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A review by aellereads
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
5.0
A Little Life is undoubtedly my favourite book of 2021. It is extremely difficult to review this book since there are so many things to say as I felt so many emotions while reading it.
First, we have to acknowledge once more Hanya Yanagihara’s writing talent. Her prose is honest and stunning, at times painfully accurate, and others eerie. She has a way to convey and reveal the many emotions and thoughts we experience through her characters in every one of her novels.
She weaves a story and characters that are some of the most authentic and complex ones I have read. Those that pull on your heartstrings and leave you feeling everything at once. I could not help but fall in love with Jude, Willem, Malcolm and JB. I was happy when they were. I was angry, sad, disappointed and even hopeful every time they were.
Where people saw a book about a character broken beyond repair, I saw a story about friendship and love, about one character, Jude, and all the people connected to him. Yes, there are immensely dark and troubling subject matters as she portrays the cruelties and injustice of today’s world. But Yanagihara brings Jude a circle of friends and family that exudes compassion and kindness. The strong and deep love of the four main characters sticks with you, even after finishing the novel.
I cannot recommend this book to everyone without personally knowing them, their past and their life experience. Reading A Little Life is truthfully a difficult journey, but it will lead you to a touching, troubling and beautiful realization about the meaning of love, life and friendship that makes every step of reading this book worthwhile.
First, we have to acknowledge once more Hanya Yanagihara’s writing talent. Her prose is honest and stunning, at times painfully accurate, and others eerie. She has a way to convey and reveal the many emotions and thoughts we experience through her characters in every one of her novels.
She weaves a story and characters that are some of the most authentic and complex ones I have read. Those that pull on your heartstrings and leave you feeling everything at once. I could not help but fall in love with Jude, Willem, Malcolm and JB. I was happy when they were. I was angry, sad, disappointed and even hopeful every time they were.
Where people saw a book about a character broken beyond repair, I saw a story about friendship and love, about one character, Jude, and all the people connected to him. Yes, there are immensely dark and troubling subject matters as she portrays the cruelties and injustice of today’s world. But Yanagihara brings Jude a circle of friends and family that exudes compassion and kindness. The strong and deep love of the four main characters sticks with you, even after finishing the novel.
I cannot recommend this book to everyone without personally knowing them, their past and their life experience. Reading A Little Life is truthfully a difficult journey, but it will lead you to a touching, troubling and beautiful realization about the meaning of love, life and friendship that makes every step of reading this book worthwhile.