loar reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
None
DNF @ 20 %
Epub
Italian language
Published Nov. 8, 2016 by Sellerio.
Una vita come tante
L’uscita di questo imponente romanzo ha suscitato un sentimento quasi unanime di stupore. Il repertorio dei commenti descrive nella maggior parte dei casi una qualità particolare del libro, ossia la capacità di far scaturire una passione trascinante per i suoi personaggi e la loro storia, di far trascorrere il tempo come fosse in accelerazione, di donare la sensazione, ormai desueta, che la lettura di un romanzo possa impadronirsi delle nostre vite. «Non capita spesso di leggere un romanzo di queste dimensioni e di pensare “vorrei che fosse più lungo”» (Times); «Totalmente coinvolgente, meravigliosamente romantico, a volte straziante, mi ha tenuto sveglio fino a tarda notte, una sera dopo l’altra» (Edmund White). Sembrano considerazioni ingenue, o furbescamente commerciali, ma le fonti di certo non lo sono. Si potrebbe dire che il romanzo di Hanya Yanagihara è una favola, e ciò spiegherebbe alcune delle reazioni che ha provocato. Una grande favola contemporanea, …
L’uscita di questo imponente romanzo ha suscitato un sentimento quasi unanime di stupore. Il repertorio dei commenti descrive nella maggior parte dei casi una qualità particolare del libro, ossia la capacità di far scaturire una passione trascinante per i suoi personaggi e la loro storia, di far trascorrere il tempo come fosse in accelerazione, di donare la sensazione, ormai desueta, che la lettura di un romanzo possa impadronirsi delle nostre vite. «Non capita spesso di leggere un romanzo di queste dimensioni e di pensare “vorrei che fosse più lungo”» (Times); «Totalmente coinvolgente, meravigliosamente romantico, a volte straziante, mi ha tenuto sveglio fino a tarda notte, una sera dopo l’altra» (Edmund White). Sembrano considerazioni ingenue, o furbescamente commerciali, ma le fonti di certo non lo sono. Si potrebbe dire che il romanzo di Hanya Yanagihara è una favola, e ciò spiegherebbe alcune delle reazioni che ha provocato. Una grande favola contemporanea, a tratti di malinconica dolcezza, spesso crudele ed efferata. In una New York fervida e sontuosa vivono quattro ragazzi, ex compagni di college, che da sempre sono stati vicini l’uno all’altro. Si sono trasferiti nella metropoli da una cittadina del New England, e all’inizio sono sostenuti solo dalla loro amicizia e dall’ambizione. Willem, dall’animo gentile, vuole fare l’attore. JB, scaltro e a volte crudele, insegue un accesso al mondo dell’arte. Malcolm è un architetto frustrato in uno studio prestigioso. Jude, avvocato brillante e di enigmatica riservatezza, è il loro centro di gravità. Nei suoi riguardi l’affetto e la solidarietà prendono una piega differente, per lui i ragazzi hanno una cura particolare, una sensibilità speciale e tormentata, perché la sua vita sempre oscilla tra la luce del riscatto e il baratro dell’autodistruzione. Intorno a Jude, al suo passato, alla sua lotta per conquistarsi un futuro, si plasmano campi di forze e tensioni, lealtà e tradimenti, sogni e disperazione. E la sua storia diventa una disamina, magnifica e perturbante, della crudeltà umana e del potere taumaturgico dell’amicizia. Come accade di rado, da una inconsueta immaginazione narrativa si è distillato un oggetto singolare: un romanzo classico e al tempo stesso modernissimo, capace di creare un mondo di profonda, coinvolgente umanità.
Source: sellerio.it/it/catalogo/Una-Vita-Come-Tante/Yanagihara/9021
Mat reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Beautiful portrayal of male friendships
4 stars
After several months listening to the 32 hours of this audiobook, with a story that spanned several decades, I feel I've been on a massive journey with all these characters, which was as beautiful as it was bleak. I've not read many books that explore male friendships in a way that go me thinking about my own, and often reminded me of the film Stand By Me.
I didn't know much about this book when I started listening to it, which perhaps was for the best as I didn't know how bleak it would become at times, and later a friend would tell me it has received much criticism for this. However, I feel very grateful for all the very tender and warm moments in the book, which were perhaps enhanced by the incredible narration from Oliver Wyman.
After several months listening to the 32 hours of this audiobook, with a story that spanned several decades, I feel I've been on a massive journey with all these characters, which was as beautiful as it was bleak. I've not read many books that explore male friendships in a way that go me thinking about my own, and often reminded me of the film Stand By Me.
I didn't know much about this book when I started listening to it, which perhaps was for the best as I didn't know how bleak it would become at times, and later a friend would tell me it has received much criticism for this. However, I feel very grateful for all the very tender and warm moments in the book, which were perhaps enhanced by the incredible narration from Oliver Wyman.
Otts reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Like Aronofsky’s “Mother!” the pain is the point.
