A university chronicle, an ancient Greek tragedy, an educational novel modeled on the thick novels of the 19th century, a scary bedtime story – the novel by American writer Hanya Yanagihara fits any of these definitions, but this is the case when the book becomes unique for each reader, because you do not just read it, but live it in real time. For some, this novel will be a story about a friendship that is sometimes stronger and stronger than love, for some, a book that one dreads remembering and hiding in a bookcase like a monster under a bed, and for some, A Little Life will be a tale of life, any life that deserves to be truly told to at least one person.
In October 2015, the novel was short-listed for the Booker and nearly won the prize, letting a work by the charming Jamaican Marlon James overtake itself. “A Little Life” is Yanagihara’s second novel, with major themes echoing those of the writer’s debut book, “People in the Trees”: child abuse and certain past traumas. To forget them, sometimes life is not enough. In the novel there is room for love and friendship, but “light reading” it can not be called: “Little Life” – a book written in a rather tough and naturalistic manner, so overly impressionable personalities will not recommend.
