Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Picador (2015), Edition: Main Market Ed., 737 pages
Description
"When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition ... Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is [their center of gravity] Jude, ... by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he'll not only be unable to overcome--but that will define his life forever"--Amazon.com.
Media reviews
Stylist [Issue 338]
I'm still talking about A Little Life. It's deeply upsetting, but I think it's a wonderfull story in the end.
Hanya Yanagihara schrijft in Een klein leven duidelijk voor haar lezer, ze manipuleert je met perfect getimede overgangen: van feel good naar feel bad en terug. Alle personages hebben maar één eigenschap, het zijn sjablonen. Ergerlijk. En toch weet het boek iets te raken.
In the end, her novel is little more than a machine designed to produce negative emotions for the reader to wallow in—unsurprisingly, the very emotions that, in her Kirkus Reviews interview, she listed as the ones she was interested in, the ones she felt men were incapable of expressing: fear,
Show More
shame, vulnerability. Both the tediousness of A Little Life and, you imagine, the guilty pleasures it holds for some readers are those of a teenaged rap session, that adolescent social ritual par excellence, in which the same crises and hurts are constantly rehearsed. Show Less
Je kunt je afvragen waarom de mensen rond Jude St. Francis zoveel kunnen houden van iemand die hen steeds weer door de vingers glipt, die zijn geschiedenis verborgen houdt en die een bron is van zorgen en frustraties. Tot je merkt dat je zelf die liefde bent gaan voelen, inclusief de angst die
Show More
erbij hoort. Het verraadt dat in A Little Life iets wezenlijks wordt aangeraakt. Show Less
Yanagihara’s success in creating a deeply afflicted protagonist is offset by placing him in a world so unrealized it almost seems allegorical, with characters so flatly drawn they seem more representative of people than the actual thing. This leaves the reader, at the end, wondering if she has
Show More
been foolish for taking seriously something that was merely a contrivance all along. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member chrisblocker
I love books that rip open my chest, show me my beating heart, and force me to see the world through the eyes of a different person. When I read, I want to feel. I want to be touched. And the most successful books are that ones that do that—that leave me in amazement whether it is because of
That's not to say I didn't have moments when I felt a little teary-eyed. I did. But for a 720-page epic supposed tear-jerked, these moments were too few. The truth is, I felt considerable disconnect. Sure, the story of Jude is sad. Very, very sad. At the same time, Jude seems to exist in a completely different universe than the one I live in. For starters, time is not the same. In A Little Life, time progresses, but the world doesn't change. Despite spanning some fifty years, the novel has a very contemporary feel to it. Now, I understand this was probably the author's intention, a means to not let the story get bogged down by trivial matters (my wife disagrees and says it's just lazy writing), but it's still distracting. At the beginning of the novel, we have laptops and cellphones and corporate lawyers and gay marriage and discrimination based on sexual orientation. And fifty years later we have the exact same?
Which brings us to the second point of disconnect. Although uncommon in the novel, there are moments when characters face discrimination because they are gay. There is one moment when a character faces potential backlash from the masses for his embrace of a gay relationship. Yet, in this world, nearly everyone is gay or bisexual. Sure, there were a few characters in heterosexual relationships, but it is implied that every person has had sex with someone of the same gender at some point in life. Willem, for one, doesn't know a man who hasn't; and Willem knows a lot of people. So what world is this? How can I believe gay relationships are so incredibly widespread, yet disdained? How can it be both? This takes me one step further from an emotional response. See, what's happening here is that my mind is switching to its logical side, and the emotional is being neglected. But I'm not done.
Where is the world in which there are so many people would friend Jude? He's deeply troubled. He's a considerable amount of work. As someone who has been around a large number of people with mental illnesses that do not even compare with Jude St. Francis', I can say I have never once seen such an outpouring of love. That's not to say someone couldn't love Jude. Of course Jude could realistically have one or two people in his life who risk everything for his well-being. But to have so many people in the first place, and so many, on top of that, who do not give up. Well, my logical side says that's not reality.
And then there's the wealth aspect. Is everyone in this world rich? Yeah, I'm having a little trouble feeling for you when you're flying around the world and building your dream home. I have problems, too.
So far, I have been a big whiner. It's not that I didn't enjoy this book. I did. I enjoyed the characters and the story. I enjoyed the writing and the mystery. Yanagihara nailed Jude's inner torment with skill and grace. But if a book is going to be sold as “profoundly moving,” I expect to be moved. And yet, the only character that succeeded in moving me was Harold. And I think that's because Harold was the most human character. He'd experienced loss and he was willing to sacrifice everything to get back what he'd lost. He was a father with a fairly normal occupation and he believed in things and had hopes, but also had doubts. I accepted Harold because his actions and reactions were relatable. Jude's story was devastating to say the least. Perhaps there are people out there like Jude who make something of themselves, but they are so few that I have to doubt their existence. I've known kids in similar situations as Jude. Those who don't kill themselves live the life of a transient. They cannot commit to anything. They work Burger King one week, McDonald's the next; all their money goes to drugs, video games, tattoos—stuff that either makes them numb or causes them to feel pain. Jude's story was devastating, but its outcomes were not. I didn't feel sorry for Jude because despite all his pain, he'd lived a fuller life than most of us are given.
Yes, I liked this novel. Overall, it was very successful. Had I been able to turn off my logical side, had I not been thinking of my many injustices, I'm sure I would've fallen to the floor weeping. There are many out there who face the kind of trials Jude does and they should not be forgotten. But the story about sexually and physically abused kids that I want to hear—the kind that succeeds in moving me—is not the story of a powerful corporate attorney who is married to a hot movie star. That's the stuff of fairy tales, which brings us back around to the question of time. Is A Little Life a Fantasy book? The most depressing fantasy ever written, to be sure, but nevertheless a fantasy?
Once upon a time there was a boy named Jude...
Show More
beauty, fear, rage, wonder, whatever. A Little Life promised to be “the most astonishing, challenging, upsetting, and profoundly moving book in many a season.” I expected raw emotion to wet every page of this novel. And while A Little Life was certainly well-written and intriguing, the one thing it didn't succeed at was moving me.That's not to say I didn't have moments when I felt a little teary-eyed. I did. But for a 720-page epic supposed tear-jerked, these moments were too few. The truth is, I felt considerable disconnect. Sure, the story of Jude is sad. Very, very sad. At the same time, Jude seems to exist in a completely different universe than the one I live in. For starters, time is not the same. In A Little Life, time progresses, but the world doesn't change. Despite spanning some fifty years, the novel has a very contemporary feel to it. Now, I understand this was probably the author's intention, a means to not let the story get bogged down by trivial matters (my wife disagrees and says it's just lazy writing), but it's still distracting. At the beginning of the novel, we have laptops and cellphones and corporate lawyers and gay marriage and discrimination based on sexual orientation. And fifty years later we have the exact same?
Which brings us to the second point of disconnect. Although uncommon in the novel, there are moments when characters face discrimination because they are gay. There is one moment when a character faces potential backlash from the masses for his embrace of a gay relationship. Yet, in this world, nearly everyone is gay or bisexual. Sure, there were a few characters in heterosexual relationships, but it is implied that every person has had sex with someone of the same gender at some point in life. Willem, for one, doesn't know a man who hasn't; and Willem knows a lot of people. So what world is this? How can I believe gay relationships are so incredibly widespread, yet disdained? How can it be both? This takes me one step further from an emotional response. See, what's happening here is that my mind is switching to its logical side, and the emotional is being neglected. But I'm not done.
