Book Review: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life

by

Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life was a book I came across in my local bookstore whilst me and my wife were on one of our many browsing visits. I really liked the sound of this book but was ooing and rrrring whether to get it or not because of the size. There are 720 pages in this book. I know I have read books with more, but the writing is very small and if this book was by a lot of other authors you could probably double that page number. I went for it though. Did I make the right decision or not??

"Brutal, absolutely brutal...... You will never forget this story as long as you live"

Précis (taken from the cover):

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. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, 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.

Review:

Although I am writing this review now, I did finish this book in 2016. I apologise for this but I am still playing catch up. I found this book very tough to get into at the start as it took me a while to get used to the style of writing as this was my first Hanya Yanahihara book that I have read. It was also setting the scene a lot and found it tough getting my bearings. I know someone else who has tried reading this and gave up as they could not get into it. Once you do you will start to understand and pick up where and how the story will go going forward.

The story itself is Brutal, Absolutely brutal. You will never forget this story as long as you live. Without giving away too much as I don't like to on my reviews the book is about four guys. Willem, JB, Malcolm & the main character Jude. They move to New York after college and take on the big world together. You follow their lives through their early twenties all the way up to their fifties. Along the way they all deal with their own problems ranging from mental health, depression, addiction, career & family choices, child & adult abuse and what is important to a lot of people, fitting in, in life. If you are someone who gets hurt or upset over these subjects I would probably give this book a miss. Jude who you follow a lot more is the most damaged and you get to the point that you are literally in tears for him. I am not afraid to admit I am a bit of a crier but not normally when it comes to books. This one however got me a few times. The way Hanya has written this book and the events that happen with all the characters is so detailed and as scary as it is very believable. I can understand why this was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2015.

I would say if you are going to read this book then make sure you have time. It is not a book that you can pick up and have a 5 or 10 minute read here and there and get back into the story line. You do need to concentrate otherwise you will lose where you are.

I do love the fact that it is set in New York which is one of my favourite cities. I do like it when you are reading a book and you know where they are as you have been there yourself.

I scored this book a 5 out of 5. Out of all the books I have read, This I found the hardest to score. I mentioned above that it did take a while to get into this book and that you do have to concentrate a lot. I would normally have scored this a 4 based on this, but when I think about the writing and the fact that this story will stay with me forever and the fact that you just sit there just gobsmacked as to what is going on, I had to score it a 5..

Would I read another Hanya Yanagihara book? Yes I would, although if they are along the lines of this one I may leave it a few months.

Has anyone else read this book?? Do you agree with me or not? I would love to find out. Let me know....

Speak soon,

CBailey31