I've read some interviews with Yanagihara about the book and there quite interesting. She says its intentionally over the top to see if the reader will stay with Jude, and elicits a fairy tale aspect to the book. Can you keep believing Jude?
i just finished a little life (literally less than half an hour ago) & despite being emotionally drained, i laughed out loud when you said you spent 2 hours on your goodreads review bc my goodreads review is simply 'jesus christ.' i really enjoyed this video tho so now i'm a new subscriber :)
SPOILER SPOILER CONTINUE READING AT YOUR OWN RISK OF SPOILING: okay just wanted to make sure everyone who hasn’t read the book is gone...when you said willem was your fav character i started laughing out of sadness. i was like “oh no you are in for a wild ride”
I read this book immediately after finishing The song of Achilles and it's ruined my tiny, puny heart. it's the third week and i have not breathed properly.
Also side note, I genuinely had nightmares over the few days that I read this book because I would read it for hours at a time and would get too invested that I couldn’t get the thoughts of them out of my head. I did go into this with the intention of feeling some pain so I can’t hate it but I would never recommend this book to anyone ever and wouldn’t consider it a classic in the least
@@kurdaaa6988 Well yea It's definitely triggering so I would TOTALLY recommend you check the trigger warnings before reading it. Now would I still recommend it? No, for the simple reason that I wouldn't want to feel responsible for anyone's sadness you know, like it's just too painful. It made me cry like never before, and for days after it I couldn't bring myself to read anything else...
My take on this book is that it's intentionally punishing the reader for their nosiness and voyeurism, you start the book you become intrigued by the mystery of Jude, but to learn what happened to him you have to go through horrible chapters of abuse and self-harm almost to earn the knowledge of what happened to him as a child and what happened to his legs. I think of the writing of the novel as similar to the incident where JB uses the photos of Jude in the gallery without his consent, and I think the novel is entitled "A Little Life" in irony referring to how anyone viewing the painting or reading the novel could think they have a true image of what his life was like just from these resources? Does that make sense? Exploring how it's unethical to use the suffering of someone as a vehicle for creative success. I think I read somewhere too that Hanya wanted to make the novel long and difficult intentionally to see if the reader would stick with Jude like how Harold, Andy and Willem did. But I really don't like the use of overly triggering content on purpose to psychologically wound a reader, what a horrible impact to want your book to have. Hanya Yanagihara is a very prominent journalist and therefore I'd say has a natural economy of language, so I have no doubt that she has written this book laboriously on purpose. I think this book had the potential to say something very profound about friendship, child abuse and the everyday effects of disability but I think it's credibility has been taken away by the fact that some of the content is extremely upsetting that I would be reluctant to recommend it to anyone, which hinders the spreading of any kind of insight or message. Disappointed , also well done if you read that essay of a review , should have written my dissertation on it haha! X
No no that was brilliant, thank you very much for your thoughts. I know that the author's take for this book, is that "Jude was a character who wasn't meant to be happy" and if she did write this to comment on voyeurism and to test the reader to see how long the reader will stick with the characters, I think that is an interesting concept. But at the same time, I still question some of her choices. Your 100 percent right when you say that the content of this book is just to psychologically wound the reader. I'm not sure what Hanya Yanigahara was intending for this book but she got her coin and now she can run with it, lol
@@andretthew I just finished the book and I think that she does this at the expense of it being a good or enjoyable book. I've read sadder books but this one was so long and there are no twist or intricacies - it's just jude being tortured, being happy for a little bit and then being tortured again.
i just finished the book (finally, thank god) about an hour ago and to me, the most awful scene in the book was when jude looked in the mirror and re-enacted the way JB mocked his walk. i had to put the book down for a few minutes before i could pick it back up. anyways, loved the video :)
And it's so relatable as well. I wondered why these characters were friends, but gosh I have been in multiple constellations that looked very similar where I was Jude and friends around me were toxic and I couldn't cut them off because we were so strongly bonded together.
3 weeks now since I’ve finished it and I literally sobbed over it again earlier today, when will it let me go? I can’t even bring myself to put it back on the shelf. I wanted to review it and I still might but honest to god I don’t know what I’d even say. Whenever I picked it up I felt like I was transported into some sort of second life with them, I felt so immersed and deeply connected with those characters that they felt like family to me - genuinely no work of fiction has ever made me feel this way, and even though it’s so painful I am glad that I’ve found it
The parts that broke me the most were anything where grief is involved. So, The Axiom of Equality and Dear Comrade are the most emotional one for me. Interestingly, The Happy Years didn't really bring me tears but instead an empathy for the ups and downs of a life partnership. Couple fights always interest me and seeing Jude's I was like, "he's finally alive than ever".
It's really emotional but I think everyone should read this book at least one time in their life.... I don't know why but yeah.... This book will never let you go. And also this book is not that "bad" like he said. But although I think everyone should read this book. And I am really careful to who I recommend it. Who would stay 900 pages reading such a heartbreakable story ..... This is the question I always ask myself
I also read this during quarantine 😂😂 it’s five am I’ve just finished it and honestly my pillows are too wet with teas for me to actually sleep on them
haven’t finished the book there’s less than 50 pages left and i can’t put myself together to read it, start to cry as soon as i start thinking about how jude is handling the willem and malcom situation. i started this book 5 days ago and i feel completely different considering the fact that i rarely ever read any novels and i was bracing myself for pain but this is challenging to even finish.
I'm definitely conflicted with this book, because I do agree that not everyone should read it. I loved it and I have not recommended it to anyone in my life, in fact, I have specifically told them not to read it. But I do think it sheds a certain light on people with multiple traumas that we don't see in a lot of other books (or media at all for that matter). I tired to look at it as if Jude was my actual friend throughout the book, because you think at the beginning, oh man he's been through a lot, I want to be there for him and listen. But then things get really intense, and all of a sudden you're like, wait, no no no that's too much, stop, you're making me uncomfortable. But how would we handle that situation in real life you know? I think this book gives us a good opportunity to reflect on how we treat the people around us that have been through things and to remember that often, one trauma leads to another, and sometimes to another, and another and another. And I agree, it's an extremely intense book that left me in a puddle of tears, but I think there's a lot we can learn from this book...even if one of those things is that we shouldn't have read it in the first place haha.
Ngl hearing you talking about willem at the start of the book made me really fuckin sad. That book broke me when I read it back in december, and I’m still not healed.
You’re opinions are basically spot on! The last few parts of the book I was just telling myself you’re almost done and you’ve come this far so just get it over with. It felt like she wanted to put very painful thing she could possibly come up with for one single person to go through and dumped it all in one book. I’ve also never heard of anyone who also finds her writing too bulky/descriptive to read cause I can be honest and say I skipped a lot of the paragraphs where she was describing things around them. Overall love your vlog so much!!❤️❤️
SPOILER: I read this in quarantine too ! I’m not sure why but I found some solace in the ending- that’s the only way I could digest it and not be so emotionally upset !! I LIKE to believe that he’s happier and finally at peace.
andyreadswell honestly, but it also says a lot about the authors ability to craft a character so unhappy that we find consolation in what is an act that many people never seem to truly understand or comprehend (suicide). I found myself grateful that he had died and that’s all because of Hanya’s ability to articulate the lengths of sadness that is beyond help or treatment. Really raises the question of whether some people can “be saved” and if not what are we suppose to do then? Want them to keep living in a selfish attempt to avoid our own feelings of loss and grief ? Really raises some interesting questions that I found myself unable to answer....
it’s weird bc i was thinking this too. also i felt like he had to die at the end. i know that sounds horrible but that was the only way i saw it could end. after losing Willem i really didn’t see him coming back from that just bc of his past and his life overall. it is so sad but i felt like it had to end with suicide if you know what i mean.