Where is the world in which there are so many people would friend Jude? He's deeply troubled. He's a considerable amount of work. As someone who has been around a large number of people with mental illnesses that do not even compare with Jude St. Francis', I can say I have never once seen such an outpouring of love. That's not to say someone couldn't love Jude. Of course Jude could realistically have one or two people in his life who risk everything for his well-being. But to have so many people in the first place, and so many, on top of that, who do not give up. Well, my logical side says that's not reality.
And then there's the wealth aspect. Is everyone in this world rich? Yeah, I'm having a little trouble feeling for you when you're flying around the world and building your dream home. I have problems, too.
So far, I have been a big whiner. It's not that I didn't enjoy this book. I did. I enjoyed the characters and the story. I enjoyed the writing and the mystery. Yanagihara nailed Jude's inner torment with skill and grace. But if a book is going to be sold as “profoundly moving,” I expect to be moved. And yet, the only character that succeeded in moving me was Harold. And I think that's because Harold was the most human character. He'd experienced loss and he was willing to sacrifice everything to get back what he'd lost. He was a father with a fairly normal occupation and he believed in things and had hopes, but also had doubts. I accepted Harold because his actions and reactions were relatable. Jude's story was devastating to say the least. Perhaps there are people out there like Jude who make something of themselves, but they are so few that I have to doubt their existence. I've known kids in similar situations as Jude. Those who don't kill themselves live the life of a transient. They cannot commit to anything. They work Burger King one week, McDonald's the next; all their money goes to drugs, video games, tattoos—stuff that either makes them numb or causes them to feel pain. Jude's story was devastating, but its outcomes were not. I didn't feel sorry for Jude because despite all his pain, he'd lived a fuller life than most of us are given.
Yes, I liked this novel. Overall, it was very successful. Had I been able to turn off my logical side, had I not been thinking of my many injustices, I'm sure I would've fallen to the floor weeping. There are many out there who face the kind of trials Jude does and they should not be forgotten. But the story about sexually and physically abused kids that I want to hear—the kind that succeeds in moving me—is not the story of a powerful corporate attorney who is married to a hot movie star. That's the stuff of fairy tales, which brings us back around to the question of time. Is A Little Life a Fantasy book? The most depressing fantasy ever written, to be sure, but nevertheless a fantasy?
Once upon a time there was a boy named Jude...
Show Less
LibraryThing member whitreidtan
Long and short listed for just about every award out there, I picked up Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life and read about 100-150 pages before putting it down for months because I was struggling to keep my eyes open as I read. The continued raves convinced me to give it another go though and this
Be warned that spoilers will follow in the below paragraphs.
Ostensibly the story of four friends who meet in college, one character quickly takes over the narrative. Even to his closest friends, Jude remains an enigma. They only know him from the moment he enters their lives, never sharing any personal information, staying infuriatingly blank. His history is slowly, over the course of the novel, revealed to the reader and it is a terrible, horror filled history indeed. Jude is literally and figuratively crippled by his childhood, and understandably so given the magnitude of wrongs done to him. That these terrible wrongs would define his life forever is certainly believable. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that there was so much else that wasn’t believable. That this secretive and unknowable person should inspire such love and loyalty from close to everyone around him is not quite believable. Only one person in his adulthood treats him as he expects to be treated and that character is drawn so firmly evil that he was a caricature who only exists briefly in the story to reinforce Jude’s unworthiness to himself. That Jude and all three of his closest friends would be wild successes in their chosen fields, Jude a ruthless attorney, JB an artist of such renown that MOMA wanted one of his paintings, Malcolm a celebrated architect, and Willem a famed actor on both stage and screen, stretches credibility. That one of Jude’s professors feels such a connection to his enigmatic, culinarily skilled student that he and his wife fall in love and welcome Jude into their family is head shaking. That every single grown man that Jude encountered before college was a sexual predator/pedophile and attracted to him, and I'm not just talking about the creepy men that Brother Luke finds for him (yes, he was beautiful and all that but...) and then all but one notable exception after college was practically sainted is a strange and incredibly unlikely dichotomy.
Credibility is not the only thing that stymied me about the book either. There is scant character development of anyone but Jude and there's not much development of him either as we have to take it on faith that despite his ongoing struggles to feel worthy, he overcame everything to become who he is presented as in his adult life. There's no credible transition from the abused child to the steely and determined lawyer. There's no nuance here; everyone is either/or. Two of the four friends in this life-saving and amazing friendship essentially disappear from the novel for large chunks of time and the friendship itself presents problems. Nothing in Jude's character makes the reader understand how he comes to trust not only these three college friends, but also his doctor and his professor to the extent he does. All of this is just presented as a fait accompli although trust to this extreme would be a serious, hard earned accomplishment in someone with his background. The narrative was overwritten to the point that this reader wished that the story would just get on with it already (and I'm not proud to admit that I just wanted Jude to die already because I was tired of him--clearly not the visceral reaction Yanagihara was going for). The story felt endless and the reoccurring scenes of sexual abuse started to feel as if they were included for a prurient reaction rather than to add depth to the story. Even Jude's understandable despair got old in this drawn out telling. I know every prize committee on the planet thought it was amazing. I thought it was an exercise in lengthy tedium. In short, I just didn’t get it. And it was a very long commitment to come away feeling this way about it. I wasn’t emotionally drained by the story, I was disappointed, a far less welcome feeling after 800 plus pages.
Show More
time I pushed on to the end. Now here comes the heresy about this much lauded book: I was bored. There was plenty that should have inspired an emotional response but it didn’t because I never felt any connection with the characters. In fact, I rooted for the end I knew must come and I wanted it to come far sooner than it did.Be warned that spoilers will follow in the below paragraphs.
Ostensibly the story of four friends who meet in college, one character quickly takes over the narrative. Even to his closest friends, Jude remains an enigma. They only know him from the moment he enters their lives, never sharing any personal information, staying infuriatingly blank. His history is slowly, over the course of the novel, revealed to the reader and it is a terrible, horror filled history indeed. Jude is literally and figuratively crippled by his childhood, and understandably so given the magnitude of wrongs done to him. That these terrible wrongs would define his life forever is certainly believable. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that there was so much else that wasn’t believable. That this secretive and unknowable person should inspire such love and loyalty from close to everyone around him is not quite believable. Only one person in his adulthood treats him as he expects to be treated and that character is drawn so firmly evil that he was a caricature who only exists briefly in the story to reinforce Jude’s unworthiness to himself. That Jude and all three of his closest friends would be wild successes in their chosen fields, Jude a ruthless attorney, JB an artist of such renown that MOMA wanted one of his paintings, Malcolm a celebrated architect, and Willem a famed actor on both stage and screen, stretches credibility. That one of Jude’s professors feels such a connection to his enigmatic, culinarily skilled student that he and his wife fall in love and welcome Jude into their family is head shaking. That every single grown man that Jude encountered before college was a sexual predator/pedophile and attracted to him, and I'm not just talking about the creepy men that Brother Luke finds for him (yes, he was beautiful and all that but...) and then all but one notable exception after college was practically sainted is a strange and incredibly unlikely dichotomy.
