Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

The discussion for A Little Life begins April 1st. It's a big book, over 700 pages long (small print) and has been received as unrelenting, excessive and brooding even by those attempting to be gentle about the material in the book. Many have had to put it aside for periods of time for one reason or another. So, if you haven't requested or secured a copy yet, you just might want to do it now.

I'm reading it now - actually, listening to it on Audible. I appreciate what Columbus says about the intensity of this book-- where I teach, I would offer a trigger warning, especially for anyone who experienced abuse in childhood. That said - I am loving the book, and I look forward to chiming in on the discussion in April.

Can I share a podcast with you? I hadn't intended on listening to the entire 48:42 of this interview with Hanya Yanagihara, but I got so wrapped up in her discussing this book that the time went by quickly.

I started reading this book about 5 months ago and stopped about 225 pages in. I won't go into why I stopped until the discussion begins, but, I will say this interview will force me to pick it up again and start from the beginning. Really good interview and hopefully you'll all get in on the ride. What do you say, Janey?:

KPFA - The first community supported radio station in the USA
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=227602

I'm halfway through right now. Will listen to the podcast. Thanks Columbus!

I recently finished this book as an "audio" read.
It was mesmerizing read - often times disturbing but to the author's credit her writing style and storytelling abilities kept drawing back and I could not turn away from the book.

I thought the narrator did a good job.

I did read Hanya Yanagihara prior novel The People in the Trees so was a little familiar of her writing style.

Beverly wrote: "I recently finished this book as an "audio" read.
It was mesmerizing read - often times disturbing but to the author's credit her writing style and storytelling abilities kept drawing back and I co..."

Beverly, what did you think of Trees and also how does it compare or contrast to A Little Life? Is it as provocative as A Little Life or not as much. I recall some of the regular reader reviews of her first book and people were asking why this incredible writer was getting little press.

I liked Trees but I liked ALL more.

When I read Trees I knew that I would read another novel by the author as I thought she was a good writer and storyteller.

I think it was the storyline of Trees that just did not appeal to many readers.

Her writing definitely holds your attention.

The People in the Trees is one of my favorite books ever. First of all it is an amazing audiobook because the way the book is written it allowed the audio version to be acted out instead of just read. Next, I just loved it because it was so creepy, fantastical, vivid, and shocking... and with great writing.

I don't think I will end up liking ALL as much as People now that I am halfway through. But she is a brilliant writer, I think. I don't mind the shocking subject matter which I think bothers a lot of people. I also really love the way she pushes boundaries like the fantastical nature of People or the heaping of abuse in ALL.

That's really helpful Beverly & Michele. Thanks!

A Little Life has long waiting list on both of my library systems...if I do manage to get a copy it will be towards the end of the discussion...Pshaw!

William wrote: "A Little Life has long waiting list on both of my library systems...if I do manage to get a copy it will be towards the end of the discussion...Pshaw!"

William that term has not crossed my mind in a long time. Aww Shucks :)

I bought this one a while back and never got to it, so I'm excited to read it and discuss it here. I think having the group to talk about it with will enhance the reading experience for this one!

My Booker bookclub is reading this book in October so I've been waiting for the audio version to become available at the library but it doesn't seem to be coming, so I finally just bit the bullet and got it from Audible. Hoping to start it tomorrow.

Columbus wrote: "Can I share a podcast with you? I hadn't intended on listening to the entire 48:42 of this interview with Hanya Yanagihara, but I got so wrapped up in her discussing this book that..."
I'll definitely listen to the podcast. I finished the book last week. Looking forward to the discussion.

That podcast was the best thing I've read/heard about the book so far.

I am on the waiting list at my library :)

Due to the length of this book we'll start the discussion tomorrow, April 1st instead of waiting several days in. The book is broken down into seven parts and the schedule will be as follows:

Lispenard Street: April 1-5
The Postman: April 6-9
Vanities: April 10-14
The Axiom of Equality: April 15-19
The Happy Years: April 20-23
Dear Comrade: April 24-27
Lispenard Street (again): April 28 Entire book open for discussion

Note: Those who anticipate receiving the book soon you can get a head start by reading the sample provided by your e-device. Because of the size of the book the sample itself is rather lengthy.

I am about 1/3 through and not liking it as much as I thought I would. I don't find the characters very engaging; they just don't feel like real people to me. A good book draws me into the story and the setting, and I see the characters as real people, people I know. This is not happening for me with A Little Life. I look forward to hearing how everyone else feels.

The discussion for A Little Life starts today. I requested a copy of the book from my local library, Overdrive and also Open Library. No luck so far.

I am almost done and totally bought in and feel like I have been through a whole life with those characters. One day I felt like it was literally sucking me in to its own world. I felt sickly, sad, etc. I think that's impressive writing.