Bella Cooper I completely 100% understand where you’re coming from and I’m glad someone else felt the same way !! I hope to find another book similar to this or maybe start up a virtual book club for those that like tragedy books
Finally I found someone else, someone who’s favorite character is also Willem ! By the way, I don’t think that the fact that he is our favorite character helps us much while going through this book 😭
i loved the characters but felt a lot of exploitation of those who've experienced trauma and feel it was written in a way that was meant to upset more than anything else
tbh, I loved this book very much and I can’t say I feel and think the same way you do about this book, but I really enjoyed watching and hearing you read and talk about it. Great job!
After reading this book and then watching about a dozen vlogs about it, I've noticed a pattern. People love the characters at the beginning. 200 pages in, they complain about having a tough day. Nobody seems to realize why. 400 pages in, they start asking what's wrong with the author, and the fan base. They miss Malcolm and JB. They make a joke about "the happy years," when they get to it. They pop back up with a thousand yard stare, saying they're ready to read the last hundred pages. Utter chaos ensues.
19:38 Literally my reaction. I picked this book up thinking I wasn't gonna cry and say I'm a stone cold b/tch but this book didn't just break my heart, it was torn out and stomped it all over the floor, I was a complete wreck at 4am finishing it this morning. Love your vlog/video, thank you for sharing. Edit - I also spent a few hours writing the GR review too haha, it's a lot to process!
this was literally one of the first serious books i ever read, i was like 14 AND IT CRUSHED ME but it did bring up some mature topics that i feel really allowed me to grow up as a person and realize how complex everyone else really are. Also, i cried like a ton of times, especially when JB started drugs again and when he mocked Jude.. yeah✨
I agree with you about everything. I can't say it was good because it tormented me. But i cared about the characters , the frienships and their struggles. But when i described to my bf everything that happend to ahem ... one person , he was so pissed with the author. Because, yes the world is not perfect but every bad thing happening the one after the other ... She just made us feel worse and worse . I understand why and didn't have such a big problem but oh it was so messed up man.
Honestly, I'm with your bf. Probably wouldn't read anything else by Yanigahara especially if this book is considered a classic because of what happens. Sensationalism ain't cute
I feel every word you said. I was shattered by this book. Throughout the book, I shed some happy and some sad tears, but towards the end of the book, specifically towards the last hundred pages, I went absolutely numb. I was drained and exhausted. It took over ten days for me to get back to my pace.
I don’t think I’ve ever cried DURING a book or grieved after I finished reading a book, as much as I have with A Little Life. My god. The sad part is that I want to read it all over again.
I finished it on Friday, and I get these moments where I just think about the ending pages of The Happy Years and I just get so sad. Willem was my favorite character too and I definitely developed an emotional connection with him, I keep getting these thoughts of him with Hemming and getting sad all over again. I wish that I could will Jude a happier ending than he got. I had to power through and read the entire rest of the book after that scene otherwise I wasn't going to be able to pick it back up again.
*spolier (quotes)* these are my favorite quotes from the book they cause me pain last warning if u haven’t read the book yet “he was home, and home was jude.” “so i try to be kind to everything i see, and in everything i see, i see him.” “you don’t visit the lost, you visit the people who search for the lost.” “x = x” “jude = x” “And who are you? I’m Willem Ragnarsson and I will never let you go.” “It was only missing a paper him, and a paper Willem.” “We are so old, we have become young again.”
I read that her editor actually took out more parts because the reader "needed to breathe", and that the story was based on her friend Daniel Gajdusek. I felt like there could have been more scenes to be honest. Because it was so brutally honest about trauma, but then kind of also restrictive in a way, something felt off. So people who feel "uncomfortable" with these kind of topics who don't understand it, would feel more inclined to read it, but people who have been trough severe trauma might feel that it is a bit exploitative as it could have been more honest. In my opinion anyway. I am the kind of person that has horrific nightmares. Torture, abandonment, incest, CSA, murder, you name it. These kind of topics, as much as it is horrible, they don't affect me too much, they rather intrigue me. The brutal honesty and animalistic mentality of humanity is interesting to me. I don't feel as alone.
I can't think about this book without feeling sick. I've never read a book before that I thought was so good but that I hated so much. It's weird because I liked it and loved the characters, but I would never recommend it to anyone, which is not a reaction I've ever had to a book. I'm not particularly sensitive to books, but there's something about this one. I remember when I read it I kept thinking, "Why would she write this? What was her point?" I read an article where Yanagihara said she wrote the book as an argument against the idea that suicide is never the answer, no matter how bad your life is. She tried to write a book where someone's life was so bad that all of the opportunities in the world (a superior education, a successful law career, good friends, good looks etc.) couldn't make it better. That's why Jude's life is such a polarity. In real life you don't usually see someone with Jude's past end up so successful in their career the way he does. It's not supposed to be realistic. Still, knowing this was her reason didn't make me feel any better (Kind of worse?). I read the book a few years ago and I'm re-reading it now because it's been stuck in my head since I read it the first time. Hopefully I can get it out of my head after I read it again. But I will say, I wasn't a huge fan of Yanagihara's style of writing, but I like her style more the second time around.
I get what you mean, it is confusing why she would write this story the way she has. I think it's an interesting idea to write about a character who "wasn't meant to have a good life" but she could have done that without turning the book into a low key horror novel. People CAN have multiple traumas but to show them in such detail just to emotionally break the reader is kind of manipulative, hence why I wouldn't recommend it
I have been doing the same, and I totally understand your pain...I am near the end and I saw your video today.I am here listening to you... and just decided to show some support and say that I share your grief... all of it. It' s like entering some dark side...
what a CHOICE reading this in this time. love hearing your thoughts on it; it's been 4 years since i read it and i still remember my emotional reactions to these characters stories and how it is just a lot to handle. but something i appreciate is the way its shared, like you said was it necessary to include all the graphic ish prob not and i wonder how the book would have fared if we just get jude's reaction/emotionall journey to having been through all without us having to relive it with him sort of thing. who knowss. agh, something else i liked is how each friend's life was intertwined with the other, how Malcolm wanted their homes to work for them, JB's art pieces showed such vulnerability and Willem as an actor was able to push his limits in the roles he played but gah still.
It's definetly very complex when it comes to the characters and I did love all that, but I think of you took all the shock factor, it would be a more accessible and equally emotional reading experience
I think the point of the showing the scenes of his past in details is to show that the sensory memories of it unfold as he opens himself up to the better parts of life-that’s why she’s also graphic about the good moments, too. Jude even thinks about how opening himself to the good is part of what makes the memories come back, because he believes it’s the cost of being happy
oh god, i read this book recently and it has left me shattered :(( thankfully, there was an alternative ending to Willem's death that someone uploaded on wattpad and though it wasnt as perfect and there were many loopholes, it gave me hope :"""
MY GUY what a book to read this book during this time!! Emotional vulnerability will always be a thing I love reading about. 💜💜 I relate to that sleeping schedule!! Do that TikTok dance!! YESSSS high school musical is legendary!! 💜💜 “atomic bomb of feelings” wow your commitment to goodreads. I respect it!!
