To Paradise

by Hanya Yanagihara

Hardcover, 2022

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Genres

Collection

Fiction

Publication

Picador (2022), Edition: Main Market, 720 pages

Description

Spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, an unforgettable cast of characters are united by their reckonings with the qualities that make us human--fear, love, shame, need, and loneliness. "In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist's damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him--and solve the mystery of her husband's disappearances. These three sections are joined in an enthralling and ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can't exist. What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness''--Dust jacket flap.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member burritapal

There were three time settings: Once in 1893 once in 1993 once in 2093. The part in 2093 is so sad because the author has gotten it probably very close to what our real future is. A fascist state, controlled by unrelenting virus waves. There's food rationing, the water is very rationed. Housing is

rationed. It's horrible; there's all kinds of surveillance on its citizens. In I cried in the end not just because of the state of the United States but because of the sadness of what happened to the characters.

I'm having a hard time stomaching the character of David Bingham, a spoiled brat indulged Rich boy, who when he doesn't want to face things, just goes to his bed and pretends like he's sick. His grandfather orders exotic flowers from far places, wildly expensive.
"He rang for a bath to be prepared and his suit to be pressed."

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LibraryThing member Hccpsk

There is no doubt about Hanya Yanagihara's writing skill, and To Paradise certainly shows it off, but the book is long. Very long. Too long. It is also confusing--told in three sections that have characters with the same names who wrestle with similar issues--the themes of identity, health, and

family come through muddled. The premise and story of To Paradise showed promise, but the execution became mired in too much language and trapped in her own literary device.

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LibraryThing member thewanderingjew

To Paradise: A Novel, Hanya Yanagihara, author; Edoardo Ballerini, Catherine Ho, BD Wong, Feodor Chin, Kurt Kanazawa, narrators
Although the author’s ability to paint images with words is superb, I found the book difficult to read. The totally overriding homosexual themes held little interest for

me, but the creativity of the novel and the excellent and graceful use of language, which was read so well by the audio’s narrators, made it so engaging, it was difficult to give up on it. Still, I did have to skim a good deal of it, in order to get through it. The world envisioned is imaginary and the three tales take place in the past, sometime in the near present and in the future. In each section of the book, the same protagonists are placed in different positions regarding the world view, power, emotional need, and character. Their personalities are similar in some cases and different in others. Sometimes, the weak character’s personality is a bit stronger, and at other times, the strong character assumes a lesser role. Sometimes the roles are reversed and a male is a female.
As the novel meanders over approximately two centuries, it manages to cover the political issues of our current day, the possibility of what might evolve if we continue on our current path and the consequences of supporting the wrong causes. Love, devotion, fidelity, family bonds, relationships, poverty, racism, crime, homophobia, disease, laboratory research, freedom of speech, the cancel culture, the nanny state, oppressive regulations, government overreach, education, irresponsible choices, errors in judgment, the lack of privacy and individual rights, the loss of human and civil rights, in short, everything affecting the human condition lives large in each of the stories and in each of the character’s lives.
The novel takes place in a re-imagined United States. Let’s hope nothing near this dystopian universe ever comes to pass because the oppression and depression caused by the lack of hope and inspiration, made life hardly worth living.

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LibraryThing member davidroche

As one of many who took a couple of attempts to get into A Little Life, I found it compelling and absorbing once I did succeed in getting hooked. So, I have been saving Hanya Yanagihara’s latest brick, To Paradise (Picador), for the summer holidays so that I could maximise the attention I could

give to it. I’m glad I did as it’s one hell of a novel, with three separate stories spread over 200 years from an imaginary 1893 in New York in the ‘Free States’, to 1993 Hawai’i, and finally a dystopian 2093. It follows a family line and explores loneliness, reliance, feelings, memories, and expectations across varying groups and a growing set of restrictions imposed by both the powers that be and a series of pandemics that gradually lock down societies and limit choices. As one would expect, it’s a massively emotional ride and an immensely clever construction with layer upon layer of emotive Velcro to catch and bind the reader to its spell.

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LibraryThing member tinkerbellkk

After reading A Little Life that left me emotionally wrecked for weeks afterward, I decided to try this new novel by the sea author for my summer read since it is another massive one. While I wanted to love this book I found it was kind of disjointed and difficult to stay with. It was just too

long. The three different stories, one hundred years apart, with the same character names were interesting in their own right but I failed to see the overall point. Here's hoping that the last story of a dystopian society in the aftermath of many pandemics isn't some kind of warped insight into our future!

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LibraryThing member Iira

I had rather high expectations due to A Little Life and despite People in the Trees. This three-in-one package was a bit of this and a bit of that, but the whole was not more than it's parts. I liked the first and the last book, for different reasons, but the mid-section was not for me and I took a

break and read 10 books in between before I continued reading this one. That, of course, didn't help, but I had another difficult reading project at the same time which pushed me to finish this one. I would have enjoyed reading books 1 and 3 separately, but as a whole this is barely 3 stars. I like the writing and the style, but perhaps the story just wasn't for me or I was in the wrong book at the wrong time.

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LibraryThing member technodiabla

I listed to this book on Audible.

This novel is more like 2 novels and a novella. It consists of three books that each take place a century apart starting late 1800s. They are alternate US histories and a dystopic future. This book is long and paced and dark and sad. It's an investment in time and

emotional energy and it's worth it. Each Book is a story of someone seeking love and acceptance in societies that don't support them. Each society is different yet somehow none of the version manages to include and accept everyone. Ultimately people choose the hope of love and a potential paradise over the safety and a lonely existence. The last Book is the longest and best. The last 3 hours were simply gut wrenching and devastating to listen to.

It is interesting the novel was written before COVID. She nailed it.

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LibraryThing member bookomaniac

I’ll start with what is no small merit of this book: it is completely different in both form and content from the much-discussed “A little life”. This means that Yanagihara is certainly capable of writing something different, and that’s quite something. But what does this novel offer? Well,

that's just the issue. There are three parts, each set in New York, but in a different time period: the first in the 1890s, the second in the 1990s, and the third part in a dystopian future, until 2094. In all In those periods, main characters with the same name appear, but each time in a different role. That sounds suspiciously similar to what Michael Cunningham did in The Specimen, and it's true, Yanagihara admits she took inspiration from him. But what is the connecting theme? Homosexual relationships play a prominent role in the three parts, at least especially those between men; they are even considered normative. Interesting, you would think, but it is strange that the homosexual men are not so commendably depicted: almost all of them are wealthy, very hedonistic, and in the first part even downright racist. But perhaps Yanagihara was more concerned with portraying alternate realities? The first part is a very attractive Victorian novel, in the style of Henry James; it is set in the wealthy Free States, which have seceded from the rest of America, which has descended into barbarism. The second part focuses on the AIDS epidemic, and also on the loss of Hawaii's independence to the United States. And the third part sketches a very dystopian society, a police state, that seems to be succumbing to climate changes and successive epidemics. I have to say: I don't see the connection. Unless perhaps that in each of the parts the main character is a rather weak person, who is very dependent on a family member (usually the grandfather) and who does not have a very good view of reality. Yanagihara admirably stresses the caring interaction between those family members, so perhaps that is where the core message lies? I don’t know. All in all, this is an interesting cocktail with many spicy elements, but as a whole it doesn't work, especially because the author has developed some storylines very extensively, to the point of being boring. This book clearly lacked an editorial touch. Rating part 1 3.5 stars, part 2 2 stars and part 3 3 stars.

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