The novel ‘A Little Life’ follows the life of Jude St. Francis as he navigates life post-graduation with his friends Willem, Malcolm, and JB. As the four young men begin their lives in New York and grow there together, their respective struggles and successes are revealed, as the reader is taken decade by decade through their complex yet compelling lives.
Hanya Yanagihara accurately depicts human struggles in an honest and harrowing way to introduce a novel that tackles commonly ‘taboo’ subjects by putting them at the forefront of the book and not allowing anything to be left to the imagination to avoid shying away from real issues.
This makes ‘A Little Life’ an immensely important and eye-opening read in my opinion as despite being fictional, the traumas faced by Jude and the other characters are more common than we think in our real lives, and this novel informs us of that. The character of Jude is at the centre of this novel as the reader follows his life and his difficulties, while simultaneously following the lives of the people around him when in relation to Jude's story, as his life, which I consider the most traumatic, affects the lives of the people around him often.
Throughout the novel it is revealed that Jude suffers from a multitude of health problems, both mental and physical with the most prominent being his damaged spine, impairing his ability to move, PTSD, and an addiction to self-harm which, as the book progresses, is revealed to be a lifelong struggle.
I believe this creates Jude to be a relatable depiction of many problems that are often unacknowledged or unheard of in the media. Therefore, in my view, Yanagihara formed a character who is easy to identify with as Jude is a unique character that is often looked for by readers to find solace in their own difficulties by helping them to understand they exist universally, reinforcing again why I believe this to be such a crucial read. However, I feel as though the story is written as if it is not a story at all, but as if we as readers are dropped into the middle of Jude's life to follow along with the rest, conveying the sense that Jude's life is not a novel at all but the basic human life we all experience.
The overall book lacks any kind of introduction and instead reads as if the reader is already aware of the entire timeline and only falls back to a story from the past after it has been said. I believe this to be an extremely effective way of writing as throughout the book, Jude is trying to get away from his past that haunts him yet, he is still taken back frequently which is accurate to how he is unable to get away from his memories.
Despite the evident depressing themes throughout the book as a depiction of the different struggles people are forced to face, there are some good messages as well. I view the entire character of Andy to be a symbol of the importance of having realistic people in your life, who are honest with you at every turn. Andy remained Jude's doctor throughout his entire adulthood as he was consistently honest about all of Jude's health issues, which is why he trusted him.
Furthermore, Jude's adoption at age 30 is a very unlikely event, yet despite all the trauma Jude faced as a child, and the type of adult that has forced him to be, it still happened, and Jude found people who became his family and would be there for him for the rest of his life. I see this as Yanagihara trying to convey the message that no matter how bad things are, good things can still happen. This is also seen in Jude and Willem when they become a couple after being friends for decades and it seemed as though they never would. As a novel detailing the harder parts of Jude's life, I view it as an insight into human pain and suffering throughout the entirety of our lives.
Yanagihara makes use of many struggles through most of the character's lives to serve as a reminder of what everybody goes through as this novel is an honest interpretation of the parts of life that are less spoken of.
Jessica Stewart, a student from Fivemiletown College who is completing her work experience at The Impartial Reporter, wrote this review as part of her week in the office.
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