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A review by erin2254
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
5.0
Wow. I needed to give it a good 24 hours after I finished reading, before I was prepared to give any sort of feedback on this book. It really was A LOT. Not just in terms of the length of it- which is over 800 pages- but also in terms of its context and the very sensitive subject matter it deals with.
I really want to address the obvious negative connotations associated with this book, first, because this thing is SAD, like viscerally upsetting. Unless you are completely emotionless it is very likely you will feel things. Not nice things. I personally felt, unhappy, hopeless, overwhelmed, crushed, and grief. I grieved and am still grieving with these fictional characters. Please, for the love of god.... just do as much research as possible before reading, ask yourself what kind of trigger groups you mite fall under and KNOW that any triggers involved in this book are not obscured to make you, the reader, feel more comfortable. You are absolutely meant to feel uncomfortable, and to get hurt in the process. I just really don’t recommend this to everyone. It was a very stressful experience for many people, including myself. If you are in a negative place mentally I would just skip it all together.
With that being said, I also thought “A little life” was brilliant, evocative, gripping. The character development was so so thoughtful and attentive to detail. The language used in the book was stunning. The anecdotes between the central group of friends will shed some light in the dark, as well as just the found friends and family plots in general which will make you want to hug everyone you love a little tighter. There is so much loyalty and love packed into the relationships here. I really care about these people so profoundly. And the play on words sprinkled throughout might make you pause for moments and really think, “what does it all mean?”. If you are lucky like I was, you mite learn some positive lessons on introspection, as well as many many many negative ones, but positive too I swear it’s there.... you just really need to be open minded, and empathetic to what the characters are trying to tell you, and not necessarily to what is happening to them. I don’t even know if that makes any sense, but given the unconventional approach to trauma and mental health in this book, this is the conclusion I have drawn in order to come to terms with, well everything.
Hats off to Hanya Yanagihara for this masterpiece.
But damn girl, you destroyed me. A little life- 1. Erin-0.
I really want to address the obvious negative connotations associated with this book, first, because this thing is SAD, like viscerally upsetting. Unless you are completely emotionless it is very likely you will feel things. Not nice things. I personally felt, unhappy, hopeless, overwhelmed, crushed, and grief. I grieved and am still grieving with these fictional characters. Please, for the love of god.... just do as much research as possible before reading, ask yourself what kind of trigger groups you mite fall under and KNOW that any triggers involved in this book are not obscured to make you, the reader, feel more comfortable. You are absolutely meant to feel uncomfortable, and to get hurt in the process. I just really don’t recommend this to everyone. It was a very stressful experience for many people, including myself. If you are in a negative place mentally I would just skip it all together.
With that being said, I also thought “A little life” was brilliant, evocative, gripping. The character development was so so thoughtful and attentive to detail. The language used in the book was stunning. The anecdotes between the central group of friends will shed some light in the dark, as well as just the found friends and family plots in general which will make you want to hug everyone you love a little tighter. There is so much loyalty and love packed into the relationships here. I really care about these people so profoundly. And the play on words sprinkled throughout might make you pause for moments and really think, “what does it all mean?”. If you are lucky like I was, you mite learn some positive lessons on introspection, as well as many many many negative ones, but positive too I swear it’s there.... you just really need to be open minded, and empathetic to what the characters are trying to tell you, and not necessarily to what is happening to them. I don’t even know if that makes any sense, but given the unconventional approach to trauma and mental health in this book, this is the conclusion I have drawn in order to come to terms with, well everything.
Hats off to Hanya Yanagihara for this masterpiece.
But damn girl, you destroyed me. A little life- 1. Erin-0.