A Little Life: A Novel

Absolutely heartbreaking ? but so well written. Must read for sure

Incomplete audiobook! Not the full book cuts off with 200pp to go

Trigger Warnings: sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, grooming, rape of a minor, self harm, drug use, addiction, themes of suicide, death

Follow the lives of four men, Jude, Willem, JB, and Malcolm, from the time they met in College, to 50+ as they grow into adults and each battle their own struggles and demons.

Oh my goodness - I think this took me so long to read because of just how SAD and PAINFUL it was. Seriously, when people ask me about this book, I have simply been telling them - it’s a lot. It does not usually take me a month and a half to read a book, even if it is 800 pages.

The writing in this is a little slow, but it’s slow so that you really understand the characters and the reasoning behind their actions. It wasn’t a book that I could read a few pages here and there and be okay with, this was a better read when I was able to carve out 2+ hours at a time to get submerged in it.

Jude was who everyone circled around, but he was also the one who struggled the most. I would get so upset with his actions (or lack thereof), but then I would remember his life experiences and the heat of anger would sizzle. I just wanted to both scream at him to get better but to also wrap him in a bear hug so nothing else could touch him.

Overall, I am not sure who I would recommend it to. Sometimes, you want a book that will wreck you - and this is it. But I would still give it a fair warning that it’s a lot and for readers to take care of themselves when reading it.

This audiobook is not complete, the narrator is amazing though

A truly harrowing read and one I couldn't wait to get back to each time I set it down. And I don't think it was the "slowing down to see what happened in the car accident" kind of curiosity, but a curiosity about the lives and struggles and relationships of these individuals and about just how honest the author was willing to be, given the terrain she was exploring. I've read some of the critical reviews here, and, yes, they make some good points (it was a bit claustrophobic in terms of focus), but when I look at the book Yanagihara did write rather than bemoaning the book that she did not write, I can only say that it struck me as an amazing accomplishment, structurally, poetically (I marked quite a few passages), and in characterization (though the few female characters were not fleshed out at all), without being self-conscious or predictable. Though I have some trouble remembering books (which is one of the reasons I write Goodreads reviews so that I will remember what I read and my response to it), there are things from this book that I have no doubt will stay with me. That is no small thing.

This audiobook version on Everand is not the full book. The audiobook version on Everand ends on page 690 in the physical book, but the physical book has 816 pages. I’m glad I have the physical book so I can actually finish it. It’s a wonderful book and very well written, but the main character goes through some horrific trauma, and I found some of it to be medically and physically unrealistic.

Audio version ends on page 690, but the book actually has 814 pages.

I am more than three quarters of the way through this book and I have given myself the right to shelve it. I am not sure how many times "I'm sorry" appears in the novel. All I know is that I am now flinching every time I hear it. Unrelenting behaviour carried on through decades. The author has no problem telling us why people act the way they do but the characters themselves seem unable to do anything except mutter "I'm sorry" throughout all the seemingly non-ending years of friendship. The characters are trapped in a time warp literally (nothing happens in the world) and emotionally. The only development is the author's slow strip tease dance of the seven veils reveal of how many ways one of the characters has suffered. Trust me, there are many. So many. And so, I am sorry. Can't finish this. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

It did not cover the entire book reading and audio was clear to follow

I think I would have loved this book if it were shorter. I'm not adverse to long books (in fact, I've declared 2024 the YOBB, or Year of Big Books in an attempt to get some weightier reads off my shelves). This book could have been great, but it went on so long I got bored and/or frustrated. I became so sick of Jude's and Willem's relationship where they constantly seemed to be apologizing for failing to understand the other. I started to think that Jude's backstory had just too many traumatic events and evil people in it. I even started to wonder what all the other characters saw in Jude anyway.

Given the strong characters and heart-wrenching plot, I shouldn't have had these thoughts. But things dragged on. I still liked it, but didn't find it great.

The story is beautiful! The only thing that bothers me (the reason why I don't give it 5 stars) is that it is unnecessarily long: there are details about things that really don't matter and are unnecessary for the plot. Despite that, it is a beautiful book that makes you think about many aspects of life. I would recommend it if you are strong, both in mind and stomach. (Translated from Spanish)

A Little Life. Hanya Yanagihara. 2015. What a book! I have been reading about this book for several years. It seems like there isn’t any middle ground: you love it or hate it. And I loved it. It is the story of 4 college friends who move to NYC after graduation. The story revolves around Jude, who was so hideously abused mentally and physically as a child and teenager that he cannot accept the fact that he is loved and that he can love. It is also one of the saddest books I have ever read. The subject matter is hard to handle at times and not for everyone, but Yanagihara is a great writer. She reminds me of Richard Russo, and I will read her other books.

