Maxwell Suzuki
  • Home
  • Writing / Visual Art
  • Reviews
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Writing / Visual Art
  • Reviews
  • Blog
  • Contact

Reviews

Review of A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

9/19/2022

0 Comments

 
​A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is a novel that focuses on the harrowing, painful, and bittersweet moments of four friends in New York. Though, of course, the novel is so much more than the relationships of the friends because it is about their experiences, their pasts that will not leave them, and their desires to build something after they have dealt with a tremendous amount of turmoil. And while, the novel’s other characters, Willem, JB, and Malcolm inhibit and direct the narrative, at its core, the novel is about Jude. Jude’s childhood is devastating, and he has been taken advantage of at every turn of his life by Brother Luke, Dr. Traylor, the counselors, and a countless amount of other men. So devastating, that Jude cuts himself, tries to kill himself, and shuts down around the people he loves.
 
It is truly a difficult (due to the subject matter) and terribly sad novel to read. Though, it felt that the approach that Yanagihara took with rape, suicide, and violence was well thought out and powerful. It describes the limitless nature of love, the horrors of the world, and what it means to be imperfect. And while it is a larger piece of fiction, the passages were written so smoothly that I found some days I read over a hundred pages, but only felt like I read twenty. Yanagihara expertly crafts language, moments, feelings, prose, and time to create something undeniably life changing. It made me cry, and heart-warmed when Jude finally tells his boyfriend, Willem, about his past in the closet. They sit there, they exist, and they know that there will only be love between them in that moment. This is one of the best novels I’ve read, and I don’t think I can recommend it enough.
 
Final Rating: 5/5
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Maxwell Suzuki is a writer, poet, and photographer based in Los Angeles.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021

    Categories

    All
    1/5
    1.5/5
    2/5
    2.5/5
    3/5
    3.5/5
    4/5
    4.5/5
    5/5
    Ada Limón
    Aldous Huxley
    Alexander Chee
    Ali Araghi
    Anne Lamott
    Austin Kleon
    Brandon Taylor
    Brett Biebel
    Brit Bennett
    Cathy Park Hong
    Chen Chen
    Colson Whitehead
    Dang Thuy Tram
    Delia Owens
    Devon Capizzi
    Dianne Suess
    Elie Wiesel
    Esteban Rodriguez
    Faith Shearin
    Fiction
    George Watsky
    Hanya Yanagihara
    Jean Kwok
    John Green
    Joy Kogawa
    Juhea Kim
    Julie Otsuka
    June Jordan
    Katsu Kokichi
    Kaveh Akbar
    Kenzaburō Ōe
    Kiese Laymon
    K-Ming Chang
    L.A. Johnson
    Madeline Miller
    Magazine
    Marc Lamont Hill
    Masaki Fujihata
    Matthew Salesses
    Michelle Zauner
    Natalie Diaz
    Natsuo Kirino
    Non Fiction
    Ocean Vuong
    Photography
    Poetry
    Rafael Zepeda
    Sally Rooney
    Sarah Fawn Montgomery
    Sequoia Nagamatsu
    Stephen King
    Steven Pressfield
    Tracy K. Smith
    Truman Capote
    Victoria Chang
    Viet Thanh Nguyen
    Yoko Ogawa
    Yoshiko Uchida
    Yukio Mishima

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.