Credibility is not the only thing that stymied me about the book either. There is scant character development of anyone but Jude and there's not much development of him either as we have to take it on faith that despite his ongoing struggles to feel worthy, he overcame everything to become who he is presented as in his adult life. There's no credible transition from the abused child to the steely and determined lawyer. There's no nuance here; everyone is either/or. Two of the four friends in this life-saving and amazing friendship essentially disappear from the novel for large chunks of time and the friendship itself presents problems. Nothing in Jude's character makes the reader understand how he comes to trust not only these three college friends, but also his doctor and his professor to the extent he does. All of this is just presented as a fait accompli although trust to this extreme would be a serious, hard earned accomplishment in someone with his background. The narrative was overwritten to the point that this reader wished that the story would just get on with it already (and I'm not proud to admit that I just wanted Jude to die already because I was tired of him--clearly not the visceral reaction Yanagihara was going for). The story felt endless and the reoccurring scenes of sexual abuse started to feel as if they were included for a prurient reaction rather than to add depth to the story. Even Jude's understandable despair got old in this drawn out telling. I know every prize committee on the planet thought it was amazing. I thought it was an exercise in lengthy tedium. In short, I just didn’t get it. And it was a very long commitment to come away feeling this way about it. I wasn’t emotionally drained by the story, I was disappointed, a far less welcome feeling after 800 plus pages.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Opinionated
Hmm mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it is compelling reading but on the other hand it requires a degree of suspension of disbelief that may be too hard for many readers. The main problem is that Yanagihara's characters are either irredeemably evil, or saints walking the earth. There is
JB is an artist; he will become famous of course. Malcolm is either an architect or an interior designer (it gets confusing at times, as though the author is not really sure of the difference. Architects generally don't source bookcases). Willem is a famous actor, of course. And Jude becomes a famous litigator. Their friends and associates are of course, brilliant too. As they flit about the world - film shootings in Sri Lanka, offices in Beijing, holidays in Morocco - the thoughtless privelige can get a bit tiresome. What exactly have these people got to complain about?
Jude, it soon becomes clear, has a lot to complain about. The first 15 years of his life are such a catalog of human cruelty that in the end its hard to take in; there is only so much abuse you can react to. After a while you become immune to it. There's just no need for such a relentless carnival of horrors as every authority figure in Jude's life, and more specifically literally every man in his life - from the monastery, to the care home, to the evil Dr Traylor, turn out to be the worst people imaginable and to inflict the vilest abuse on him. A quarter of this would have made exactly the same dramatic point.
But after that, every figure in Jude's life is a saint . He finds himself surrounded by the goodest of the good, a dozen characters of such angelic character that is equally unbelievable; not because angelic people don't exist, of course they do. But their love for and protection of Jude seems not to be triggered by anything Jude actually does. He is self absorbed and withdrawn - and for good reason, but because he reveals little of his past its hard to know what it is that everyone is attracted to. He is quiet. He spends a lot of the book asleep. He self harms, causes problems for everyone, but still inspires devoted loyalty
At one stage he develops a relationship with someone who abuses him. His next relationship is with someone so good, that in deference to his past, they don't even require sex. Again - its either the worst of the worst or the best of the best. Nothing in between. And this relationship, which takes up most of the second half of the book, is so staggeringly unlikely, that the bubble of suspended disbelief was burst, at least for me
But having said all of that, the book is still enormously readable and well structured. Occasional changes of voice help to divert what can be something of a litany of misery. It could also have done with some context; the book covers some 30 years and yet there is literally nothing that helps set a timeframe. There are computers. There are text messages. But other than that we have no indication of whether we join the protaganists in the 70s, 80s or 90s. Literally no clue - there is no reference to outside events, or popular culture, that help us with the context.
This perhaps makes for a more negative review than I had intended - as I say the book is very readable and strangely compelling. But its clear from its many flaws why it did not win the Booke
Show More
nothing in between. The second problem is that the characters, other than then main protagonist, Jude (the obscure?) are so shallowly drawn that its hard to care much about them. One dies at one stage, and is scarcely mentioned again and is not missed by the reader.JB is an artist; he will become famous of course. Malcolm is either an architect or an interior designer (it gets confusing at times, as though the author is not really sure of the difference. Architects generally don't source bookcases). Willem is a famous actor, of course. And Jude becomes a famous litigator. Their friends and associates are of course, brilliant too. As they flit about the world - film shootings in Sri Lanka, offices in Beijing, holidays in Morocco - the thoughtless privelige can get a bit tiresome. What exactly have these people got to complain about?
Jude, it soon becomes clear, has a lot to complain about. The first 15 years of his life are such a catalog of human cruelty that in the end its hard to take in; there is only so much abuse you can react to. After a while you become immune to it. There's just no need for such a relentless carnival of horrors as every authority figure in Jude's life, and more specifically literally every man in his life - from the monastery, to the care home, to the evil Dr Traylor, turn out to be the worst people imaginable and to inflict the vilest abuse on him. A quarter of this would have made exactly the same dramatic point.
But after that, every figure in Jude's life is a saint . He finds himself surrounded by the goodest of the good, a dozen characters of such angelic character that is equally unbelievable; not because angelic people don't exist, of course they do. But their love for and protection of Jude seems not to be triggered by anything Jude actually does. He is self absorbed and withdrawn - and for good reason, but because he reveals little of his past its hard to know what it is that everyone is attracted to. He is quiet. He spends a lot of the book asleep. He self harms, causes problems for everyone, but still inspires devoted loyalty
At one stage he develops a relationship with someone who abuses him. His next relationship is with someone so good, that in deference to his past, they don't even require sex. Again - its either the worst of the worst or the best of the best. Nothing in between. And this relationship, which takes up most of the second half of the book, is so staggeringly unlikely, that the bubble of suspended disbelief was burst, at least for me
But having said all of that, the book is still enormously readable and well structured. Occasional changes of voice help to divert what can be something of a litany of misery. It could also have done with some context; the book covers some 30 years and yet there is literally nothing that helps set a timeframe. There are computers. There are text messages. But other than that we have no indication of whether we join the protaganists in the 70s, 80s or 90s. Literally no clue - there is no reference to outside events, or popular culture, that help us with the context.
This perhaps makes for a more negative review than I had intended - as I say the book is very readable and strangely compelling. But its clear from its many flaws why it did not win the Booke
Show Less
LibraryThing member Karen59
I finished A Little Life in late January and can't stop thinking about it. It is the best book I have ever read about trauma and abuse and is one of the best books I have ever read. It is a brutal book, a deeply wrenching, beautiful book. It is a gentle book with not one false step in its
Show More
characterization of a young man, Jude, trying to live fully, deeply, morally while haunted and debased by childhood sexual abuse. Sometimes I read in short spurts too disturbed to continue and too teary to see the page and at other times I read late into the night unable to tear myself away. At times I could barely breathe while reading and not just during the horrific descriptions of abuse but also while witnessing the love that Jude's friend and mentors and lover have for him. The author is brilliant at the getting the details right. Whether it is a description of a sumptuous meal, a day at the office, a fight between friends or an everyday conversation it is completely described. I love that A Little Life is so ordinary and extraordinary at the same time and not showy or flashy or manipulative which could easily happen given its themes. It is one of the hardest books I have ever read and it is one of the most humane. I thank Edelweiss for giving me this opportunity to read and review A Little Life. Show Less
LibraryThing member april164
I feel bad giving this book fewer stars, but I really would. Well, what to say? This book won so many accolades. I don't get it. It was a litany of misery, but that wasn't the problem. The doctor arc just made me aggravated. He was the most irresponsible doctor ever and seriously, his license I
Show More
think would have been in jeopardy. Jude may have been brilliant and lovable but Yanagihara did not present a single episode of this brilliance. And how he was able to perform so stellarly as a litigator when he was starving himself, seriously, no. I was just unconvinced of how respected and sympathetic he was and that people would glom onto him the way they did. If you had a friend of 30 years and you didn't even know from what planet they sprung, I seriously think your patience would be tried. Job had no trials compared to Jude. Also, he comes from the absolute dregs but his eyes are on the college prize? That just would not even part of his vocabulary at that point. And why so long? I am most mystified by two things. First, how did Yanagihara wake up every day and have to face this unrelenting misery and second, why was this book considered so prize winning? Maybe I'm old. But still. Between this one and Purity, I think I will stick for Trollope for a few months. Show Less
LibraryThing member lisapeet
I can't remember the last time I felt this manipulated by a book. And seeing as it's a novelist's job to manipulate the reader, that's saying a lot.
