Warning!
The review contains mentions of sexual abuse and self-harm. (Spotify link to an “A Little Life” playlist ↓)
The modern classic “A Little Life,” written by Hanya Yanagihara, is a beautiful, yet tragic testament to what we call life. The novel follows four friends as they navigate their college years and adult lives, up until their fifties. There’s JB, a very talented artist who’s constantly waiting for his breakthrough, Malcolm, an architect with a big heart, Willem, a kind, aspiring actor, and Jude- the sun, the one who the friend group, and book, revolve around. Jude is many things, but most of all he is enigmatic and struggling.
Four friends, four different lives, four different races, four different ideals. Yet, they are all connected. Their friend group demonstrates the trust, love, and care that bond people to each other, bonds that people sometimes spend their whole lives searching for.
However, don’t let the friend aspect of the book fool you. After all, this book is about life, and life can be very challenging- for some, more than others.
A Little Life is full of trauma, self-harm, abuse, loss, and rape. I definitely recommend being in a good headspace before you decide to pick up this emotionally taxing and heavy book.
I had known prior that it was going to be a very difficult book to read due to this, and I thought up of the worst thing that could have happened, yet the reality of what happened was almost triple of that. There were times that I was crying so hard I felt sick to my stomach, or times I had to put down the book and step away after some pretty graphic scenes. Hanya Yanagihara perfectly paints the mindset of a struggling individual who genuinely believes that they deserve every horrible thing that happens to them, and it genuinely made my heart break. Seeing the characters try so hard to overcome what was unfairly imposed upon them, and to sometimes fail, was brutal. A lot of people claim that the book has no real meaning and have referred to it as “trauma p*rn.” I feel both envy and pity for those people, for they can’t see outside of themselves- they have no idea what other people have endured and gone through. That is the whole point of the book.
The book shows how life can be for some people, the things that happen in the novel are things that happen to people every day. I applaud Yanagihara for being able to write about and expose these sensitive topics that can be too hard for others to write and talk about. The people who see it as anything other than a story about life are people who have never known genuine struggle.
I didn’t spend the whole time crying over the sad aspects, I also caught myself crying over the happy ones too. Many happy and funny scenes make all the other sad aspects worth it. A big theme of the novel are found families, and I felt as though it was something that a lot of people could relate to. It was so interesting to be able to see small parts of yourself in all the characters. (Jude is definitely my favorite.) It’s such an eye-opener, and it makes you value both the messiness and good of humanity. While a lot of the book is challenging to read, it’s genuinely written so beautifully. The descriptions, the details, the changing points of view, everything that Yanagihara does in this novel is done carefully and is successful in taking you on this rollercoaster. The beginning is slow, but once you get to the later parts, the author keeps you hooked. Sitting down with a sweet treat and some kind of drink while you read it is a great way to pass time. There have also been two play-adaptations of the novel in Europe, which I have not seen because I know I’d be bawling the whole time, but have had great reviews.
Reading “A Little Life” was like altering my brain chemistry. The characters and their lives is something that will stick with me forever. If you think you can handle this dark but beautiful story, I highly recommend it. Even if it breaks your heart a tad bit, the friendship, laughs, and love in that story is worthwhile, and the ending leaves you with a sense of peace.