Challenging in every sense of the word. The unrelenting abuse inflicted on Jude felt like torture porn. I threw my hands up repeatedly wondering if such extremes were an intentional choice. Alternately exploitative and compelling to explore the mindset of someone so mistreated as well as those around him. Goes on too long. A genuine art experience from a book. I’m grateful for it but don’t need to repeat. Both 5 stars and 0, so no rating.
oatmilk_alex reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Review of 'A Little Life' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Quotes from this will probably keep me up at night. It’s too real.. I just felt emptiness.
I guess read this if you want 800 pages of suffering… I now feel like I can read anything though!
Quotes from this will probably keep me up at night. It’s too real.. I just felt emptiness.
I guess read this if you want 800 pages of suffering… I now feel like I can read anything though!
I guess read this if you want 800 pages of suffering… I now feel like I can read anything though!
jayemar reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Review of 'A Little Life' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Wow. That was unlike anything I've ever read. Such beautiful prose and such a gut-wrenching story. It's hard to imagine the emotional strength and creativity required to write this book.
Wow. That was unlike anything I've ever read. Such beautiful prose and such a gut-wrenching story. It's hard to imagine the emotional strength and creativity required to write this book.
aetheras reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Review of 'A Little Life' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
disgusting book.
billybooknews reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Review of 'A Little Life' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Well that was rough
k1dokuu reviewed Ein wenig Leben by Hanya Yanagihara
Review of 'Ein wenig Leben' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Emotional damage.
Addendum: It is brilliant! Because of the time span this book covers, it almost feels like an epic fantasy. It's definitely a long read, but I actually didn't feel bored at any point. It made me feel things - not sadness, tbh, but pain, guilt, hate and anger. The book slaps the abysses of humanity right in your face. "A Little Life" is at the same time both exaggerated and realistic.
I may read it again in the future to understand how all the clues are woven into the story. Despite loving this book very much, I won't be able to recommend it unreservedly to friends and family. At least not without the list of trigger warnings.
Emotional damage.
Addendum: It is brilliant! Because of the time span this book covers, it almost feels like an epic fantasy. It's definitely a long read, but I actually didn't feel bored at any point. It made me feel things - not sadness, tbh, but pain, guilt, hate and anger. The book slaps the abysses of humanity right in your face. "A Little Life" is at the same time both exaggerated and realistic.
I may read it again in the future to understand how all the clues are woven into the story. Despite loving this book very much, I won't be able to recommend it unreservedly to friends and family. At least not without the list of trigger warnings.
serverbee reviewed Uma Vida Pequena by Hanya Yanagihara
Review of 'Uma Vida Pequena' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I finished it and wished I could reread it immediately. Soak it in every word, again, more.
kab reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
A Little Life
2 stars
Struggles presented as universal take on a quality of mocking delusion when the excess of protagonists (only male voices) all become famous millionaires at the top of their fields who own fabulous and plural homes and have access to private jets and Alhambra strolls. The decided main character also has riches in an expansive circle of equally jet-setting friends who over the span of decades never give up on him despite constant vehement testing-our-friendship pushback. We’re told they remain devoted and compassionate yet none ever actually do rudimentary research on how to, if not guide him to knowledgeable help, talk to him and make steps to reposition the thinking and identity of a friend who has lived through extremities of harm. The glamour and American dreaming has its counterbalance in a childhood filled with horrors heaped on horrors of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse.
Even if it had been …
Struggles presented as universal take on a quality of mocking delusion when the excess of protagonists (only male voices) all become famous millionaires at the top of their fields who own fabulous and plural homes and have access to private jets and Alhambra strolls. The decided main character also has riches in an expansive circle of equally jet-setting friends who over the span of decades never give up on him despite constant vehement testing-our-friendship pushback. We’re told they remain devoted and compassionate yet none ever actually do rudimentary research on how to, if not guide him to knowledgeable help, talk to him and make steps to reposition the thinking and identity of a friend who has lived through extremities of harm. The glamour and American dreaming has its counterbalance in a childhood filled with horrors heaped on horrors of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse.
Even if it had been thoughtfully pruned and calibrated to a relatable scale, the novel’s early glimmers of resonance could not survive the author’s carrel of privilege and vision for suffering. The exploration of the aftermath of childhood trauma and the role of friendship in the potentiality of healing is weightily disrespected.
airdog reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
handle with care
4 stars
You need to be either sadist or masochist to endure this work without too much damage. At least 600 of the 720 pages of the book are intense descriptions of intricate sufferings. But I can tell you that you'll never look at your relationship with your significant other the same way ever again as she delves during the whole book on the relationship between the sufferer (Jude) and his friend/lover Willem. Yanagihara in her pursuit of pain is merciless and follows each ramifications to it's bitter end. A life changing work for me.
You need to be either sadist or masochist to endure this work without too much damage. At least 600 of the 720 pages of the book are intense descriptions of intricate sufferings. But I can tell you that you'll never look at your relationship with your significant other the same way ever again as she delves during the whole book on the relationship between the sufferer (Jude) and his friend/lover Willem. Yanagihara in her pursuit of pain is merciless and follows each ramifications to it's bitter end. A life changing work for me.