I still don't know if this worked for me, though I was definitely immersed all the way through. As a modern good-evil parable, it missed—the evil was
I'm not sure I bought the whole setup, for all its emotional pounding. But it was very well-written—Yanagihara's voices and rhythms work well together, and for all its heft and length the book flowed nicely. Still—I think I was as glad to get to the end as some of its characters were. Maybe that was the point. Glad I read it, though it was a bit of a painful reading experience. But in something of a good way. I guess you could say: Like life. So maybe that was the whole point.
I still don't know if this worked for me, though I was definitely immersed all the way through. As a modern good-evil parable, it missed—the evil was
Show More
just too evil, and the good too good (morally, physically, financially, and in the possession of fabulous first names). The psychological exploration of how life damages a soul was well-done, but for all the type expended on the dynamics of long friendships, they didn't always jell for me—maybe because two of the four friends fell out of focus about halfway through and that synergy never quite came back (as it will in life, granted, but this was maybe too important a part of the plot to give over to realism). I'm not sure I bought the whole setup, for all its emotional pounding. But it was very well-written—Yanagihara's voices and rhythms work well together, and for all its heft and length the book flowed nicely. Still—I think I was as glad to get to the end as some of its characters were. Maybe that was the point. Glad I read it, though it was a bit of a painful reading experience. But in something of a good way. I guess you could say: Like life. So maybe that was the whole point.
Show Less
LibraryThing member gendeg
As I read, I could always hear the slowed down, stripped down version of "Mad World" playing in the background...
Overall, the horror and darkness of Jude's life started out as gripping and galvanizing as ever but eventually strained disbelief. Is it possible that someone who has survived that much
But more unbelievable is how emotionally available and supportive everyone around him was. His friends, particularly Willem and Andy, and his adoptive parents, were always there for him, no matter the depths of his despair, no matter how often he relapsed, no matter how cold and rejecting he was. These were not mere friends but super friends--saints. Just too good to be true; it just didn't ring true. These friends were Jude's buffer but I wonder if they were also his enablers? Jude is both the luckiest and unluckiest person in contemporary literature I've ever encountered.
On the plus side, Hanya Yanagihara is a phenomenal writer, achieving some amazing things with rhythm and sentence structure. There is a lot to admire on the micro level here for just the prose styling.
On the plus side, Hanya Yanagihara is a phenomenal writer, achieving some amazing things with rhythm and sentence structure. There is a lot to admire on the micro level here for just the prose styling. A Little Life won’t be going on my favorites shelf, but it is a book that touched on a lot of emotional truths for me… I found it profound and moving in parts, and the writing is, indeed, excellent.
But after dwelling on it and reading more reviews, the part that ‘gets under your skin’ is that it is unrelenting in how it pushes its main character to the limit (and pushes us the reader to the limits of our empathy). Someone writing a more conventional novel would have had Jude finally getting some peace. But no. Yanagihara just piles on the pain until the pain is the new normal.
The best description of the book I’ve read so far (source: NPR): “equal parts Dickens, Sade and Grimm's Fairy Tales.”
Another book with similar themes is [[Wally Lamb]]'s [I Know This Much is True], which I enjoyed much better.
Overall, the horror and darkness of Jude's life started out as gripping and galvanizing as ever but eventually strained disbelief. Is it possible that someone who has survived that much
Show More
abuse--sexual, psychological, and physical abuse--as a child and teen and penchant for self-harm could be relatively high-functioning and successful in his adult life (from an orphan, runaway prostitute to a rich corporate lawyer living the one percent life?) I don't know... But it strained all expectations to the point of being almost parody by the end. Why, why, why was Jude so attached to his misery, so protective of it until the bitter end? I can understand being defensive but it was almost a weird fetish for him.But more unbelievable is how emotionally available and supportive everyone around him was. His friends, particularly Willem and Andy, and his adoptive parents, were always there for him, no matter the depths of his despair, no matter how often he relapsed, no matter how cold and rejecting he was. These were not mere friends but super friends--saints. Just too good to be true; it just didn't ring true. These friends were Jude's buffer but I wonder if they were also his enablers? Jude is both the luckiest and unluckiest person in contemporary literature I've ever encountered.
On the plus side, Hanya Yanagihara is a phenomenal writer, achieving some amazing things with rhythm and sentence structure. There is a lot to admire on the micro level here for just the prose styling.
On the plus side, Hanya Yanagihara is a phenomenal writer, achieving some amazing things with rhythm and sentence structure. There is a lot to admire on the micro level here for just the prose styling. A Little Life won’t be going on my favorites shelf, but it is a book that touched on a lot of emotional truths for me… I found it profound and moving in parts, and the writing is, indeed, excellent.
But after dwelling on it and reading more reviews, the part that ‘gets under your skin’ is that it is unrelenting in how it pushes its main character to the limit (and pushes us the reader to the limits of our empathy). Someone writing a more conventional novel would have had Jude finally getting some peace. But no. Yanagihara just piles on the pain until the pain is the new normal.
The best description of the book I’ve read so far (source: NPR): “equal parts Dickens, Sade and Grimm's Fairy Tales.”
Another book with similar themes is [[Wally Lamb]]'s [I Know This Much is True], which I enjoyed much better.
Show Less
LibraryThing member klburnside
I finished this book several weeks ago, and at that time I had so much to say about it, writing a review felt overwhelming. Now that I’ve had a few weeks, many of my thoughts about the book have become a little fuzzy. But here it goes.
This book is really hard to read. It primarily centers around
As an adult, Jude becomes a successful lawyer and makes a lot of friends. His close friends are loving and selfless and would do anything for Jude, but Jude remains guarded and never talks about his past. The novel alternates between present and past, and slowly reveals the details of Jude’s childhood while exploring his relationships with his friends in the present.
In the novel, Jude’s encounters with abusers happen again and again, seemingly by chance. These plot devices started to feel contrived and the relentless depiction of Jude’s suffering started to feel manipulative and voyeuristic. Jude’s friends were slightly one-dimensional in their love for him, it almost seemed too much at times.
Yanagihara’s first novel The People in the Trees was simultaneously disturbing and thought provoking because she veers from both the expected and the accepted. While A Little Life didn’t veer so far from the expected, I think it did challenge the accepted to some extent, and it made me think. When I finished reading both of Yanagihara’s books, I felt compelled to read every review and every author interview I could find, just to make sense of it all. (Although more so with her first book.)
