“A Little Life”
by Hanya Yanagihara
Genre: LGBT/Adult Fiction, 814 Pages
Published: March 10, 2015
Rating: ★★★★ 4/5

Hanya Yanagihara writes in an unmeasurably beautiful way.

Unfortunately, she uses that to create misery.

The novel, “A Little Life,” is centered around four friends who move to New York to achieve their large-scale dreams. Jean-Baptiste Marion or JB, a plus-sized black man, well known artist for his unusual mediums. Malcom Irvine, half black and half white, is an architect in charge of redoing the majority of his friends’ interior designs but otherwise very successful. Willem Ragnarsson, an immigrant who is noticed on the streets for his acting: and finally, Jude St. Francis who is a top shelf lawyer.

The story predominantly follows around that of Francis. We, the readers, and his friends alike know little to nothing about him. We do not know his race, his place of birth, his childhood or even his family. However, it is sensed very early on that Jude is troubled as his past is not one that he likes to share or even think about. Often, he is confined to a wheelchair or crutches for injuries he never speaks about. Inside Francis’s mind, he believes he cannot be loved. He is either too ugly, too broken or too used. 

His trust has been permanently shattered.

Ragnarsson is the closest person to Francis. They lived together for years, and even when they moved apart, they still had a room for one another. Ragnarsson attempts to learn more about Francis but is calculatedly shut down every time. It takes time, years, for the cement bricks to wither down on Francis’s mind, and when they do, it’s devastating. 

Through love and friendship, this story is nothing short of a masterpiece. Yanagihara perfectly articulates the way people struggle both physically and mentally. It is through her writing that Francis and Ragnarsson become not just people on paper, but real life humans struggling day to day.

To be transparent, the book is long and brutal. Some details are not for the faint of heart. Some descriptions and themes are not meant for everyone. But, there is a beauty within it. It reaches into the core of being human and what it means to live- or survive.

Drugs, addiction, found family, depression, suicide, death, success, failure, pride and love.

It reminds us of the extreme contractual obligation of living a little life. 

The novel has been recreated into a theater preformance starring James Norton, Luke Thompson, Omari Douglas, Zach Wyatt and many more. Sadly, the full performance is not yet available in America. However if you are a visual person, perhaps take a peek at the trailer and get a feel for what this beautiful work has to offer.