A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Book Review
A Little Life BY Hanya Yanagihara
✨BOOK FEATURE✨
Genre: Literary Fiction
Length: 814 Pages
Publisher: DoubleDay
Publication Date: March 10, 2015
THE HYPE IS REAL. This book is a beautiful and tragic literary masterpiece.
When I posted on my Bookmarkparty Instagram story last week that I was starting A Little Life (as part of my effort to read only backlist titles this January), I received tons of direct messages telling me to prepare for a journey of sadness. That sentiment could not have proved more accurate. This book truly takes the reader on a journey - one filled with tragedy, trauma and despair, but also, love, hope and kindness.
For those that are not already familiar with the plot line, the story follows four boys - JB, Malcolm, Willem and Jude - who meet in college and remain friends throughout the entirety of their lives. The novel follows each of the men throughout their complex adulthoods, but focuses primarily on Jude and Willem’s stories, which are deeply intertwined. Jude serves as the anchor of the story, as he struggles to accept and conquer the demons of his horrific past - which we see unravelled throughout the book.
Despite its hefty length, I found myself flying through the pages, as the poetic prose, deeply-rich character development and ever-evolving plot line made it difficult for me to put the book down and focus on anything else.
While half the time I wanted to throw the book across the room and write the author a scathing letter for making Jude’s life so unimaginably traumatic, I was also profoundly moved by the beautiful and raw commentary on friendship, love (in all its forms) and human existence.
One of my favorite passages about friendship reads:
“He took pleasure in his friendships, and it didn’t hurt anyone, so who cared if it was codependent or not? And anyway, how was a friendship any more codependent that a relationship?…Why wasn’t friendship as good as a relationship? Why wasn’t it even better? It was two people who remained together, day after day, bound not by sex or physical attraction or money or children or property, but only by the shared agreement to keep going, the mutual dedication to a union that could never be codified. Friendship was witnessing another’s slow drip of miseries, and long bouts of boredom, and occasional triumphs. It was feeling honored by the privilege of getting to be present for another person’s most dismal moments, and knowing that you could be dismal around him in return.”
This incredible story will undoubtedly stay with me for years to come. That said, it’s tough to blindly recommend this one, as it is exceptionally heavy and includes basically every trigger warning you can imagine. So if you do decide to pick this one up, please ensure you are in the proper headspace to consume its difficult subject matter.
Trigger Warnings include: pedophilia, rape/sexual assault, physical abuse, death of a loved one, suicide, suicidal ideation, abandonment, car crash, self-harm, drug addiction, depression, ableism, grief and more.