It is hard for me to decide if I should recommend this book. The writing can be raw and brutal, the book is really long and intense, and it is probably too much for some.
This book is really hard to read. It primarily centers around
Show More
Jude, an adult survivor of severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, and the long term ramifications this has on his self-image and his ability to form trusting relationships. It goes into fairly graphic detail about the abuse, and doesn’t shy away from describing Jude’s intense self-hatred and self-mutilation in length. As an adult, Jude becomes a successful lawyer and makes a lot of friends. His close friends are loving and selfless and would do anything for Jude, but Jude remains guarded and never talks about his past. The novel alternates between present and past, and slowly reveals the details of Jude’s childhood while exploring his relationships with his friends in the present.
In the novel, Jude’s encounters with abusers happen again and again, seemingly by chance. These plot devices started to feel contrived and the relentless depiction of Jude’s suffering started to feel manipulative and voyeuristic. Jude’s friends were slightly one-dimensional in their love for him, it almost seemed too much at times.
Yanagihara’s first novel The People in the Trees was simultaneously disturbing and thought provoking because she veers from both the expected and the accepted. While A Little Life didn’t veer so far from the expected, I think it did challenge the accepted to some extent, and it made me think. When I finished reading both of Yanagihara’s books, I felt compelled to read every review and every author interview I could find, just to make sense of it all. (Although more so with her first book.)
It is hard for me to decide if I should recommend this book. The writing can be raw and brutal, the book is really long and intense, and it is probably too much for some.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rkreish
Disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher.
I read and was impressed by A Little Life, a very brutal and long story that's been getting lots of coverage in blogs and mainstream media outlets. I tend to miss the big books, both because of size and because I'm a little leery about
A Little Life begins as a story about four friends, all male, who meet in college, and who all have great ambitions in their artistic or legal careers. After an extensive opening section with the four characters finishing college and beginning their lives in New York City, the character of Jude, with a mysterious past that damaged him physically and psychically (he has a pronounced limp and is intensely reticent of his past before he began college at age 16), becomes the focus.
I'm not the first to mention that the book is a bit of a fairy tale: lots of horrible things happen to the main characters, and lots of fantastically good things happen to the characters. There isn't much middle ground. It's a bit odd to read a book that feels unrealistic in this way.
My biggest criticism of the book is that it's maddening to read such a long book that could be reduced to the subtitle: Complex PTSD, the Novel. Jude is so damaged and so unwilling to grapple with his abusive past, that his adulthood is almost more painful than what actually happened to him. I read somewhere else that Yanagihara wanted to make a point about the limits of male friendship: Jude and his friends don't get him to grapple with his past, and it seriously stymies their lives and their friendships. That's well and good, but using the vehicle of this lengthy novel to make that point feels a bit like overkill. I may be missing something about the art of melodrama or critics calling it the great American gay novel because of its reliance on melodrama, but I think a book half of the size could have been just as effective and make the same points about Jude and his friends.
Finally, I want to dig into my disappointment with this book a bit further. Of course part of the draw of this book is trying to understand a character like Jude who in some ways overcomes a truly horrendous childhood filled with abuse and exploitation, and I feel like a get part of the story. In the last few months I watched a documentary called Family Affair by Chico Colvard that also addressed coping with childhood abuse and trauma, and that felt more rounded an approach to the issue. I also remember being disappointed by Middlesex when Eugenides left out lots of the story about the hermaphrodite Callie as she grew up. I think both Eugenides and Yanagihara are skipping out on research or something.
Additional pieces about this book that I found interesting include this piece in Vulture about Yanagihara's inspirations for the novel, Garth Greenwell's piece in The Atlantic about this novel as the great American gay novel, and finally, an ambivalent piece about the book by Lydia Kiesling in The Millions.
I read and was impressed by A Little Life, a very brutal and long story that's been getting lots of coverage in blogs and mainstream media outlets. I tend to miss the big books, both because of size and because I'm a little leery about
Show More
overly-hyped books, but I'm glad I read this one. You have to be prepared for lots of violence and repetition over the significant length of the book, though.A Little Life begins as a story about four friends, all male, who meet in college, and who all have great ambitions in their artistic or legal careers. After an extensive opening section with the four characters finishing college and beginning their lives in New York City, the character of Jude, with a mysterious past that damaged him physically and psychically (he has a pronounced limp and is intensely reticent of his past before he began college at age 16), becomes the focus.
I'm not the first to mention that the book is a bit of a fairy tale: lots of horrible things happen to the main characters, and lots of fantastically good things happen to the characters. There isn't much middle ground. It's a bit odd to read a book that feels unrealistic in this way.
My biggest criticism of the book is that it's maddening to read such a long book that could be reduced to the subtitle: Complex PTSD, the Novel. Jude is so damaged and so unwilling to grapple with his abusive past, that his adulthood is almost more painful than what actually happened to him. I read somewhere else that Yanagihara wanted to make a point about the limits of male friendship: Jude and his friends don't get him to grapple with his past, and it seriously stymies their lives and their friendships. That's well and good, but using the vehicle of this lengthy novel to make that point feels a bit like overkill. I may be missing something about the art of melodrama or critics calling it the great American gay novel because of its reliance on melodrama, but I think a book half of the size could have been just as effective and make the same points about Jude and his friends.
Finally, I want to dig into my disappointment with this book a bit further. Of course part of the draw of this book is trying to understand a character like Jude who in some ways overcomes a truly horrendous childhood filled with abuse and exploitation, and I feel like a get part of the story. In the last few months I watched a documentary called Family Affair by Chico Colvard that also addressed coping with childhood abuse and trauma, and that felt more rounded an approach to the issue. I also remember being disappointed by Middlesex when Eugenides left out lots of the story about the hermaphrodite Callie as she grew up. I think both Eugenides and Yanagihara are skipping out on research or something.
Additional pieces about this book that I found interesting include this piece in Vulture about Yanagihara's inspirations for the novel, Garth Greenwell's piece in The Atlantic about this novel as the great American gay novel, and finally, an ambivalent piece about the book by Lydia Kiesling in The Millions.
Show Less
LibraryThing member sparemethecensor
It was an epic saga with all the wonder that entails, but it was also much too much.
LibraryThing member TobinElliott
Yeah, so, I tried.
Seriously, this book MOVES at the bookstore. Everyone buys it. And I've had customers come back and say, "I want another book like A LITTLE LIFE! It's my favourite book of all time!"
And so, I thought it was time I figured out what all the fuss was about. Interestingly, I wasn't
Around that time, a friend who follows me here mentioned that they had tried to read it, and ultimately, around the hundred-page mark or so, gave up. They described it as boring and pretentious, and a novel where nothing happens. I actually disagreed with that assessment at the time.
Well, then I got to Part Two, where Yanagihara decided to pretty much stop the slow crawl of the plot to go into things like Jude's upbringing and how much Mal's father loved him and on and on about different companies and bosses and tutoring, and there was also a long stretch about another character's studio space—sorry, I've forgotten which character and can't be bothered to even go and look it up—where we got to know far too much about each of the studio renters, what they did, what the character did, how he felt about the others, how he felt about his own work, and how he's essentially spinning his wheels until he took a chance photo. And there's something about an architect and how he's spinning his wheels designing houses already designed.
My point here is, this was the novel proving my friend right. This is turning into one of those literary novels where every characters' gaze is fixed firmly on their own navel and no one seems to do anything of consequence, beyond existing to spout the author's views on existence.