Oooof. I will NOT be reading this one. Literary fiction in general has a lot of dense writing, so as a genre it’s just a lot! Also, totally feel you on all the uncertainty of being in quarantine and in regards to future plans. I just wanna know when I get to see ma pals again. I appreciate you being open about it! This was a solid vlog, my dude! 💙
I feel the same way you do, I had so much planed this year, so many concerts and shows and a Trip with my friends, but now I have nothing to look forward to so now I'm reading the most depressing book ever cause I'm a masochist lmao. I appreciate your vlog and relating :)
Well, I definitely know now that I need to avoid this book, so thanks for reinforcing that, Andy! Also, that clip of not wanting to get out of bed is so #relatable.
I spontaneously picked it up from the library and it's sitting beside me on my nightstand. I picked it up because someone who I admire said it was their favorite book. But listening to your and other reviews I feel like I shouldn't read it. Considering how I felt when I read other books with dark stories, how those stories started living inside me and years later still impact me I feel like this wouldn't do me good. I honestly think my life would be easier if I hadn't read certain stories. Although it's a dilemma between this and having sympathy for the story, feeling somewhat possessive of it and the characters because you invested so much time and emotion into them - somehow the characters and maybe even their traits have become part of you so it's difficult to completely hate them... But considering what you said - that all the pain and suffering in the book didn't seem to serve a bigger purpose other than emotionally exploiting the reader and the fact that the book does not show extraordinary quality overall, I feel like it's not worth reading. Even if I'm temped by story and the complexity of the characters, i feel like it would be the wrong choice for me I'm going to bring A Little Life back to the library.🍂🍂 Thank you for warning me
I think that's a good choice! I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, especially not to someone who struggles reading dark emotional stories as is. I hope you're okay my friend!
I understand why some people don't like how long and graphic the violence in this book is, nobody enjoys reading that, but isn't that exactly how Jude feels whenever he thinks of his past? The story brings us inside his head and the most effective way to understand his trauma is by experiencing it ourselves. It is exaggerated but it's also what makes the story so intense and why you can't stop thinking about it. I really loved it, it's become one of my favorite books together with her first book, the people in the trees. I think Hanya is a brilliant writer.
I think you can only call it 'torture pawn' if you can't relate to the soul crushing despair of not having a self. The whole book rang very true for me and I don't think it was overly explicit. If you've led a life where you mostly trust yourself and others, and feel that others mostly have good intentions, you probably won't be able to fully appreciate what the author was trying to do.
I feel like this book was a very true depiction of someone who is just basically trying to survive on the daily after only knowing that people aren't to be trusted and having your self-worth shattered to pieces that you don't have a sense of self. But you still need love and closeness, so you look for that in people who feel safe to you, aka you re-traumatize yourself unknowingly. He put himself in a position where others had control over him. He most probably suffered from Complex-PTSD, and BPD, attachment disorder and more.
I was planning to read this but now I'm having second thoughts. Thank you so much for this video! And thankyu for the trigger warnings. I won't read this. Thankyu for warning me. Take care and stay safe!
I agree with you, I don't think she had good intentions either. I really fucking hate the author for how she treated Jude who I came to love as a character so much. I think she wrote him as such a wonderful human being, who deserved peace and happiness, but when he finally got a slither of it she ripped it all away from him and had him die a painful death, still thinking he was a disgusting human being who deserved everything bad that happened to him. She ruined his life (I don't care if its fictional, when you read it's brought to life, right?) to make her readers suffer. Treat the characters you write with some dignity and respect. I've honestly never experienced this from a book before. I hope I forget the book soon. I just finished reading it last night, took me about a day. So i am feeling very sensitive about all this. I feel really depressed as well. ugh.
I hope you're okay. I definetly understand, she did basically torture him. I think what would have made me respect the book a little bit more is if Jude did actually have a happy ending, maybe not an ending where everything is perfect but an ending that showed him living a more decent life than he had been living so far
I got the book because of paperbackdreams's video. I stopped reading about 70 pages in since I had no time to read it. Then I took three weeks off of work, and still I didn't read it. Now I'm looking at while watching this video, should I not continue reading it.
If it holds a title of being one of the saddest book ever written, then I'm just going to need to put on my big girl pants, turn off RUclips and just read. When tons of people warn you about a particular things, such as bad movies. You wanna see for yourself. I'm a very emotional person, it takes very little to make me cry. (I saw a Dalmatian puppy the other day and I cried) So when I watched PbD and your video and saw how it affected you two. I guess, I just wanna see how truly sad it is. Does that make me a little bit of a masochist.
i felt the same way about why this book is so highly recommended and the author's intentions and it rubbed me the wrong way because it is terrible and i do agree, it was exploitive. i wouldnt recommend this to anyone for this alone. it was so horrible to read these things and i am still not mentally okay three days later... people who recommend this book make me question the world.
39 pages to go. Then I'm done. Okay, edited on 29 July 2022. I regret and don't regret having read the book. It was the best and the worst. I love and hate it.
I'm too sensitive, maybe its because of my age (14) but i personally think that this book is not bad or disgusting.I mean, yes, i cried a lot while i was reading it but i don't think its disgusting, i mean yeah what happened to jude was disgusting but not the book itself if that makes any sense. So i think that more people should know about this book.Its so underrated and writer is so talented in my opinion.
YOU READ THIS WHEN YOU WERE 14?! hats off to you for getting through it! You're not wrong about the content being disgusting, but that exactly why I personally wouldn't recommend it because it is so intense and triggering. I wouldn't worry about this book being overrated, it is considered a modern classic afterall
@@andretthew Its been 4 months and i still can't get over it...I feel so empty and i feel like i lost my purpose of my life.I wish i didn't read this book in the first place. At least i could've saved it for the later years....So i understand why you wouldn't recommend it but i still feel like it needs to get more attention.
I finished A little life a week ago and only TODAY was I really able to talk to someone about it, and to read other readers thoughts... It was DEVASTATING to say the least, mostly because, I felt more connected to Jude than any other character I have read about and I thought it was very concerning xD And really, I couldn't even regret reading it cuz I honestly can't think of a better year to read something this heavy... Anyways, I'm so glad I found your video, it made me laugh (Something I didn't know I was capable of, not after a little life lol) and now I'm a subscriber! So THANK YOU!
So, I'm going through a very stressful and intense stage in my life right now. I finished My Dark Vanessa last week and I'm still sad about it. Of course, my brain went "Yes! This book!" So I ordered it. What's wrong with me? Wish me luck y'all, I'm going in!
i finished this 2 days ago and although i loved it, i wouldn’t recommend it to anyone bc of the trigger warnings and all the psychological effects it might have on a person so if a person still wants to (like me) then they should cuz inspite of the painful reading journey, this book broke me and made me. never have i ever dreaded picking up a book so much (i almost DNFed after the happy years) but also i finished it in 4 days.