This book is so hard to review. It's beautiful and horrific and universal and specific. Very difficult to read but impossible not to finish.

It's quite a project to tackle a thousand-page book in these times, which bombard our interest in milliseconds. A book that doesn't let you go and draws you intensely into the characters. I don't know if the story is the most interesting aspect, but rather empathizing with what the characters feel. It marks an era. (Translated from Spanish)

Piece of a book!!! How hard it has been as I progressed through the reading. What childhood traumas can mark. A story of four friends, full of love, friendship, overcoming, but also pain, despair, anger, and helplessness... I don’t think any book I read this year will surpass it. (Translated from Spanish)

Heartbreaking

How much this book has hurt me? (Translated from Spanish)

It is the story of four friends who face life together with their hopes, fears, and disagreements. Jude is the standout character, and we see that he has not had a good life since childhood. It is a heartbreaking novel that does not give you a moment's respite. (Translated from Spanish)

"So I try to be kind to everything I see, and in everything I see, I see him." (Translated from Spanish)

I never write reviews of the books I read!!! I like to keep the good or bad aspects of each one to myself!!! But wow, this book took my emotional stability to another level, I had to stop several times to continue, it's an impressive read that narrates the reality of society, the importance of mental health, and the emotional support we must provide. (Translated from Spanish)

Can I rate a book I DNF? It wasn't a bad book but by 350 pages in I was bored and didn't want to read another 400 pages. It is very detailed/wordy. I obviously didn't think it was amazing.

Amazing. Probably the best book I've ever read.

Devastating from start to finish. Few books talk to you one-on-one like the author does with this magnificent story. Life is so short in the eyes of those who live it that memories are the only thing we have left from the little life we live. (Translated from Spanish)

It is a beautiful book that tells a great story. As you progress, you learn about the protagonists' heartbreaking past, which makes you feel a part of it. It is a captivating and moving read. (Translated from Spanish)

With so little life, I climbed a roller coaster of sadness, joy, suffering, faith, and helplessness... I would like to write more, but I need to take some time to process so many emotions. (Translated from Spanish)

I try, I keep trying... but I can't, I can't with contemporary American literature. It bores me, I'm bored by their questioning of everything, by their having more doubts than the Panchos, by their being so indecisive and snobby at the same time. I don't doubt the quality of the novel, but it's impossible for me, I prefer Latino and Asian writers. (Translated from Spanish)

Simply heartbreaking and wonderful. Undoubtedly my favorite book, despite all the suffering, I do not regret having read it. It shows a reality that exists, unfortunately, but has been made invisible and for that reason continues to exist. I love it. (Translated from Spanish)

To be one hundred percent honest, A Little Life disturbed me though and through. While on the surface the story follows the lives of four college friends, they all have serious issues that border on all-out tragedy. Living in New York and trying to make a go of different careers, it is terrifying to watch their weaknesses chew them up and spit them out one by one. At the same time, there is something unnervingly beautiful about their friendships despite vastly different upbringings. At the center is Jude. Beautifully broken Jude. At times I wanted to hurl his story out the window in seething frustration. He doesn't want to talk about his life. He is a mystery. He can't talk about his parents of ethnic background for fear of betrayal. He can't navigate stairs and needs an elevator. He cuts himself to the point of suicidal. He's not white and doesn't mention his childhood. He's always in pain, wearing leg braces or using a wheelchair. His injury is not from an accident but something deliberate. He is a glutton for punishment beyond human sanity. He went to same law school as his friend Malcolm's dad. He is the most beautiful of the group; and the most sly. He doesn't like to be touched. Yet, he is a loyal-to-the-core friend. Like a many-layered onion, the reader peels back the mystery that is Jude. When you get to his core you'll wish you hadn't. The abuses he suffers are so numerous and varied; each one more horrifying than the next that you have to ask yourself, how much trauma can one soul take?