Or, to put another way...some books are like a guitarist playing a well-tuned guitar with skill. They make it sing.
Some books are like someone picking up the guitar for the first time and making a lot of noise, but there's no song, no talent there.
And some are like a guitarist making do with a guitar who's strings are so out of tune as to be literally hanging from the instrument. The guitarist can still strum their fingers over the strings, but it's just noise, not a song.
This book is becoming just noise, and I can't be bothered wading through another 700+ pages to discover it never picks up a tune. So, no rating, DNF.
It may be your favourite book, but it damn sure ain't mine.
Seriously, this book MOVES at the bookstore. Everyone buys it. And I've had customers come back and say, "I want another book like A LITTLE LIFE! It's my favourite book of all time!"
And so, I thought it was time I figured out what all the fuss was about. Interestingly, I wasn't
Show More
minding it. Actually got to the 10 % mark and wasn't finding it horrible. Also wasn't finding it anything great, but not horrible. Around that time, a friend who follows me here mentioned that they had tried to read it, and ultimately, around the hundred-page mark or so, gave up. They described it as boring and pretentious, and a novel where nothing happens. I actually disagreed with that assessment at the time.
Well, then I got to Part Two, where Yanagihara decided to pretty much stop the slow crawl of the plot to go into things like Jude's upbringing and how much Mal's father loved him and on and on about different companies and bosses and tutoring, and there was also a long stretch about another character's studio space—sorry, I've forgotten which character and can't be bothered to even go and look it up—where we got to know far too much about each of the studio renters, what they did, what the character did, how he felt about the others, how he felt about his own work, and how he's essentially spinning his wheels until he took a chance photo. And there's something about an architect and how he's spinning his wheels designing houses already designed.
My point here is, this was the novel proving my friend right. This is turning into one of those literary novels where every characters' gaze is fixed firmly on their own navel and no one seems to do anything of consequence, beyond existing to spout the author's views on existence.
Or, to put another way...some books are like a guitarist playing a well-tuned guitar with skill. They make it sing.
Some books are like someone picking up the guitar for the first time and making a lot of noise, but there's no song, no talent there.
And some are like a guitarist making do with a guitar who's strings are so out of tune as to be literally hanging from the instrument. The guitarist can still strum their fingers over the strings, but it's just noise, not a song.
This book is becoming just noise, and I can't be bothered wading through another 700+ pages to discover it never picks up a tune. So, no rating, DNF.
It may be your favourite book, but it damn sure ain't mine.
Show Less
LibraryThing member CasualFriday
I'm not sure I would recommend this book to my worst enemy; it is too sad and disturbing and at times graphic and hard to read. Yet I loved it.
The story centers on Jude St. Francis, a foundling whose horrific childhood leaves him essentially broken. Miraculously, he appears to transcend his origins
It is a vivid, honest, unabashedly emotional portrayal of a man's psychic pain, and unusual in the attention that it devotes to relationships between man (as friends, as lovers, as fathers and sons).
If you liked Jude the Obscure but thought it was just a bit too cheerful, definitely give this book a try.
The story centers on Jude St. Francis, a foundling whose horrific childhood leaves him essentially broken. Miraculously, he appears to transcend his origins
Show More
and becomes a fierce, famous, rich litigator. Not only is he surrounded by friends who love him beyond anyone's reasonable expectation, he is even adopted, as a 30-year-old, by one of his law school professors. Yet neither love nor money can put him back together.It is a vivid, honest, unabashedly emotional portrayal of a man's psychic pain, and unusual in the attention that it devotes to relationships between man (as friends, as lovers, as fathers and sons).
If you liked Jude the Obscure but thought it was just a bit too cheerful, definitely give this book a try.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JReynolds1959
Four classmates from a Massachusetts college move to New York to pursue their dreams. JB is an aspiring artist, Malcolm is an aspiring architect, Willem is an aspiring actor and Jude is an aspiring lawyer. They seem to form pairs, JB & Malcolm and Willem & Jude. They all have a tendency to
The novel them tends to focus on Jude's story. He suffered a horrendous childhood and feels as though he does not deserve anything good that happens to him. He walks stilted and declines to remove his clothes (shorts, short sleeves) at all.
We learn of the abusive childhood he endured and how he tends to handle that emotionally and physically.
Kudos to Hanya Yanigihara for her wonderful use of language. I think the book could have been more condensed, a little lengthy.
Show More
gravitate toward taking care of Jude. Jude is enigmatic and does not talk about his childhood before meeting them.The novel them tends to focus on Jude's story. He suffered a horrendous childhood and feels as though he does not deserve anything good that happens to him. He walks stilted and declines to remove his clothes (shorts, short sleeves) at all.
We learn of the abusive childhood he endured and how he tends to handle that emotionally and physically.
Kudos to Hanya Yanigihara for her wonderful use of language. I think the book could have been more condensed, a little lengthy.
Show Less
LibraryThing member hubblegal
This story of the strong bond of friendship between four men, Jude, Willem, JB and Malcolm, is a major powerhouse of a book. It will pull you apart emotionally as you read of all the tragedy that Jude has had to endure and his tremendous struggle to heal his wounds as he hides them from the world.
As dark and tragic as this book is, there is so much beauty in it. I grew to love each of the characters in this book and suffered when they suffered and rejoiced when they rejoiced. I find this book to be a hard one to review as it isn’t so much as what happens in the book as how the author presents it and how she opens up your heart with her story. And that’s very hard to put into words. The strength of the novel lies in how the author connects you to her characters. I was completely consumed by this book.
As for the title of the book, “A Little Life”, I read a quote by the author that tells much about her view of life – “All life is small. Life will end in death and unhappiness but we do it anyway”. She sounds like a tragedian at heart and this book of hers definitely shows that.
This is a literary masterpiece that I will never forget. Most highly recommended.
Show More
The book explores the life-long effects child abuse can have on a person and how terribly it can warp their sense of themselves and their relationships with others. It also explores whether friendship can be as good a relationship as marriage or possibly even better.As dark and tragic as this book is, there is so much beauty in it. I grew to love each of the characters in this book and suffered when they suffered and rejoiced when they rejoiced. I find this book to be a hard one to review as it isn’t so much as what happens in the book as how the author presents it and how she opens up your heart with her story. And that’s very hard to put into words. The strength of the novel lies in how the author connects you to her characters. I was completely consumed by this book.
As for the title of the book, “A Little Life”, I read a quote by the author that tells much about her view of life – “All life is small. Life will end in death and unhappiness but we do it anyway”. She sounds like a tragedian at heart and this book of hers definitely shows that.
This is a literary masterpiece that I will never forget. Most highly recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristine-Williams
Daunting at almost 800 pages, devastating but absolutely enthralling. You must read this book! More truth, more wisdom about life, resilience, friendship, love, it's the entire human experience in one place. Absolutely brilliant. Do not dawdle, do not save it for later, read it now!
LibraryThing member MsNick
A Little Life - WOW. I can't say that I've ever read a novel that was as heartbreaking to read while so hard to put down like this one.
LibraryThing member Beamis12
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
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.
Show More
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.
Show Less
LibraryThing member pgchuis
This is a really extraordinary novel. I am reluctant to describe the "plot", because if I had known the details of the storyline in advance I would probably not have had the courage to read it. It is very well-written, the saddest book I have ever read and the kind of story you think about all the
Show More
time you are in the middle of reading it. It makes you want to be a better person and to give everyone you meet the benefit of the doubt, but it is mainly very very sad. Show Less
LibraryThing member Iudita
An excellent story but very emotionally draining. I feel it was just a bit too long but overall, it is well worth reading if you can handle the subject matter for 700 pages.
