A Little Life

A Little Life

by Hanya Yanagihara

Such a depressing and emotionally draining book.  Hard to say I could ever read something like this again.  I knew listening to it that the subject matter seemed very similar to another book I had read, People in the Tree, and, surprisingly, it was by the same author: Hanya Yanagihara.  The subject matter and storyline of this book, A Little Life, bothered me so much that it took me a long time to finish.  I was forced to seek advice from some Facebook friends on how to finish a book you really didn’t like.  The story is about four college friends but focuses mainly on the life of Jude, who walks with a severe limp.  His three male friends all struggle after college with their careers, but as the story continues, all become leaders in their fields of study: lawyer, artist, actor, and financial investor.  Jude is close to the friends but always holds back sharing his past and his life in general.  As the book progresses, the reader learns why.  Jude was orphaned as a child and grew up in a Christian home with religious men who sexually abused him.  Later, Jude escaped and was taken to another home, but he was again sexually abused.  He then ran away and became a prostitute but was soon captured by a mentally ill doctor who attempted to kill him by running him over.  In the end, he survives, receives an education and is reunited with his three best friends.  The rest of the story chronicles how Jude struggles to live a normal life – but that never happens. Instead, he turns to self-harm to avoid thinking about the pain of his past experiences.  His friend, Willem, now a world renowned actor, falls in love with Jude and they attempt to work through his self-harm.  Jude is also adopted as an adult by his law school mentor, the friend who stands by and watches the self-harm. But another tragedy strikes: Willem tragically dies in an accident after the two begin moving forward in their relationship.  There is one final tragedy in this story, but I’ll leave the last one for you to read, if you can get through this one.  This is probably one of the worst books I have ever read.  Yes, I am someone who enjoys “happily ever after” books, and I can generally deal with tragic endings, but this one is over the top.  I’m sure someone will get something out of this one, but I’d warn anyone considering this read that the author clearly has a proclivity towards pedophilia and sexually repressed older men.  I personally would not recommend this book: the length and content did me in.