Billionyearoldcarbon reviewed Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
None
2 stars
Goodreads should have a status for books you did not finish/gave up on.
It was well written but I did not care enough for Jude, Malcolm, JB and Willelm to stick with for 800+ pages.
georgewhatup reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Review of 'A Little Life' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
3.5
This book makes me really want to discuss it with other people. The writing is beautiful and the detail the author finds in so many walks of life is fantastic. Everyone said it was sad and they weren't wrong, there are some sad parts, but overall I'd classify it as depressing more than sad.
How much trauma is enough to justify being a bad person? To not even want to be better even though you have the tools available to try and you're hurting all those around you by not doing it? I don't know, but this book made me think about it a lot.
The characters are interesting, the 'privilege porn' is fun if a little on the nose. Seriously, all the main characters are ultra high functioning success stories, live in beautiful places and travel to stunning exotic locations as well as being super gifted both artistically …
3.5
This book makes me really want to discuss it with other people. The writing is beautiful and the detail the author finds in so many walks of life is fantastic. Everyone said it was sad and they weren't wrong, there are some sad parts, but overall I'd classify it as depressing more than sad.
How much trauma is enough to justify being a bad person? To not even want to be better even though you have the tools available to try and you're hurting all those around you by not doing it? I don't know, but this book made me think about it a lot.
The characters are interesting, the 'privilege porn' is fun if a little on the nose. Seriously, all the main characters are ultra high functioning success stories, live in beautiful places and travel to stunning exotic locations as well as being super gifted both artistically and professionally with a deep knowledge of any high culture they can reel off at any time. This ain't a book about having to come to grips with not being good/rich/famous/smart enough.
Glad I read it, look forward to a spirited discussion about it with someone in the future.
aurrai reviewed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
None
5 stars
The most painful book i've ever read. A sample of the text:
“JB didn’t come,” Malcolm says, sounding annoyed, as Willem kisses him and Sophie hello. “He and Fredrik broke up—maybe—this morning. But maybe they didn’t, because he said he was going to come up tomorrow. I couldn’t really figure out what was going on.”
He groans. “I’ll call him from the house,” he says. “Hi, Soph. Have you guys eaten lunch yet? We can start cooking as soon as we get back.”
They haven’t, so he calls Jude to tell him he can start boiling the water for the pasta, but Jude’s already begun. “I got the limes,” he tells him. “And JB’s not coming until tomorrow; some difficulty with Fredrik that Mal couldn’t quite follow. Do you want to call him and find out what’s happening?”
He loads his friends’ bags into the backseat, and Malcolm gets in, …
The most painful book i've ever read. A sample of the text:
“JB didn’t come,” Malcolm says, sounding annoyed, as Willem kisses him and Sophie hello. “He and Fredrik broke up—maybe—this morning. But maybe they didn’t, because he said he was going to come up tomorrow. I couldn’t really figure out what was going on.”
He groans. “I’ll call him from the house,” he says. “Hi, Soph. Have you guys eaten lunch yet? We can start cooking as soon as we get back.”
They haven’t, so he calls Jude to tell him he can start boiling the water for the pasta, but Jude’s already begun. “I got the limes,” he tells him. “And JB’s not coming until tomorrow; some difficulty with Fredrik that Mal couldn’t quite follow. Do you want to call him and find out what’s happening?”
He loads his friends’ bags into the backseat, and Malcolm gets in, glancing at the car’s trunk as he does. “Interesting color,” he says.
“Thanks,” he says. “It’s called ‘harlot red.’ ”
“Really?”
Malcolm’s persistent credulity makes him grin. “Yes,” he says. “Ready, guys?”
“JB didn’t come,” Malcolm says, sounding annoyed, as Willem kisses him and Sophie hello. “He and Fredrik broke up—maybe—this morning. But maybe they didn’t, because he said he was going to come up tomorrow. I couldn’t really figure out what was going on.”
He groans. “I’ll call him from the house,” he says. “Hi, Soph. Have you guys eaten lunch yet? We can start cooking as soon as we get back.”
They haven’t, so he calls Jude to tell him he can start boiling the water for the pasta, but Jude’s already begun. “I got the limes,” he tells him. “And JB’s not coming until tomorrow; some difficulty with Fredrik that Mal couldn’t quite follow. Do you want to call him and find out what’s happening?”
He loads his friends’ bags into the backseat, and Malcolm gets in, glancing at the car’s trunk as he does. “Interesting color,” he says.
“Thanks,” he says. “It’s called ‘harlot red.’ ”
“Really?”
Malcolm’s persistent credulity makes him grin. “Yes,” he says. “Ready, guys?”
FuzzyJJ reviewed Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara
Review of 'Een klein leven' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Long time ago that I read a book that I had to put away every now and then because it did so much to me emotionally. It's not a happy story but that doesn't make the book any less.
Long time ago that I read a book that I had to put away every now and then because it did so much to me emotionally. It's not a happy story but that doesn't make the book any less.