LibraryThing member CarleyShea
There are a lot of triggers in this book and the decision to read it should be a carefully considered one. If you have ever experienced abuse of any kind, sexual assault, and/or suicidal ideation, I believe with my whole heart that you should skip this book (this is not a comprehensive content
This books was heavy. I’m in such a state of numbness that I honestly can’t decided if I liked it. I don’t think I particularly enjoyed it. There was so much misery and sadness, it’s hard to wrap my head around how I made it through 800 pages.
The writing was beautiful. The characters were endearing and for the most part, well fleshed out. I cared deeply for Jude and Willem. They were the reasons I continued with this book as it got darker, hopeful that they would both make it through. There were certain characters, like Malcolm and Julia, who were central to the plot but I still felt like I didn’t really know enough about them to make them three-dimensional.
I don’t think I could recommend this book to just anyone; there are too many people in my life who would be severely triggered by it.
Show More
warning).This books was heavy. I’m in such a state of numbness that I honestly can’t decided if I liked it. I don’t think I particularly enjoyed it. There was so much misery and sadness, it’s hard to wrap my head around how I made it through 800 pages.
The writing was beautiful. The characters were endearing and for the most part, well fleshed out. I cared deeply for Jude and Willem. They were the reasons I continued with this book as it got darker, hopeful that they would both make it through. There were certain characters, like Malcolm and Julia, who were central to the plot but I still felt like I didn’t really know enough about them to make them three-dimensional.
I don’t think I could recommend this book to just anyone; there are too many people in my life who would be severely triggered by it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
How do I hate this book, let me count the ways. I hate the pretentious writing, the author's dedicated lack of research, the bloated, overblown length of the repetitive text, the bandwagon that everyone jumped on, the hype generated by the bandwagon - which I fell for - and first and foremost, I
If there was such a thing as compensation for badly written books, I would be claiming back the week I wasted with Jude and his exaggerated, ongoing life of trauma, and also suing for damages because my reading mojo nearly flatlined. Ploughing through section after section of Jude apologising for existing while simultaneously being successful at every task he turned his giant brain to became old pretty quickly but by the time I realised that I should DNF, I was too far in to quit - not that I thought the story would pick up, only that I had already wasted hours getting up to the halfway point of OVER 700 PAGES! Why did this book need to be so long when Jude whining like a bitch is the only thing that ever happens? Even his three close college friends rarely get a look in, or develop believable personalities. Willem is an award-winning actor, JB is the toast of the New York art scene (despite only ever painting the portraits of his three friends) and Malcolm is a innovative architect, but all they have in common is fawning over Jude.
Jude himself is like the fantasy hero of a teenager's over-emotive Wattpad fiction. Putting aside his backstory of abuse so overwrought that the slow drip-drip of details is both comic and yet painfully insulting to actual survivors of childhood sexual and physical assault, he is described - ad nauseum - as both devastatingly handsome and universally talented. In the words of Willem:
“You’re a swimmer. You’re a baker. You’re a cook. You’re a reader. You have a beautiful voice, though you never sing anymore. You’re an excellent pianist. You’re an art collector."
He's also a brilliant mathematician and a cutthroat lawyer who instantly rises to the top of the firm he joins despite spending half of his professional life recovering from some physical or mental trauma. And everybody loves him! That should actually have been the title of this book: 'Everybody Loves Jude: Though God Knows Why'. Willem, his chick magnet best friend falls in love with him, an older couple legally adopt him when he's in his thirties, the parents of his friends all love him more than their own children, his doctor practically dedicates his career to being on call 24/7 (while betraying his professional duty to report self harm and get the little brat committed).
And yet. Does this sudden good fortune after a childhood of being abused by everyone from predatory paedophiles to Franciscan monks make Jude happy, or even independent and resilient? Not a chance! He is an emotional vampire who drains every drop of love and care out of his friends and adopted family, while selfishly proclaiming that he hurts himself and deceives others to protect them from the 'truth' about who he is:
"I’m sorry I’m such a problem for you. I’m sorry I’m ruining your retirement. I’m sorry I’m not happier. I’m sorry I’m not over Willem. I’m sorry I have a job you don’t respect. I’m sorry I’m such a nothing of a person."
Sorry, sorry, sorry. I wanted to end him myself after 300 pages of incessant whining. Harold and Julia are nothing but loving, Willem - despite, you know, forcing Jude to have sex because everyone needs sex, right? - constantly puts his high-flying celebrity on hold to mop up after Jude cuts himself to ribbons, Dr Andy spends thirty years patching him up when he should have had him locked up. I took great delight in the isolated moments where first JB, then Andy and finally Willem all snapped and told Jude what they thought of his shitty attitude. Of course, such brutal honesty was only answered with five paragraphs of 'sorry, sorry, sorry'.
Yes, abuse is horrific, but Yanagihara - who admitted that she didn't do any serious research into the sensitive issues of Jude's story - is hardly helping to raise positive awareness about the reality of surviving such trauma. Neither does her frankly homophobic attitude to the lgbt characters in the book make this a 'great gay novel' - Willem falls in love with Jude, outs their relationship while refusing to comprehend how Jude's past might make him fear intimacy, and then announces that he is 'not fundamentally' gay and goes back to sleeping with women.
I hated every page of this novel, finally started skim-reading to get through the never-ending misery and have now deleted the download entirely from my Kindle. I wish I could do the same for my brain. The only positive note I can add is that the edition with the melodramatic, cry baby man's face is the most appropriate cover art I have seen all year. Really, all l I can do is echo the advice I recently read in another less than glowing review: 'If you haven't read this, then don't'.
Show More
HATE JUDE ST FRANCIS, a protagonist so miserable that he can't even put his friends (and the readers of this obnoxious published fan fiction) out of their misery by ending his life far flaming sooner than he did. If there was such a thing as compensation for badly written books, I would be claiming back the week I wasted with Jude and his exaggerated, ongoing life of trauma, and also suing for damages because my reading mojo nearly flatlined. Ploughing through section after section of Jude apologising for existing while simultaneously being successful at every task he turned his giant brain to became old pretty quickly but by the time I realised that I should DNF, I was too far in to quit - not that I thought the story would pick up, only that I had already wasted hours getting up to the halfway point of OVER 700 PAGES! Why did this book need to be so long when Jude whining like a bitch is the only thing that ever happens? Even his three close college friends rarely get a look in, or develop believable personalities. Willem is an award-winning actor, JB is the toast of the New York art scene (despite only ever painting the portraits of his three friends) and Malcolm is a innovative architect, but all they have in common is fawning over Jude.
Jude himself is like the fantasy hero of a teenager's over-emotive Wattpad fiction. Putting aside his backstory of abuse so overwrought that the slow drip-drip of details is both comic and yet painfully insulting to actual survivors of childhood sexual and physical assault, he is described - ad nauseum - as both devastatingly handsome and universally talented. In the words of Willem:
“You’re a swimmer. You’re a baker. You’re a cook. You’re a reader. You have a beautiful voice, though you never sing anymore. You’re an excellent pianist. You’re an art collector."
