Melissa "Dog/Wolf Lover" Martin's Reading & Ramblings: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Friday, March 11, 2016

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE
A MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST
A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. @goodreads

MY REVIEW:

4 STARS

BLOODY FREAKING HELL!

Okay, I was at a loss of how I wanted to rate this book. I went back and forth from three to five and settled on four! I have never read a book, that I can recall, that is so damn sad as I have reading this book. How one person can go through so much hell pretty much their whole damn life!

There is Jude, Willem, JB, & Malcolm. They are all great friends and we get to see their lives from when they were all living together until their deaths. There are several other side characters that were good too, but to me, the most memorable side character was Andy, the doctor that helped Jude for most of his life.

Jude was conned, coerced, led astray, what the F ever you want to call it, when he was young. Jude called him Father Luke, was it Luke? How about sick f*ck! He used Jude from a young age have sex with all kinds of men for money. He would say some bullshit about using the money to buy them a cabin. I don't freaking know, I just know that man and all men or women like him that do that to children need to be ended!

And poor little Jude does this for years because he thinks Luke loves him and at the time he just wants to make him happy.

The book goes back and forth from things that happened to Jude in the past to things that are going on in the present, I did get a little confused from time to time, but I was so appalled at everything else I don't think it made a difference.

At one point Willem and Jude get together and it's a really hard relationship for Jude. He feels like he can't be enough for Willem because of his fear of being touched and things. Oh and at some point in Jude's past he was picked up by some psycho, kept in a dungeon, raped, beaten, and ran over by a car. It's a wonder he escaped with his life from that man.

Jude's body is covered in scars, some from beatings, and a lot from cutting..yeah.. he became a cutter. :-( It's not pretty, I have a friend that was a cutter for many years.

Jude had problems with his legs, stds... he had so many medical problems. Some of his limbs had to be amputated. God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just can't go on! I loved these characters in the book, well not the evil ones, but I thought they were wonderful friends. I thought the side characters were very good. I thought the author's writing was great, but now I'm so depressed someone needs to find me a feel good book to read after this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!