I read it 2 months ago and I still shudder when I think of Jude... (Translated from Spanish)

How do I hate this book, let me count the ways. I hate the pretentious writing, the author's dedicated lack of research, the bloated, overblown length of the repetitive text, the bandwagon that everyone jumped on, the hype generated by the bandwagon - which I fell for - and first and foremost, I HATE JUDE ST FRANCIS, a protagonist so miserable that he can't even put his friends (and the readers of this obnoxious published fan fiction) out of their misery by ending his life far flaming sooner than he did.

If there was such a thing as compensation for badly written books, I would be claiming back the week I wasted with Jude and his exaggerated, ongoing life of trauma, and also suing for damages because my reading mojo nearly flatlined. Ploughing through section after section of Jude apologising for existing while simultaneously being successful at every task he turned his giant brain to became old pretty quickly but by the time I realised that I should DNF, I was too far in to quit - not that I thought the story would pick up, only that I had already wasted hours getting up to the halfway point of OVER 700 PAGES! Why did this book need to be so long when Jude whining like a bitch is the only thing that ever happens? Even his three close college friends rarely get a look in, or develop believable personalities. Willem is an award-winning actor, JB is the toast of the New York art scene (despite only ever painting the portraits of his three friends) and Malcolm is a innovative architect, but all they have in common is fawning over Jude.

Jude himself is like the fantasy hero of a teenager's over-emotive Wattpad fiction. Putting aside his backstory of abuse so overwrought that the slow drip-drip of details is both comic and yet painfully insulting to actual survivors of childhood sexual and physical assault, he is described - ad nauseum - as both devastatingly handsome and universally talented. In the words of Willem:

“You’re a swimmer. You’re a baker. You’re a cook. You’re a reader. You have a beautiful voice, though you never sing anymore. You’re an excellent pianist. You’re an art collector."

He's also a brilliant mathematician and a cutthroat lawyer who instantly rises to the top of the firm he joins despite spending half of his professional life recovering from some physical or mental trauma. And everybody loves him! That should actually have been the title of this book: 'Everybody Loves Jude: Though God Knows Why'. Willem, his chick magnet best friend falls in love with him, an older couple legally adopt him when he's in his thirties, the parents of his friends all love him more than their own children, his doctor practically dedicates his career to being on call 24/7 (while betraying his professional duty to report self harm and get the little brat committed).

And yet. Does this sudden good fortune after a childhood of being abused by everyone from predatory paedophiles to Franciscan monks make Jude happy, or even independent and resilient? Not a chance! He is an emotional vampire who drains every drop of love and care out of his friends and adopted family, while selfishly proclaiming that he hurts himself and deceives others to protect them from the 'truth' about who he is:

"I’m sorry I’m such a problem for you. I’m sorry I’m ruining your retirement. I’m sorry I’m not happier. I’m sorry I’m not over Willem. I’m sorry I have a job you don’t respect. I’m sorry I’m such a nothing of a person."

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I wanted to end him myself after 300 pages of incessant whining. Harold and Julia are nothing but loving, Willem - despite, you know, forcing Jude to have sex because everyone needs sex, right? - constantly puts his high-flying celebrity on hold to mop up after Jude cuts himself to ribbons, Dr Andy spends thirty years patching him up when he should have had him locked up. I took great delight in the isolated moments where first JB, then Andy and finally Willem all snapped and told Jude what they thought of his shitty attitude. Of course, such brutal honesty was only answered with five paragraphs of 'sorry, sorry, sorry'.

Yes, abuse is horrific, but Yanagihara - who admitted that she didn't do any serious research into the sensitive issues of Jude's story - is hardly helping to raise positive awareness about the reality of surviving such trauma. Neither does her frankly homophobic attitude to the lgbt characters in the book make this a 'great gay novel' - Willem falls in love with Jude, outs their relationship while refusing to comprehend how Jude's past might make him fear intimacy, and then announces that he is 'not fundamentally' gay and goes back to sleeping with women.

I hated every page of this novel, finally started skim-reading to get through the never-ending misery and have now deleted the download entirely from my Kindle. I wish I could do the same for my brain. The only positive note I can add is that the edition with the melodramatic, cry baby man's face is the most appropriate cover art I have seen all year. Really, all l I can do is echo the advice I recently read in another less than glowing review: 'If you haven't read this, then don't'.