough to have lived a life defined more by certainties than by ambiguities."
"His persistent nostalgia depressed him, aged him, and yet he couldn't stop feeling that the most glorious years, the years when everything seemed drawn in fluorescents were gone. Everyone had been so much more entertaining then. What had happened?"
"Relationships never provide you with everything. They provide you with some things... don't you see it's a trap? If you keep trying to find everything, you'll wind up with nothing."
I think what brought me so close to this book and Jude is that I can completely relate to the way he deals with problems (no, not cutting). Those parts that describe memories like hyenas snapping and hungry, clawing at the door, wanting to break free. I know exactly what that is like, and being able to relate to that brought me very close to Jude. In no way is my life even close to being as messed up but I think anyone who knows what suppressing bad memories is like, will be able to relate to this character. Yanagihara can clearly paint a picture of someones life, I can only imagine she knows what suppressing bad memories feels like (there is no way she did it so clearly without that experience). I have SO much more to say but it would go beyond what is acceptable to talk about in a review. I want this book to be a little surprise to everyone... so before you read this, do what I did and roll your eyes and say, "not again!" Trust me, you'll be in for a big surprise!