Hardcover, 369 pages
English language
Published Aug. 13, 2013 by Doubleday.
The People in the Trees is the 2013 debut novel of author Hanya Yanagihara. Yanagihara stated that her novel was in part inspired by Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, who was revered in the scientific community before being accused of child molestation.The bulk of the novel is made up of the fictional memoirs of Dr. Abraham Norton Perina, a scientific researcher who discovers a turtle with life-prolonging qualities on the fictional island of Ivu'ivu. Yanagihara based the physical look and shape of Ivu'ivu on Angra dos Reis.
I was about to give it four stars for being interesting, incredibly well-written, and ambiguous, but then the postscript ruined everything by exposing what was otherwise always hinted at. Silly.
A disturbing exploration of exploitation, colonization, and abuse. I had difficulties getting through the beginning but ultimately it was worth it.
Who loves unreliable narrators? It's me. Both my hands are raised. I innately approach novels from the angle that narrator should not be trusted, and that sincerely helped my case with The People in the Trees. I was surprised to see that people rated this book so poorly on the account of its themes--the whole point of the book is to make you confront some of the most uncomfortable questions in society.Out of all the themes in the book (environmentalism, neocolonialism, moral relativism), my favorite was this critique of science as an absolute. The narrator himself is a scientist, but even when you present the facts they can be twisted to support the person's viewpoints. While slow in the beginning (I kept wondering when he plot would kick in), I found myself grasping for more time to listen to the audio book towards the end.
8/10 Would recommend to people …
Who loves unreliable narrators? It's me. Both my hands are raised. I innately approach novels from the angle that narrator should not be trusted, and that sincerely helped my case with The People in the Trees. I was surprised to see that people rated this book so poorly on the account of its themes--the whole point of the book is to make you confront some of the most uncomfortable questions in society.Out of all the themes in the book (environmentalism, neocolonialism, moral relativism), my favorite was this critique of science as an absolute. The narrator himself is a scientist, but even when you present the facts they can be twisted to support the person's viewpoints. While slow in the beginning (I kept wondering when he plot would kick in), I found myself grasping for more time to listen to the audio book towards the end.
8/10 Would recommend to people who like their morals questions, exploring the taboo, and who hate the white man
This damned thing is probably worth two or three stars for being imaginative and well-written. Really interesting voice and fully realized characters.
I'll hide the review for the spoiler, but I'm so sick of rape and child rape as the path to critical acclaim in 'serious' lit that this needs to be my last. I should wait a few days after finishing to write a review because all I have for this author is considerable profanity-laced scorn. I don't want an MPAA-style ratings guide for books, but I need some way of avoiding this kind of trash.
What a jerk.
