Hanya Yanagihara’s book, A Little Life, received praise across sites like one of TikTok’s subcultures known as BookTok, in addition to being widely loved by members of Gen Z. Outside of the internet subculture, A Little Life was even a National Book Award Finalist. The question remains, though, as to why this book is so popular given the lack of character development and plot.
A Little Life mainly revolves around the character Jude, whose childhood trauma haunts him in adulthood. The story jumps timelines so that the reader sees what Jude has been through ranging from child molestation and kidnapping by one of the priests in the orphanage he was raised in to being raped and otherwise physically abused by an exboyfriend as an adult. While this may sound like a terribly sad thing to read about, it strangely is not.
Despite his severe depression and self-harm, Jude somehow manages to command the room at work as a lawyer and has tons of close friends, including the man who eventually becomes his life partner, Willem, a central character.
The roughly 800 pages that Yanagihara writes about this character become more of a list of ailments that happen to Jude rather than focusing on the friendship that the four men have had since they met as undergraduates. Jude’s life is one extreme, terrible life event after another. Instead of looking at character development and the trials and tribulations of all four men, we see Jude slicing up his wrists, getting severe infections in his legs from illnesses he contracted from his childhood abuser, having his legs amputated at the knees, and eventually committing suicide after several previous failed attempts.
I would go on to describe the plot in this next paragraph, but the truth is, there is no plot. A Little Life is 814 pages of torturing characters. Some of these characters, such as Malcolm and JB, who initially seem like they will play more of a role in the story, are brushed past despite their potential to move the story in unique and interesting directions. JB develops a problem with methamphetamine which is barely discussed. Malcolm, another flat character, also went to college with Jude and Willem and becomes an architect while battling his personal demons surrounding his father’s high expectations and pressure. This is another potential for an interesting storyline that the author fell short with.
A Little Life is not a story of triumph or resilience. By the end of the book, which completely drags on through more and more cruelty toward the main character, Jude has finally succeeded in killing himself, stricken with grief over Willem, who was killed by a drunk driver operating a beer truck. Other writers have drawn parallels between Yanagihara’s writing and Munchausen Sydrome by Proxy, or even being just downright sadistic toward her characters. Other books of Yanagihara’s have similar subject matters, which leaves me asking why every book is about this stuff and simply, what is her problem?
I finished the book thinking, “Wow, I cannot believe I actually read that.” Just about everything about this book was unbelievable, even down to the way that these men texted each other, which was like millennials and not men, eventually nearly in their fifties. There are tons of queer books out there that are filled to the brim with drama and have a plot as well as character development. Take for example Beachhouse Studios, a queer murder-mystery series by C.W. Rogers. Or for relatable female characters in queer fiction, check out Old Enough by Haley Jakobsen. (This one lives rent-free in my mind.) A Little Life had the potential to not only juggle multiple plots but also give hope to readers who may have gone through similar things that Jude went through. By making Jude do all of these terrible things to himself, Yanagihara is reinforcing the idea that one cannot overcome trauma, which is absolutely not true.
A Little Life was a disappointing read, given how much praise it received. Yanagihara evades responsibility to show others the possibility of overcoming adversity as both a writer and a public figure. Maybe her next book will have more positive characters, but until I know that for sure, I am on to reading other authors.