In my opinion this very very talented author writing a needlessly painful book like this is like if a person was very very strong and athletic but instead of using their talent to participate in sports/ get a productive job, they use their strength to beat people up and destroy things. What was the point of making a book with no positive message? Good writing doesn’t excuse how unnecessarily triggering and depressing this book was. I would never recommend it to anyone
With books I express how the book makes me feel out load and no one understands but sometimes I take time to process my feelings and I'm a mood reader so I'd end up reading another
Before I say what I have to say, let me lead with I just wrapped up working in psychiatric treatment with teens, most of whom are living with PTSD. The reason that may be relevant is because I have a thicker skin than most now when it comes to hearing stories about trauma. Personally, I never got the feeling that this story was meant to punish the reader/make the reader feel bad necessarily. I don’t really think this story was written with the readers in mind. This is the story of a person who never healed. Now, I definitely have my criticisms of the book. For one, for someone in his situation, Jude is very well off given what he’s been thru (he has friends, he gets adopted by wealthy and kind people, he has a successful career, etc.). Statistically speaking, most people who have endured major traumas like Jude sadly do not find themselves in such luxury and abundance of support by the end of it. That’s not really my strongest critique but this is already a long enough comment. In the end, I liked it more than I disliked it because I think it’s a fair portrayal of the persistent and chronic nature of trauma, and I think that stories about people who don’t get better are still worth telling; it’s not about the reader’s feelings, it’s about the fact that this sadly happens in this world.
Me: watching the video and understanding how emotional the book is. *Also me: *orders it on amazon** Also me: Sorry Andy! I learned from your mistake..but I want to give it a try to!
CONTAINS SPOILERS: I bought this book and put off reading it for so long because I knew it would destroy me. And I was right. I read it a couple years ago and this is still the only book that I find it hard to think about and feel physically ill and angry thinking about. Still, I think I liked it a lot. Truly the most depressing book I've ever read (and I've read a lot of depressing books). I'm a huge fan of angsty books but this is the first book where I had to ask if it was too much after I read it, and I think that's because the characters felt too real and you want so much more for Jude. Hanya Yanagihara said that the book is meant to show that some peoples' lives are so tragic that they should be allowed to kill themselves because sometimes no amount of success later on in life (Jude becoming a successful lawyer, having Willem, having friends, being adopted etc.) can make life worth living when you're that depressed. But like I said, I think I liked it ... I just can't think about it. It's a great book in a lot of ways, but there are fans of this book who literally get tattoos with quotes from this book and I can't understand how they can have something permanently on them and in their face that will make them think of something as heartbreaking and horrific as this book. This is also the only book that I've thought was really great and liked a lot but would not recommend anyone read. I don't want to be responsible for leading them towards something that is mildly traumatizing that they won't be able to forget. Definitely the most mixed reaction I've ever had to a book.
I watched this review before picking up the book, now I just finished it and I had to go back. I was definitely aniticipating myself ugly crying, but I feel nothing finishing it. The self loathing is just so disposing that I can't stay sad or depress after the first chapter of Dear Comrade. I don't hate Jude, but I don't like him as well, and prolly 80 percent of the book is about him so I didn't fancy reading it. I don't have plan to reread it, tho I wish that I could read it a different time and feel less apathetic to Jude.
The Axiom of Equality is a prelude for readers that you are in for a wild ride. I SWEAR THE LAST THREE CHAPTERS ARE THE MOST DEVASTATING CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK. YOU ARE GONNA SOB UNCONTROLLABLY 😭
![A Little Life || Rant Review [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kxPVhTIhWIk/mqdefault.jpg)
I started reading this book on the beach during spring break as a joke. Yeah the joke was on me, I cried at the beach
Ha, love that!
I've read some interviews with Yanagihara about the book and there quite interesting. She says its intentionally over the top to see if the reader will stay with Jude, and elicits a fairy tale aspect to the book. Can you keep believing Jude?
Well I stayed with Jude and now I'm paying the price for it
i just finished a little life (literally less than half an hour ago) & despite being emotionally drained, i laughed out loud when you said you spent 2 hours on your goodreads review bc my goodreads review is simply 'jesus christ.' i really enjoyed this video tho so now i'm a new subscriber :)
I'm glad I can bring you joy and get you through this dark time
i just finished it 10 mins ago too 😭😭😭😭
oh god guys how r u now?
can we make a Harold Appreciation Group
YESSSSSSS
YES YES YES
I'm totaly in ;)
im in!!! (willem appreciation group)
yes please
I'm down for lesbian street.
Someone needs to get on that
i was looking for this comment, thank you.
SPOILER
SPOILER
CONTINUE READING AT YOUR OWN RISK OF SPOILING:
okay just wanted to make sure everyone who hasn’t read the book is gone...when you said willem was your fav character i started laughing out of sadness. i was like “oh no you are in for a wild ride”
Yeeeeeeeeeah that was, painful
when i tell you i cried for 20 minutes after-
honey, you got a big storm comin
I read this book immediately after finishing The song of Achilles and it's ruined my tiny, puny heart.
it's the third week and i have not breathed properly.
Read something happy, pet a dog, stuff your face with chocolate, you'll be fine
I did the opposite because I read tsoa right after this book and I don't recommend for anyone to do it
i just finished the song of achilles and this is my next read lol omg
Same omg i finished the song of achilles And now I’m in axiom of equality lol
SAME SAME SAME I READ TSOA AND IMMEDIATELY READ A LITTLE LIFE AFTER
Also side note, I genuinely had nightmares over the few days that I read this book because I would read it for hours at a time and would get too invested that I couldn’t get the thoughts of them out of my head. I did go into this with the intention of feeling some pain so I can’t hate it but I would never recommend this book to anyone ever and wouldn’t consider it a classic in the least
Yeah I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. This book did feel like one of those banned horror movies at times
It can’t be THAT bad...right?
@@Yoyo.7769 EXACTLY WHAT I SAID when my friend told me about it. So trust me when I say, IT IS that bad...
@@serinesafiaachache4589 why wouldn't you recommend it though? Is it destructive or triggering?
@@kurdaaa6988 Well yea It's definitely triggering so I would TOTALLY recommend you check the trigger warnings before reading it. Now would I still recommend it? No, for the simple reason that I wouldn't want to feel responsible for anyone's sadness you know, like it's just too painful. It made me cry like never before, and for days after it I couldn't bring myself to read anything else...
My take on this book is that it's intentionally punishing the reader for their nosiness and voyeurism, you start the book you become intrigued by the mystery of Jude, but to learn what happened to him you have to go through horrible chapters of abuse and self-harm almost to earn the knowledge of what happened to him as a child and what happened to his legs. I think of the writing of the novel as similar to the incident where JB uses the photos of Jude in the gallery without his consent, and I think the novel is entitled "A Little Life" in irony referring to how anyone viewing the painting or reading the novel could think they have a true image of what his life was like just from these resources? Does that make sense? Exploring how it's unethical to use the suffering of someone as a vehicle for creative success.
I think I read somewhere too that Hanya wanted to make the novel long and difficult intentionally to see if the reader would stick with Jude like how Harold, Andy and Willem did. But I really don't like the use of overly triggering content on purpose to psychologically wound a reader, what a horrible impact to want your book to have. Hanya Yanagihara is a very prominent journalist and therefore I'd say has a natural economy of language, so I have no doubt that she has written this book laboriously on purpose.