He's also a brilliant mathematician and a cutthroat lawyer who instantly rises to the top of the firm he joins despite spending half of his professional life recovering from some physical or mental trauma. And everybody loves him! That should actually have been the title of this book: 'Everybody Loves Jude: Though God Knows Why'. Willem, his chick magnet best friend falls in love with him, an older couple legally adopt him when he's in his thirties, the parents of his friends all love him more than their own children, his doctor practically dedicates his career to being on call 24/7 (while betraying his professional duty to report self harm and get the little brat committed).
And yet. Does this sudden good fortune after a childhood of being abused by everyone from predatory paedophiles to Franciscan monks make Jude happy, or even independent and resilient? Not a chance! He is an emotional vampire who drains every drop of love and care out of his friends and adopted family, while selfishly proclaiming that he hurts himself and deceives others to protect them from the 'truth' about who he is:
"I’m sorry I’m such a problem for you. I’m sorry I’m ruining your retirement. I’m sorry I’m not happier. I’m sorry I’m not over Willem. I’m sorry I have a job you don’t respect. I’m sorry I’m such a nothing of a person."
Sorry, sorry, sorry. I wanted to end him myself after 300 pages of incessant whining. Harold and Julia are nothing but loving, Willem - despite, you know, forcing Jude to have sex because everyone needs sex, right? - constantly puts his high-flying celebrity on hold to mop up after Jude cuts himself to ribbons, Dr Andy spends thirty years patching him up when he should have had him locked up. I took great delight in the isolated moments where first JB, then Andy and finally Willem all snapped and told Jude what they thought of his shitty attitude. Of course, such brutal honesty was only answered with five paragraphs of 'sorry, sorry, sorry'.
Yes, abuse is horrific, but Yanagihara - who admitted that she didn't do any serious research into the sensitive issues of Jude's story - is hardly helping to raise positive awareness about the reality of surviving such trauma. Neither does her frankly homophobic attitude to the lgbt characters in the book make this a 'great gay novel' - Willem falls in love with Jude, outs their relationship while refusing to comprehend how Jude's past might make him fear intimacy, and then announces that he is 'not fundamentally' gay and goes back to sleeping with women.
I hated every page of this novel, finally started skim-reading to get through the never-ending misery and have now deleted the download entirely from my Kindle. I wish I could do the same for my brain. The only positive note I can add is that the edition with the melodramatic, cry baby man's face is the most appropriate cover art I have seen all year. Really, all l I can do is echo the advice I recently read in another less than glowing review: 'If you haven't read this, then don't'.
Show Less
LibraryThing member BooksCooksLooks
I haven’t had a book like this to read in a while; I’m talking about a long, in depth novel. Most come in at around 400 pages but A Little Life gave me 736 engrossing pages that kept me wrapped up in the stories of these young men until the very end. They are friends from college and they come
This is a very character driven book so much of it takes place in conversation or in thought so if you are looking for lots of action in your reading you won’t find it in this tale but don’t discount this book because of that. Ms. Yanagihara has created four very diverse, very rich characters and brought them together one of the greatest cities in the world – it is almost a fifth character. They all try to help each other as they find their way but ultimately realize that some things are just beyond their ability to help.
The book is long but to me it was well worth the read. I am finding that I am enjoying more literary works these days and this book made me think. It’s a bit hard for me to explain in this review without giving too much away but if you seek a book like books used to be – with heft and depth – then this one will surely satisfy.
Show More
to New York to find their fortunes. Each looks in a different direction and each has a distinct personality yet one is broken in a way that cannot be fixed.This is a very character driven book so much of it takes place in conversation or in thought so if you are looking for lots of action in your reading you won’t find it in this tale but don’t discount this book because of that. Ms. Yanagihara has created four very diverse, very rich characters and brought them together one of the greatest cities in the world – it is almost a fifth character. They all try to help each other as they find their way but ultimately realize that some things are just beyond their ability to help.
The book is long but to me it was well worth the read. I am finding that I am enjoying more literary works these days and this book made me think. It’s a bit hard for me to explain in this review without giving too much away but if you seek a book like books used to be – with heft and depth – then this one will surely satisfy.
Show Less
LibraryThing member technodiabla
This is one of the most precise and insightful examinations of the human psyche I have ever read. How can this woman (Yanagihara) know all this? Hint: She's a really interesting person. I am torn because I want everyone to read this book and discuss it with me, but I also like my friends and cannot
I want to comment also on its being labeled LGBTQ fiction. It isn't. It's about people and their relationships. Some characters are gay. Some are hard to label. The primary theme is not sexual orientation but what happens when people are horribly damaged, abused, and neglected during their formative years. What does a lifetime of tragedy do to someone? What does chronic pain do to someone? It's about pain. It'a about life.
Show More
recommend this novel. Why? Because it so terribly depressing. If you have a trigger, ANY trigger, this book will get at it. It's just one human tragedy after another. I want to comment also on its being labeled LGBTQ fiction. It isn't. It's about people and their relationships. Some characters are gay. Some are hard to label. The primary theme is not sexual orientation but what happens when people are horribly damaged, abused, and neglected during their formative years. What does a lifetime of tragedy do to someone? What does chronic pain do to someone? It's about pain. It'a about life.
Show Less
LibraryThing member William-Tucker
Cons:
The suffering inflicted on her characters, especially Jude St. Francis, is repetitive and eventually becomes expected. Yanagihara makes Marquez look like a pamperer of protagonists in contrast.
The prose is in a flat affect that somehow clashes with the nature of the plot.
The portrayal of male
Pros:
Huge amount of feels.
Gripping narrative that was very hard to put down.
Extremely easy to read.
The suffering inflicted on her characters, especially Jude St. Francis, is repetitive and eventually becomes expected. Yanagihara makes Marquez look like a pamperer of protagonists in contrast.
The prose is in a flat affect that somehow clashes with the nature of the plot.
The portrayal of male
Show More
characters with that level of universal sentimentality seems unrealistic.Pros:
Huge amount of feels.
Gripping narrative that was very hard to put down.
Extremely easy to read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member janismack
What a story!!! This is the most graphic and disturbing read, I've read in a while. Eventhough it was long and wordy( I skipped alot of the long descriptions that I felt were unnecessary for the story) I had to know what would happen to the caracters in the story. The author did keep us guessing
Show More
and I was surprised with some of the turn of events. I liked that the ending made sense given the life of the caracters, depressing story but the sad truth of our lives is that we are the sum of our childhood experiences, and try as we might to change our behaviours, it sometimes can't be done. Show Less
Awards
National Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2015)
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2015)
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 2016)
Dublin Literary Award (Shortlist — 2017)
Kirkus Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 2015)
The Morning News Tournament of Books (Quarterfinalist — 2016)
Publishing Triangle Awards (Finalist — Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction — 2016)
The Economist Best Books (2015.4)
Indies Choice Book Award (Honor Book — Adult Fiction — 2016)
Dayton Literary Peace Prize (Shortlist — Fiction — 2016)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Finalist — Fiction — 2016)
The British Book Industry Awards (Fiction — 2016)
ALA Notable Book (Fiction — 2016)
Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize (Longlist — Fiction — 2015)
Waterstones Book of the Year (Shortlist — 2015)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Fiction — 2015)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2015)
NPR: Books We Love (2015)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Literary Fiction — 2015)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2015)
The Observer Book of the Year (Fiction — 2015)
Notable Books List (Fiction — 2016)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Fiction — 2015)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — Fiction — 2015)
Language
Original publication date
2015
Other editions
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Ebook)