REVIEW: ‘A Little Life’ — Hanya Yanagihara

SPOILER-FREE

“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sometimes cruel painter pursuing fame in the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity.

Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realise, is Jude himself; by midlife a terrifyingly talented lawyer yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by a degree of trauma that he fears he will not only be unable to overcome — but that will define his life forever.”

Allow me first to point out the obvious: you cannot have a character-driven book without strong characters. The characters in ‘A Little Life’ are so carefully and intricately crafted that they and their stories feel completely real, so much so that you feel it would only be natural to turn on a film and be faced with the name ‘Willem Ragnarsson’ among the acting credits, or see a piece of art hung in a museum, the name below it reading: ‘Jean-Baptiste Marion.’ Whilst there is still a plot present in this book, the timeline jumps around so much that what we see of the plot really just feels like snippets of a bigger story rather than a straight-forward tale (cue the title). Despite this, however, the characters about whom the story is written are so entirely compelling that there doesn’t feel as if there is a lack of anything in this book, which I find can sometimes be the case with stories without a driven plot.

Part of the tangibility of these characters is down to the bluntly honest display of the flaws which they all possess. In my opinion, to write a perfect, flawless character would be to write a character with whom nobody could sympathise nor fall in love, which brings me to my next point: I found that a strong theme throughout this book is the widely felt desperation of people to be loved with all their flaws, without fear of judgement. This is especially prevalent with one particular character, whose scars — both physical and those hidden in his past — prevent him from feeling worthy of any kind of love, let alone the kind that would embrace his most secret, damaged parts. Many readers of ‘A Little Life’ have found the detail with which the horrors of this book are described to be too much, too heavy and unnecessary to the story. I would disagree; whilst I didn’t enjoy reading the details, I felt they were absolutely necessary in order to love this particular character in the way that he deserves to be loved, which is through acknowledging and embracing the gruesome details of his past which he believes make him ugly and unworthy of the kind of love that we, as readers, want to give him and want him to have from the other characters (which happens to be the kind of love of which he feels particularly undeserving). This does not make it an easy book to read, however it does make it an important one.

I also want to address the widespread belief that this is a ‘Sad Book.’ To label this book only as ‘sad,’ is — to me — nothing less than a gross injustice, however due to the resurgence in popularity of ‘A Little Life,’ particularly on social media (and especially on TikTok), many who use these platforms have come to think of this novel as just something to make them cry. Whilst I can’t honestly say that I made it through this book tear-free, I can say that I found as many beautiful and uplifting moments as I did sad ones, if not more. I truly believe that the hope that is woven throughout the story — despite it also having a recurring sense of hopelessness — is what characterises this book, more so than the fact it is occasionally ‘sad.’ I worry that some people may begin this book expecting only sadness, and they might miss out on the moments of joy, the really beautiful moments that come with the relationships explored amongst the four friends at the centre of this novel and those who surround them. So if there’s anything you take from this review, let it be that, should you choose to read this book (which I recommend you do), do not let yourself become occupied with the expectation of sadness — you could miss the parts of this book that really are a joy to read, the parts that make the emotional moments of the book even more potent and impactful.

Personally, I thought this book was incredible. It seems almost impossible for any author to access the emotions explored in Hanya Yanagihara’s characters throughout this book, let alone convey them in such a way that the reader will understand and appreciate, however somehow Yanagihara manages this, accessing incredibly complex feelings harboured by her characters and masterfully communicating them to us in a writing style so beautiful and unique that you can’t help but fall into the flow of it. Despite one of the biggest parts of the book being the slow reveal of Jude’s past, Yanagihara sets her action in what is almost an eternal present-tense. This frees the reader from feeling as though they are wading through the memories of each character every time something interesting happens, and keeps us present and hooked during the crucial moments. This, too, helps the book feel like a page-turner despite the lack of fast-paced action throughout most of the novel.

As I have already said, this book is not easy to read. It is sometimes upsetting, and the core of the book is surrounded by some extremely difficult subjects. That being said, whilst it is important to look up the trigger warnings surrounding this book and others, it is also important to remember that a book is not just a summary of its trigger warnings. There is so much more that holds this book together and keeps people reading, and I personally have not been able to spend a day of the last two weeks since I finished ‘A Little Life’ without finding my thoughts preoccupied with the characters of this book and the intensely beautiful relationships between them. They are what drive this novel, they are what keeps its readers up at night unable to think of anything else, let alone move onto another story, and they are what make me excited for the moment when I am finally ready to pick up this book to read again.

If you’ve got this far through the review, well done and thank you! If you don’t already, please follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluebookdragon/

Thanks again for reading,

Niamh x