I think this book had the potential to say something very profound about friendship, child abuse and the everyday effects of disability but I think it's credibility has been taken away by the fact that some of the content is extremely upsetting that I would be reluctant to recommend it to anyone, which hinders the spreading of any kind of insight or message.
Disappointed , also well done if you read that essay of a review , should have written my dissertation on it haha! X
No no that was brilliant, thank you very much for your thoughts.
I know that the author's take for this book, is that "Jude was a character who wasn't meant to be happy" and if she did write this to comment on voyeurism and to test the reader to see how long the reader will stick with the characters, I think that is an interesting concept.
But at the same time, I still question some of her choices. Your 100 percent right when you say that the content of this book is just to psychologically wound the reader. I'm not sure what Hanya Yanigahara was intending for this book but she got her coin and now she can run with it, lol
@@andretthew I just finished the book and I think that she does this at the expense of it being a good or enjoyable book. I've read sadder books but this one was so long and there are no twist or intricacies - it's just jude being tortured, being happy for a little bit and then being tortured again.
i just finished the book (finally, thank god) about an hour ago and to me, the most awful scene in the book was when jude looked in the mirror and re-enacted the way JB mocked his walk. i had to put the book down for a few minutes before i could pick it back up. anyways, loved the video :)
Oh god that was devastating
And it's so relatable as well. I wondered why these characters were friends, but gosh I have been in multiple constellations that looked very similar where I was Jude and friends around me were toxic and I couldn't cut them off because we were so strongly bonded together.
And DON'T get me started with Caleb
Not watching the vid yet cause im saving it for later but, i applaud you for going through this much pain
Thank you, only wanna make you proud
Bought this book right before quarantine struck and now I'm scared to even touch it. It just stares manacingly at me from the shelves
Learn from my mistake
3 weeks now since I’ve finished it and I literally sobbed over it again earlier today, when will it let me go? I can’t even bring myself to put it back on the shelf. I wanted to review it and I still might but honest to god I don’t know what I’d even say. Whenever I picked it up I felt like I was transported into some sort of second life with them, I felt so immersed and deeply connected with those characters that they felt like family to me - genuinely no work of fiction has ever made me feel this way, and even though it’s so painful I am glad that I’ve found it
I think what I've learnt is that after you read a book like this, it NEVER let's you go
Read it last year. Nope. Still haven't recover.
Yeah, the author really succeeds in bringing the reader to a journey. Hanya is a incredible literature tour guide
The parts that broke me the most were anything where grief is involved. So, The Axiom of Equality and Dear Comrade are the most emotional one for me. Interestingly, The Happy Years didn't really bring me tears but instead an empathy for the ups and downs of a life partnership. Couple fights always interest me and seeing Jude's I was like, "he's finally alive than ever".
I'm scared of reading this...
I'm very emotional.
You should be scared
It's really emotional but I think everyone should read this book at least one time in their life.... I don't know why but yeah.... This book will never let you go. And also this book is not that "bad" like he said. But although I think everyone should read this book. And I am really careful to who I recommend it. Who would stay 900 pages reading such a heartbreakable story ..... This is the question I always ask myself
I also read this during quarantine 😂😂 it’s five am I’ve just finished it and honestly my pillows are too wet with teas for me to actually sleep on them
That's relatable, lol
haven’t finished the book there’s less than 50 pages left and i can’t put myself together to read it, start to cry as soon as i start thinking about how jude is handling the willem and malcom situation. i started this book 5 days ago and i feel completely different considering the fact that i rarely ever read any novels and i was bracing myself for pain but this is challenging to even finish.
You're so close!!
I'm definitely conflicted with this book, because I do agree that not everyone should read it. I loved it and I have not recommended it to anyone in my life, in fact, I have specifically told them not to read it. But I do think it sheds a certain light on people with multiple traumas that we don't see in a lot of other books (or media at all for that matter). I tired to look at it as if Jude was my actual friend throughout the book, because you think at the beginning, oh man he's been through a lot, I want to be there for him and listen. But then things get really intense, and all of a sudden you're like, wait, no no no that's too much, stop, you're making me uncomfortable. But how would we handle that situation in real life you know? I think this book gives us a good opportunity to reflect on how we treat the people around us that have been through things and to remember that often, one trauma leads to another, and sometimes to another, and another and another. And I agree, it's an extremely intense book that left me in a puddle of tears, but I think there's a lot we can learn from this book...even if one of those things is that we shouldn't have read it in the first place haha.
I finished it today and I'm wondering if that guy who recommended it wanted to see me suffer and cry myself to sleep.
The answer is yes
Ngl hearing you talking about willem at the start of the book made me really fuckin sad. That book broke me when I read it back in december, and I’m still not healed.
Willem is a gem
I thought it was beautiful- not perfect, but beautiful. I spent the entirety of “dear comrade” in tears
Mood
You’re opinions are basically spot on! The last few parts of the book I was just telling myself you’re almost done and you’ve come this far so just get it over with. It felt like she wanted to put very painful thing she could possibly come up with for one single person to go through and dumped it all in one book. I’ve also never heard of anyone who also finds her writing too bulky/descriptive to read cause I can be honest and say I skipped a lot of the paragraphs where she was describing things around them. Overall love your vlog so much!!❤️❤️
Thank you very much!
SPOILER: I read this in quarantine too ! I’m not sure why but I found some solace in the ending- that’s the only way I could digest it and not be so emotionally upset !! I LIKE to believe that he’s happier and finally at peace.
Honestly same. Kind of like a cathartic death
andyreadswell honestly, but it also says a lot about the authors ability to craft a character so unhappy that we find consolation in what is an act that many people never seem to truly understand or comprehend (suicide). I found myself grateful that he had died and that’s all because of Hanya’s ability to articulate the lengths of sadness that is beyond help or treatment. Really raises the question of whether some people can “be saved” and if not what are we suppose to do then? Want them to keep living in a selfish attempt to avoid our own feelings of loss and grief ? Really raises some interesting questions that I found myself unable to answer....
it’s weird bc i was thinking this too. also i felt like he had to die at the end. i know that sounds horrible but that was the only way i saw it could end. after losing Willem i really didn’t see him coming back from that just bc of his past and his life overall. it is so sad but i felt like it had to end with suicide if you know what i mean.
Bella Cooper I completely 100% understand where you’re coming from and I’m glad someone else felt the same way !! I hope to find another book similar to this or maybe start up a virtual book club for those that like tragedy books
Finally I found someone else, someone who’s favorite character is also Willem ! By the way, I don’t think that the fact that he is our favorite character helps us much while going through this book 😭
Definitely not
i loved the characters but felt a lot of exploitation of those who've experienced trauma and feel it was written in a way that was meant to upset more than anything else
Agreed
we're in this together my dude. I just finished it and im heartbroken
Bless your soul
I just finished reading it and I feel so emotionally drained. Definitely the saddest book I have ever read :(
Bless your broken soul
tbh, I loved this book very much and I can’t say I feel and think the same way you do about this book, but I really enjoyed watching and hearing you read and talk about it. Great job!
Thank you very much!
After reading this book and then watching about a dozen vlogs about it, I've noticed a pattern.
