The reason A Little Life, Yanagihara’s most famous and most successful novel, got four stars from me instead of two was the way it managed to communicate the fullness of a life- including the joy. HANYA, WHY IS YOUR WORLD SO BEREFT OF JOY? Plus, America has always been at least a little proud of its delusion. Which I admire, but also I’m tired now and all it’s done is distract me.
I can see the attempt at a “great American novel” but I think that’s just Yanagihara’s natural style-to include all the themes. None of the themes besides the paradise-is-bullshit one are addressed enough. The autocratic-dystopian-pandemic-ridden-America bit is chilling. They just feel like canvases Yanagihara recycled because she was trying to write three novels in one. Same with the fixation on one house in New York and Hawaii. But there’s actually no relevant connection, so the name thing is just confusing. It’s super chaotic.The same names are used in all three novels in an attempt to illustrate similar themes, personalities, and storylines. There aren’t any moments of simple hope or happiness in the whole novel, making it feel sulky and lopsided. The concept of paradise is a refuge of the desperate. The messages are across-the-board depressing. The writing is less dazzling.While Yanagihara’s writing will always be beautiful and incisive and easy to read, I underlined far less in this novel, and the tone was just less… interesting. If you (likely) haven’t read it but are curious about how Yanagihara could possibly have out-depressed A Little Life, or if you’ve read it and you’re interested in a discussion of its content, have at it. This is a long review because it’s a big long book.
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