A Little Life

I can't say that this book grabbed right from the beginning. In fact, I had to get through the first two-hundred pages before I could really engage with any of the characters. Even then I could only read a few sections in one sitting before having to put the book down and pick it up the following day. I can understand if this book is considered slow and dull. It is not a novel that is bursting with joy. There were times when I considered abandoning this one. That being said, there are moments of beauty and tenderness in the writing that for me, made the effort worthwhile.

I don’t often abandon books, but half way through this I realised it was becoming too relentlessly Jude-centric, and in a way that mythologised him more than the character development could bear. The ensemble had faded into a pain narrative. I believe it’s been turned into a stage play, and the reviews for that look interesting…

cw: suicide, self harm[return][return]i cried a lot and it was engrossing. it's long and kept me up late reading.