People love the characters at the beginning.
200 pages in, they complain about having a tough day. Nobody seems to realize why.
400 pages in, they start asking what's wrong with the author, and the fan base. They miss Malcolm and JB.
They make a joke about "the happy years," when they get to it.
They pop back up with a thousand yard stare, saying they're ready to read the last hundred pages.
Utter chaos ensues.
Basically, yeah ahahaha
19:38 Literally my reaction. I picked this book up thinking I wasn't gonna cry and say I'm a stone cold b/tch but this book didn't just break my heart, it was torn out and stomped it all over the floor, I was a complete wreck at 4am finishing it this morning. Love your vlog/video, thank you for sharing.
Edit - I also spent a few hours writing the GR review too haha, it's a lot to process!
Well you're not wrong
andy ur videos make me so happy so thank u for existing and uploading 🥺
That's lovely, thank you!
this was literally one of the first serious books i ever read, i was like 14 AND IT CRUSHED ME but it did bring up some mature topics that i feel really allowed me to grow up as a person and realize how complex everyone else really are. Also, i cried like a ton of times, especially when JB started drugs again and when he mocked Jude.. yeah✨
That scene filled me with rage
I agree with you about everything. I can't say it was good because it tormented me. But i cared about the characters , the frienships and their struggles. But when i described to my bf everything that happend to ahem ... one person , he was so pissed with the author. Because, yes the world is not perfect but every bad thing happening the one after the other ... She just made us feel worse and worse . I understand why and didn't have such a big problem but oh it was so messed up man.
Honestly, I'm with your bf. Probably wouldn't read anything else by Yanigahara especially if this book is considered a classic because of what happens. Sensationalism ain't cute
I couldn't agree more!!
I feel every word you said. I was shattered by this book. Throughout the book, I shed some happy and some sad tears, but towards the end of the book, specifically towards the last hundred pages, I went absolutely numb. I was drained and exhausted. It took over ten days for me to get back to my pace.
I don’t think I’ve ever cried DURING a book or grieved after I finished reading a book, as much as I have with A Little Life. My god. The sad part is that I want to read it all over again.
Give your soul a break my dude
@@andretthew I did! Lol. i cried one last time and then i immediately moved on to something way nicer. Love the video tho :-)
I finished it on Friday, and I get these moments where I just think about the ending pages of The Happy Years and I just get so sad. Willem was my favorite character too and I definitely developed an emotional connection with him, I keep getting these thoughts of him with Hemming and getting sad all over again. I wish that I could will Jude a happier ending than he got. I had to power through and read the entire rest of the book after that scene otherwise I wasn't going to be able to pick it back up again.
just finished this book and it’s the saddest book I’ve ever read 🥺😭 can’t get over it 😫 but def enjoyed your video :)
Thank you!
*spolier (quotes)*
these are my favorite quotes from the book
they cause me pain
last warning if u haven’t read the book yet
“he was home, and home was jude.”
“so i try to be kind to everything i see, and in everything i see, i see him.”
“you don’t visit the lost, you visit the people who search for the lost.”
“x = x”
“jude = x”
“And who are you? I’m Willem Ragnarsson and I will never let you go.”
“It was only missing a paper him, and a paper Willem.”
“We are so old, we have become young again.”
can't believe quarantine was 3 years agoooo IT WENT BY SO QUCKLYYY
and shall I READ IT???
I read that her editor actually took out more parts because the reader "needed to breathe", and that the story was based on her friend Daniel Gajdusek. I felt like there could have been more scenes to be honest. Because it was so brutally honest about trauma, but then kind of also restrictive in a way, something felt off. So people who feel "uncomfortable" with these kind of topics who don't understand it, would feel more inclined to read it, but people who have been trough severe trauma might feel that it is a bit exploitative as it could have been more honest. In my opinion anyway.
I am the kind of person that has horrific nightmares. Torture, abandonment, incest, CSA, murder, you name it. These kind of topics, as much as it is horrible, they don't affect me too much, they rather intrigue me.
The brutal honesty and animalistic mentality of humanity is interesting to me. I don't feel as alone.
I can't think about this book without feeling sick. I've never read a book before that I thought was so good but that I hated so much. It's weird because I liked it and loved the characters, but I would never recommend it to anyone, which is not a reaction I've ever had to a book. I'm not particularly sensitive to books, but there's something about this one. I remember when I read it I kept thinking, "Why would she write this? What was her point?" I read an article where Yanagihara said she wrote the book as an argument against the idea that suicide is never the answer, no matter how bad your life is. She tried to write a book where someone's life was so bad that all of the opportunities in the world (a superior education, a successful law career, good friends, good looks etc.) couldn't make it better. That's why Jude's life is such a polarity. In real life you don't usually see someone with Jude's past end up so successful in their career the way he does. It's not supposed to be realistic. Still, knowing this was her reason didn't make me feel any better (Kind of worse?). I read the book a few years ago and I'm re-reading it now because it's been stuck in my head since I read it the first time. Hopefully I can get it out of my head after I read it again. But I will say, I wasn't a huge fan of Yanagihara's style of writing, but I like her style more the second time around.
I get what you mean, it is confusing why she would write this story the way she has. I think it's an interesting idea to write about a character who "wasn't meant to have a good life" but she could have done that without turning the book into a low key horror novel. People CAN have multiple traumas but to show them in such detail just to emotionally break the reader is kind of manipulative, hence why I wouldn't recommend it
I got this book two days ago and just finished. I’m completely wrecked.
Why are we all deciding NOW is the perfect time to read this damned book ??
I'm afraid I've started a trend. Does no-one understand that I'm a dumbass
I have been doing the same, and I totally understand your pain...I am near the end and I saw your video today.I am here listening to you... and just decided to show some support and say that I share your grief... all of it. It' s like entering some dark side...
Thank you, we can now suffer together
I read this during quarantine too. This book was HURTFUL in so many ways that I cant really explain it
it's a whole depression phase
what a CHOICE reading this in this time. love hearing your thoughts on it; it's been 4 years since i read it and i still remember my emotional reactions to these characters stories and how it is just a lot to handle. but something i appreciate is the way its shared, like you said was it necessary to include all the graphic ish prob not and i wonder how the book would have fared if we just get jude's reaction/emotionall journey to having been through all without us having to relive it with him sort of thing. who knowss. agh, something else i liked is how each friend's life was intertwined with the other, how Malcolm wanted their homes to work for them, JB's art pieces showed such vulnerability and Willem as an actor was able to push his limits in the roles he played but gah still.
It's definetly very complex when it comes to the characters and I did love all that, but I think of you took all the shock factor, it would be a more accessible and equally emotional reading experience
i love harold too!!! he's so good for this book. i'm crying for him.
I think the point of the showing the scenes of his past in details is to show that the sensory memories of it unfold as he opens himself up to the better parts of life-that’s why she’s also graphic about the good moments, too. Jude even thinks about how opening himself to the good is part of what makes the memories come back, because he believes it’s the cost of being happy
Anytime someone says Willem is their favorite character (like how he is my favorite too) I am like "awww honey...."
