Hanya, Hanya, Hanya, where did we go wrong? I know it says on my Goodreads that I rated A Little Life two starThere are spoilers for the entire book.
Hanya, Hanya, Hanya, where did we go wrong? I know it says on my Goodreads that I rated A Little Life two stars, but that was entirely different from this. I did not enjoy reading A Little Life. I did not find happiness in the experience, and so I cannot rate it higher than two stars by my own rating system, but I did not think A Little Life was bad. This book? This book was bad.
I really shouldn't call it a book, for it's actually three books all smushed together in a convoluted, meaningless story devoid of substance. I suppose I'll break each one down.
BOOK ONE Set in 1893 New York in a hellish alternate universe where America is actually an amalgamation of the 'Free States,' The Republic of Maine, The Colonies, The Western Union, and The American Union, book one was an utter waste. Let me iterate that this setting, seemingly interesting at first glance, is completely irrelevant in the long run.
The story is really about a rich guy named David who is incompetent and annoying and selfish and falls in love with Edward, a piano player, despite being in a somewhat confusing relationship with a man named Charles. Homosexuality, in the Free States, is accepted (along with racism). The plot revolves around David's internal struggle going up against his grandfather by eloping with a man he really does not know very much about. It is, quite frankly, a fine story, were it not for the setting.
I really can't be the only person confused as to why this book took place in an alternate version of 1893. There are often scenes where characters will randomly talk about black people or Native Americans in a way that is completely irrelevant to the plot. Take, for instance, the conversation David overhears with some kids discussing whether or not Native Americans had (past tense, because they have all been completely genocided) any humanity, where one girl argues that of course they did before everyone around makes fun of her. This scene is not important to the pot and has no effect on anything. Another scene shows David saying that of course black people should be free, they just shouldn't be allowed to come to the Free States. Again, this scene is not relevant at all to the story. I truly do not understand what Hanya's goal was in utilizing a setting such as this one, unless it was because she just likes writing about controversial subjects (which I assume she does). Anyway, it did not work for me, and I could not help but be extremely bothered by it.
BOOK TWO This book is unbelievably boring. I don't think anyone liked this part at all. It's split between two narratives: one about David (this is a pattern), a young Hawaiian man in a relationship with Charles, a much older white man, during the AIDS crisis; the other about David (I'm being serious), other David's father, as he watched his family and life back in Hawai'i fall apart. This part f the book is a droll, but it also feels shorter than both the other parts, so I don't care. There is nothing particularly egregious about this book (other than the embarrassingly whiny behavior of David jr. who I could not stand for even a moment), and if it had been a stand-alone I likely would have rated it a low 3 or a 2.5 for being meh.
BOOK THREE There is so much going on here. Again we switch between two narratives: Charlie, a pathetic young woman married to a gay man during a dystopian 2093; Charles (kill me), a gay man in a terrible relationship with an evil little son. You slowly figure out as the book continues on that Charles is Charlie's grandfather, and it's honestly the most interesting part of To Paradise. Charles' narrative takes us through the beginning of the totalitarian government Charlie lives in in the future (their chapters are set in two different timelines). We get to see the gradual changes implemented as America becomes more and more conservative, and that was kind of cool??
Ironically enough, this book also read a little bit like a conservative fantasy, lol. I do not think it was the intention, but the idea of the government being the ones to infect their citizens will illnesses and lying about it while also expressing more and more control over people is...definitely a right-wing idea. Again, I am not saying Hanya Yanagihara is promoting this conspiracy theory, I just think it is a funny comparison.
This part once again struggles with whiny and pathetic narrators. I get it, I really do. They're unlikable on purpose. But come on, man. Do they all need to be so annoying? Do they all need to be completely incapable of doing anything on their own? It's just a bit discomforting.
Ultimately, the plotlines and story are a bit too convoluted for me. I do not mean difficult to understand, but that there's too much going on. I do not see the connection between these three books (yes, I do, but I don't think it's well done) and I don't care much for any of it. I would make a joke that Hanya should stick to writing trauma dumps about gay men, but that's literally what she did in this book. Does she not have any other ideas? What powerful hold do depressed gay men have on her? We truly will never know. ...more
"Throughout the course of civilization, humans had looked to the heavens for answers. In stars, they found maps. In suns, they foun
4 stars *may change
"Throughout the course of civilization, humans had looked to the heavens for answers. In stars, they found maps. In suns, they found gods. In the sky beyond the sky, they thought they'd find a second home."
This was a nice little surprise.
I've never read Joan He's works before, but this book has me convinced that I really ought to immediately. I'm not one to pay attention to writing styles much—it's either well-written or not—but I've been told this was quite beautiful. Having seen it myself first hand, I really do think it's lovely. He's writing is almost poetic and lyrical in a sense while drawing on metaphors and imagery to fit the scene. It was very easy to get through, despite the fact that I usually have quite a bit of trouble reading physical books.
There is, er, one thing that dragged this book down, and I'd like to get it out of the way quickly. I know absolutely nothing about science and technology. In fact, I have absolutely no interest in anything related to science and technology. I think both of them are very dull, and I sometimes spaced out entirely in certain sections when it was paragraphs of scientific terms and words being used. I mean, I understood them (sort of. not really.) if I paid close attention and re-read it, but that's not something I really want to be doing. That being said, I don't think it took away from the overall reading experience. To be fair, I don't read book descriptions. The fact that it was going to have so much sciency stuff could have well been in it and I'm just being a bit of a knob about it. Alright, back to what's good.
I really like how the dual perspective works. The way that Joan He carried it out with the change in the tense and...other details...was noticeable enough for me to be like "Oh, this is probably important," but not to the point where I was very aware of what would happen later. I think the story is executed like that overall. Everything is well within your grasp to reach if you wish to do so.
Speaking of wishing, God I really wish the official artist for this book keeps making more of those little illustrations because WOW I was just thinking of them the whole time and it made the experience way more atmospheric and real. The island Cee is in feels so alive it really was like I was seeing it. Cee in general has to be my favorite character. Something about her and her struggles was very easy to resonate with. her relationships with the people around her are very...interesting. As it goes, her and he-who-shall-not-be-named really carried such a big part in this book. I just loved seeing them interact in every way possible and...yeah.
Really great book that I binged in a day. Not sure about that rating—split between that and 4.5.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy ...more
The first 4 Shatter Me books are in my “guilty pleasure” list because I recognize them all to be...not exactly well-written but enjoyable enough if I The first 4 Shatter Me books are in my “guilty pleasure” list because I recognize them all to be...not exactly well-written but enjoyable enough if I play the audiobook while I draw. This was absolutely unbearable. I mean, this series has never been genius but this was a whole lot of NOTHING. Like, literally NOTHING happens. I was 50% through the audiobook despite the fact that I was sure I had barely made it past 5 chapters. I am so bored. I’ll still read the last book because god-damnit I want to get this series over with and out of my mind. Apologies to Ms. Mafi...I feel slightly guilty as this was a signed copy and she seemed like a really nice person when I met her. But, uh, yeah. Maybe stop writing in this world.
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