Book Review- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Every once in a while, a reader encounters a book that is both the best and the worst book they ever read, and they won’t stop talking about it. They will however tell you that they would not recommend it to anyone. That book is “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. The book follows four friends, Jude, Willem, JB, and Malcolm as they navigate life after college. After a few pages, you realize the book is really about Jude, and the other characters are mainly a literal and figurative pillar for Jude. The book takes you on a 700-page emotional rollercoaster, embedding you in the suffering of Jude, and I guarantee you that no character will ever evoke the feelings Jude does.

There are a lot of disclaimers for this book, as it discusses heavy themes like child molestation, child prostitution, child abandonment, self-harm, suicide and an eating disorder. Hanya Yanagihara undoubtedly considered the worst experiences a human being could go through, and pitted all of those in Jude, the main character. Before you have realized the full extent of Jude`s suffering, you first empathize with him as he is partially disabled. He has a limp from a car injury and is said to go through phases of chronic pain. Additionally, just like his chronic pain, which has no cure or end, so is his never-ending psychological turmoil.

One of the reasons this book will be one of the best books you ever read is because of Hanya Yanagihara herself. Her mastery and control is what keeps you hooked throughout the 700 pages. The prose is wonderfully handled, and at no point is it out of place. The curiosity to discover what necessarily happened to Jude is planted very early on, and the suspense builds on as one flips the pages, so that by the time a reader gets to the full-extent of what Jude has gone through, all you want is to reach through the pages and give him a hug. She also manages to create a scenic friendship that ebbs and flows through decades, showcasing diverse characters who find peace and acceptance with each other. This is seen in how none of the others pressure Jude to divulge what happened to him. Their friendship is realistic, carrying the conflicts and fall-outs that happen in real life, and the forgiveness and reunion. This realism is also seen through Willem and Jude, who have their own bond within the broad friendship. Through these two, we see how their friendship creates a problem for Willem’s relationship when his girlfriends feel like Jude is too much in their life. Willem knows more about Jude than the other two, and when there are conflicts in the group, he chooses to defend Jude.

There are several reasons this will be the worst book you ever read; and the main reason will be because it is mainly misery porn. Nothing goes well for Jude, and it is understandable that the author was trying to show the lasting psychological effects of severe childhood trauma. However, Jude receives no respite; he moves from abuse to abuse. Every abuser is worse than the last, and no one even tries to stop the abuse. These years of abuse create the foundation for his future psychological trauma. Hanya Yanigahara further tries to show how easy it is for previous victims of abuse to slip back to the same cycle, since Jude finds himself in an adult relationship that greatly mirrors his childhood.

I believe this does not work well for the writer as the villains start becoming caricatures. Having one central villain in Luke was enough; adding all the other abusers seemed unnecessary, making the fictional story over-the-top, hence melodramatic. It is quite clear that it was the writer`s intention to have an unfixable character in Jude, but come on! I am not a disney fan, but I wanted a happy ever after for him. Readers will think they are getting that happy ever after, titled “The Happy Years”. They turn out to be the worst years. I did not bawl elsewhere as much as I bawled in these years. Even when you are rooting for Jude in his relationship, it is clear it is not a healthy relationship. However, you have to wonder, what is perfection to someone`s whose whole life has been imperfect? By the time I ended the chapter, I was already drafting an email to the author asking, “Hanya! Are my tears not enough? Is it my soul you want??”

I wish the writer spent time delving into the other characters, instead of having them in the periphery of Jude’s story. I believe it would have helped alleviate the misery and turmoil all over the story. Characters like Malcolm seemed complex, but as we got deeper into Jude’s abuse, the other characters just faded further into the back, ignored.

This story is a story of love, loss, just how deep human depravity can be, and how the brain and body keep score. Jude is an acclaimed lawyer, but his childhood infantilizes him, taking him back to those earlier ages of seven to fifteen when he was powerless, and you cannot help but empathize with that.