Me too
when i started reading this book i was expecting a lot of things, but when i got to the 4th part, i couldn’t stop crying!!!! it’s so sad
The 4th Part was the most difficult thing I've ever read
andyreadswell i totally agree with u. by the way, i loved your review, u’re incredible!
oh god, i read this book recently and it has left me shattered :(( thankfully, there was an alternative ending to Willem's death that someone uploaded on wattpad and though it wasnt as perfect and there were many loopholes, it gave me hope :"""
i could never. the wounds are only just starting to close
just finished this book about half an hour ago, not sure what to do from here honestly. great video :) !!
Bless your soul... well, what's left of it
MY GUY what a book to read this book during this time!! Emotional vulnerability will always be a thing I love reading about. 💜💜 I relate to that sleeping schedule!! Do that TikTok dance!! YESSSS high school musical is legendary!! 💜💜 “atomic bomb of feelings” wow your commitment to goodreads. I respect it!!
Thank you Hannah!!
Oooof. I will NOT be reading this one. Literary fiction in general has a lot of dense writing, so as a genre it’s just a lot! Also, totally feel you on all the uncertainty of being in quarantine and in regards to future plans. I just wanna know when I get to see ma pals again. I appreciate you being open about it! This was a solid vlog, my dude! 💙
Only wanna make you proud!
Ooft this book destroyed me, good job for taking it on during this time
Destroyed ms
my heart ached when stuff happened with willem, this book is beyond every book written
willem... ;(
I feel the same way you do, I had so much planed this year, so many concerts and shows and a Trip with my friends, but now I have nothing to look forward to so now I'm reading the most depressing book ever cause I'm a masochist lmao. I appreciate your vlog and relating :)
Masochist is the title
I completed the book last night and I cried for the entire day hhhhhh It took me 3 months to read it since I couldn't take the suffering
Ooo 3 months. I would have given up 😂😂😂 hats off to you
Ooo 3 months. I would have given up 😂😂😂 hats off to you
Spoiler
The fight of Jude and Willem break my heart! :(
Well, I definitely know now that I need to avoid this book, so thanks for reinforcing that, Andy!
Also, that clip of not wanting to get out of bed is so #relatable.
I definetly wouldn't recommend. And who wants to get out of bed, like ever?! #deep
I spontaneously picked it up from the library and it's sitting beside me on my nightstand. I picked it up because someone who I admire said it was their favorite book. But listening to your and other reviews I feel like I shouldn't read it. Considering how I felt when I read other books with dark stories, how those stories started living inside me and years later still impact me I feel like this wouldn't do me good.
I honestly think my life would be easier if I hadn't read certain stories. Although it's a dilemma between this and having sympathy for the story, feeling somewhat possessive of it and the characters because you invested so much time and emotion into them - somehow the characters and maybe even their traits have become part of you so it's difficult to completely hate them...
But considering what you said - that all the pain and suffering in the book didn't seem to serve a bigger purpose other than emotionally exploiting the reader and the fact that the book does not show extraordinary quality overall, I feel like it's not worth reading. Even if I'm temped by story and the complexity of the characters, i feel like it would be the wrong choice for me
I'm going to bring A Little Life back to the library.🍂🍂
Thank you for warning me
I think that's a good choice! I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, especially not to someone who struggles reading dark emotional stories as is. I hope you're okay my friend!
Hahaha..... I'm gonna postpone reading this book once again.
I’ve recently started Part 4 of the book,
I’m emotionally preparing myself for the worst at this point.
If that's the Axiom of Equality then you should be afraid
andyreadswell Yep that’s the one. I finished it today, definitely wasn’t prepared. 😂
I understand why some people don't like how long and graphic the violence in this book is, nobody enjoys reading that, but isn't that exactly how Jude feels whenever he thinks of his past? The story brings us inside his head and the most effective way to understand his trauma is by experiencing it ourselves. It is exaggerated but it's also what makes the story so intense and why you can't stop thinking about it. I really loved it, it's become one of my favorite books together with her first book, the people in the trees. I think Hanya is a brilliant writer.
fair enough
I think you can only call it 'torture pawn' if you can't relate to the soul crushing despair of not having a self. The whole book rang very true for me and I don't think it was overly explicit.
If you've led a life where you mostly trust yourself and others, and feel that others mostly have good intentions, you probably won't be able to fully appreciate what the author was trying to do.
I feel like this book was a very true depiction of someone who is just basically trying to survive on the daily after only knowing that people aren't to be trusted and having your self-worth shattered to pieces that you don't have a sense of self. But you still need love and closeness, so you look for that in people who feel safe to you, aka you re-traumatize yourself unknowingly. He put himself in a position where others had control over him. He most probably suffered from Complex-PTSD, and BPD, attachment disorder and more.
I was planning to read this but now I'm having second thoughts. Thank you so much for this video! And thankyu for the trigger warnings. I won't read this. Thankyu for warning me. Take care and stay safe!
You too
I agree with you, I don't think she had good intentions either. I really fucking hate the author for how she treated Jude who I came to love as a character so much. I think she wrote him as such a wonderful human being, who deserved peace and happiness, but when he finally got a slither of it she ripped it all away from him and had him die a painful death, still thinking he was a disgusting human being who deserved everything bad that happened to him. She ruined his life (I don't care if its fictional, when you read it's brought to life, right?) to make her readers suffer. Treat the characters you write with some dignity and respect. I've honestly never experienced this from a book before. I hope I forget the book soon.
I just finished reading it last night, took me about a day. So i am feeling very sensitive about all this. I feel really depressed as well. ugh.
I hope you're okay. I definetly understand, she did basically torture him. I think what would have made me respect the book a little bit more is if Jude did actually have a happy ending, maybe not an ending where everything is perfect but an ending that showed him living a more decent life than he had been living so far
I´ve been reading this book for the past week and now I got to the last hundred pages and I´m so scared of what´s gonna happen!
be afraid
@@andretthew oh god
I'm a July baby too. July 1st.
Looking back at quarantine is so weird. It feels unreal. Feels like a fever dream.
I got the book because of paperbackdreams's video. I stopped reading about 70 pages in since I had no time to read it. Then I took three weeks off of work, and still I didn't read it. Now I'm looking at while watching this video, should I not continue reading it.
If you want to continue, it's up to you
If you're struggling rn because of quarantine, don't
It's intense
If it holds a title of being one of the saddest book ever written, then I'm just going to need to put on my big girl pants, turn off RUclips and just read. When tons of people warn you about a particular things, such as bad movies. You wanna see for yourself. I'm a very emotional person, it takes very little to make me cry. (I saw a Dalmatian puppy the other day and I cried) So when I watched PbD and your video and saw how it affected you two. I guess, I just wanna see how truly sad it is. Does that make me a little bit of a masochist.
Yaaay waiting for mine to be delivered, can’t wait
Read safely
Well now I'm on Book Depository ordering a copy of this for myself whooops
I feel as though I've started a trend and I'm afraid
@@andretthew you definitely have! Just ordered my copy on amazon... I’m scared for myself
I’m watching this video instead of actually reading A Little Life right now as I should be (I just started Part 3) because I’m SO scared😂
You should be
i just finished the 2nd part of this book and i'm not ready with what's gonna happen next.
You're REALLY not
i felt the same way about why this book is so highly recommended and the author's intentions and it rubbed me the wrong way because it is terrible and i do agree, it was exploitive. i wouldnt recommend this to anyone for this alone. it was so horrible to read these things and i am still not mentally okay three days later... people who recommend this book make me question the world.
I'm going to finish this book tonight and I don't think i'm ready. This is a life-time reading.
My favorite reading vlog of A Little Life!!!!!
i finished this 2 days ago and i cant even process all of my thoughts,, all i know is i threw the book across my room while sobbing
Mood
39 pages to go. Then I'm done.
Okay, edited on 29 July 2022.
I regret and don't regret having read the book. It was the best and the worst. I love and hate it.
I'm too sensitive, maybe its because of my age (14) but i personally think that this book is not bad or disgusting.I mean, yes, i cried a lot while i was reading it but i don't think its disgusting, i mean yeah what happened to jude was disgusting but not the book itself if that makes any sense. So i think that more people should know about this book.Its so underrated and writer is so talented in my opinion.
YOU READ THIS WHEN YOU WERE 14?! hats off to you for getting through it!
You're not wrong about the content being disgusting, but that exactly why I personally wouldn't recommend it because it is so intense and triggering.
I wouldn't worry about this book being overrated, it is considered a modern classic afterall
@@andretthew Its been 4 months and i still can't get over it...I feel so empty and i feel like i lost my purpose of my life.I wish i didn't read this book in the first place. At least i could've saved it for the later years....So i understand why you wouldn't recommend it but i still feel like it needs to get more attention.
I finished A little life a week ago and only TODAY was I really able to talk to someone about it, and to read other readers thoughts... It was DEVASTATING to say the least, mostly because, I felt more connected to Jude than any other character I have read about and I thought it was very concerning xD And really, I couldn't even regret reading it cuz I honestly can't think of a better year to read something this heavy...
Anyways, I'm so glad I found your video, it made me laugh (Something I didn't know I was capable of, not after a little life lol) and now I'm a subscriber!
So THANK YOU!
No no thank YOU
No no thank YOU
so far ive gotten to the axiom of equality and i really dont know how much more i can take
That was the point that broke me
When you said you were up to axiom of equality... boiiiii.... you had another thing coming
The toughest thing I've ever had to read
I've finished reading it just now (it's 3:45am in my place) and now im watching videos of other people reading it to share the pain along💔❤💔❤💔
I appreciate the trigger warnings. I don't think I'd handle reading all that trauma. It sounds like a sad story.
Ohhhh it is
So, I'm going through a very stressful and intense stage in my life right now. I finished My Dark Vanessa last week and I'm still sad about it. Of course, my brain went "Yes! This book!" So I ordered it.
What's wrong with me? Wish me luck y'all, I'm going in!
Read safely
now if u accompanied that with the audiobook, it will be much more devastating 😭
This was really good, I really enjoyed watching this! ❤️
Thank you, you're welcome
i finished this 2 days ago and although i loved it, i wouldn’t recommend it to anyone bc of the trigger warnings and all the psychological effects it might have on a person so if a person still wants to (like me) then they should cuz inspite of the painful reading journey, this book broke me and made me. never have i ever dreaded picking up a book so much (i almost DNFed after the happy years) but also i finished it in 4 days.
I agree, i also wouldn't widely recommend this
I finished this 2 weeks ago and the feelings/ experince still lingers. 😂
Same
In my opinion this very very talented author writing a needlessly painful book like this is like if a person was very very strong and athletic but instead of using their talent to participate in sports/ get a productive job, they use their strength to beat people up and destroy things. What was the point of making a book with no positive message? Good writing doesn’t excuse how unnecessarily triggering and depressing this book was. I would never recommend it to anyone
Whoops just ordered this last night its already in its way...😣😣😣 anyway subbed! Love your accent and videos haha
Thank you!
With books I express how the book makes me feel out load and no one understands but sometimes I take time to process my feelings and I'm a mood reader so I'd end up reading another
Before I say what I have to say, let me lead with I just wrapped up working in psychiatric treatment with teens, most of whom are living with PTSD. The reason that may be relevant is because I have a thicker skin than most now when it comes to hearing stories about trauma.
Personally, I never got the feeling that this story was meant to punish the reader/make the reader feel bad necessarily. I don’t really think this story was written with the readers in mind. This is the story of a person who never healed. Now, I definitely have my criticisms of the book. For one, for someone in his situation, Jude is very well off given what he’s been thru (he has friends, he gets adopted by wealthy and kind people, he has a successful career, etc.). Statistically speaking, most people who have endured major traumas like Jude sadly do not find themselves in such luxury and abundance of support by the end of it. That’s not really my strongest critique but this is already a long enough comment. In the end, I liked it more than I disliked it because I think it’s a fair portrayal of the persistent and chronic nature of trauma, and I think that stories about people who don’t get better are still worth telling; it’s not about the reader’s feelings, it’s about the fact that this sadly happens in this world.
"April is the cruellest month"
the axiom of equality. i cant. ugh. i still cry
The most difficult thing ive ever read
andyreadswell as sad as it was it’s become my favourite book ever
I am reading it now In isolation. It is beautiful, uplifting and brilliantly written. Men loving men.
Always a good thing
HAROLD IS LIKE JUDE'S ADOPTED DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
Me: watching the video and understanding how emotional the book is.
*Also me: *orders it on amazon**
Also me: Sorry Andy! I learned from your mistake..but I want to give it a try to!
ohhhh..... my god
@@andretthew I'm sorry though
CONTAINS SPOILERS:
I bought this book and put off reading it for so long because I knew it would destroy me. And I was right. I read it a couple years ago and this is still the only book that I find it hard to think about and feel physically ill and angry thinking about. Still, I think I liked it a lot. Truly the most depressing book I've ever read (and I've read a lot of depressing books). I'm a huge fan of angsty books but this is the first book where I had to ask if it was too much after I read it, and I think that's because the characters felt too real and you want so much more for Jude. Hanya Yanagihara said that the book is meant to show that some peoples' lives are so tragic that they should be allowed to kill themselves because sometimes no amount of success later on in life (Jude becoming a successful lawyer, having Willem, having friends, being adopted etc.) can make life worth living when you're that depressed. But like I said, I think I liked it ... I just can't think about it. It's a great book in a lot of ways, but there are fans of this book who literally get tattoos with quotes from this book and I can't understand how they can have something permanently on them and in their face that will make them think of something as heartbreaking and horrific as this book. This is also the only book that I've thought was really great and liked a lot but would not recommend anyone read. I don't want to be responsible for leading them towards something that is mildly traumatizing that they won't be able to forget. Definitely the most mixed reaction I've ever had to a book.
I completely understand, it is emotionally devastating
I watched this review before picking up the book, now I just finished it and I had to go back. I was definitely aniticipating myself ugly crying, but I feel nothing finishing it. The self loathing is just so disposing that I can't stay sad or depress after the first chapter of Dear Comrade. I don't hate Jude, but I don't like him as well, and prolly 80 percent of the book is about him so I didn't fancy reading it. I don't have plan to reread it, tho I wish that I could read it a different time and feel less apathetic to Jude.
The Axiom of Equality is a prelude for readers that you are in for a wild ride.
I SWEAR THE LAST THREE CHAPTERS ARE THE MOST DEVASTATING CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK. YOU ARE GONNA SOB UNCONTROLLABLY 😭