Here's something I'd love to hear some comments on - and I think it's relevant from the beginning of the text all through. What did you think of racial identity in relationship to the central four friends, Jude, Willem, JB and Malcolm? I saw a blog post about the book that described it as featuring the lives of four white men - yet at least JB and Malcolm are not white, and Jude's race is ambiguous. Only Willem is clearly white, yet not typically white, as he is the child of immigrants who speak Norwegian at home. I can't remember race coming up as a factor in their ascent professionally, in romantic relationships, in their friendship, or anything. I was surprised at that -- not that every novel has to be about race-- maybe the unreal world she envisions her characters in is truly post-racial -- but I found it odd. In particular, I found it odd that Jude's early curiosity about his origins disappeared so completely. The audio interview that Columbus posted from KPFA helped me understand Jude's path better, but even so.... JB is the character who is both unambiguously Black and unambiguously gay, and yet he also reflects on that identity very little nor encounters prejudices or barriers associated with that identity. What did you all think about the author's light touch on race?

Columbus wrote: "Can I share a podcast with you? I hadn't intended on listening to the entire 48:42 of this interview with Hanya Yanagihara, but I got so wrapped up in her discussing this book that..."

Thanks for sharing this interview.
It is very insightful on why, how, and what the author writes about.

Janey wrote: "Here's something I'd love to hear some comments on - and I think it's relevant from the beginning of the text all through. What did you think of racial identity in relationship to the central four ..."

Interesting comments.
I was aware of the racial identities of the four characters but I was also aware of the class status from which each of them came from. This also helped to form their identity of who they were.
For me there were references about race throughout the book and yes, more subtle than in your face books about race. And is often not important in parts of this book as its focus is on abuse.

But this book had a very tight focus - this is Jude's story and we see the other characters really in reference to him and there is not a lot of secondary characters or a lot of attention focused on them unless it relates to something to Jude.

Yes, there is discrimination and prejudice but each black person's experience and reaction to discrimination/prejudice is different and complex. Every decision that a black person makes in their life is not necessarily driven by their "race".

As for the blogger that mentioned that they were "four white men" not sure why they said that other than maybe JB and Malcolm did not meet their expectations of what they expected from Black characters or maybe they did not read the book that closely.

I as a reader was curious about Jude's origins but could understand as he got older he had to let certain things from his past go and that was an easy one for him as his other childhood memories were too painful and he spend every day of his life trying to survive those painful events that he could not forget. Also then I begin to think why did it really matter.

I took found that class background played a large role in their characters. I was aware of the social class they each came from throughout the book, and it affected their actions at times. I guess I was just curious why race didn't seem as present as a factor in their lives as class did. Family of origin (or lack thereof) and abuse and their particular personalities all played a larger role than race or class in shaping them, which seems natural to me.

also, not took. autocorrect!

Just received my copy from the library & was surprised to see how big it is. I wasn't planning on reading a 700+ until later this year. I'll be on the lookout for the audio version. Thanks for posting the podcast!

As usual a lively discussion has begun, I hope to add to it this month.

Just received my copy from the library & was surprised to see how big it is. I wasn't planning on reading a 700+ until later this year. I'll be on the lookout for the audio version. Thanks for posting the podcast!

As usual a lively discussion has begun, I hope to add to it this month.

I am almost done and I can honestly say that I hate this book. I know *hate* is a strong word but I do hate it. It's well written but it's an awful story and ridiculously extreme. I'll chime in more when the spoilers are off since I listened to it in audio so can't remember in what parts events happened.

Louise wrote: "I am almost done and I can honestly say that I hate this book. I know *hate* is a strong word but I do hate it. It's well written but it's an awful story and ridiculously extreme. I'll chime in mor..."

I can certainly understand how you feel.

It seems to me that A Little Life evokes strong emotions/strong opinions etc. in almost everyone I have encountered that has read or attempted to read this book. I do not remember a book that has generated such response in a long time.

As much as this book produces an emotional reaction from the readers, listening to the author (in the interview provided in the link above) - she seems so calm and collected when answering certain aspects about the subject matter and characters.

Yeah, I looked at the Goodreads reviews and most are either 5 stars or 1 star. It's definitely a "love it" or "hate it" book. I suspect a live bookclub meeting discussing this book would get really loud, lol.

My biggest surprise is that this book made it to the Man Booker Prize shortlist. I cannot fathom how this could be viewed as a great piece of literature.

I thought it was great because I was sucked in at many points. One day I started to get scared because I was feeling sickly and crazy; like I was starting to become Jude. I had to stop and remind myself I was NOT Jude. Any book that makes me forget I'm reading and instead puts my brain in an altered state gets huge respect from me.

Michele wrote: "I thought it was great because I was sucked in at many points. One day I started to get scared because I was feeling sickly and crazy; like I was starting to become Jude. I had to stop and remind m..."

I agree, I usually love a book that gets to my emotions, even if it's the dark side but this one just annoyed me because I found it unbelievable every step of the way. I can't name any exact scenarios right now for fear of spoilers. And I think my strong reaction of "hate" is simply because the book is so popular and on the Booker shorlist. If no one else had heard of this book I would have just chalked it up to a bad book and forgotten all about it.

That aside, what do you guys think of the friendships between the 4 characters? Why do you think they are friends? They don't seem to have much in common. I didn't feel a connection between the characters except for perhaps Willem and Jude at the beginning (by the end I no longer bought into their relationship).

Regarding the friendship between the four main characters here are a couple of my thoughts:

- for me it seemed that the friendship formed/bonded in college because all were "outsiders" at the college though all for different reasons
- their college style extended further into adulthood because their lives connected in NYC
- there were times when the closeness was not as "tight" between all four and each had a slightly different relationship with each of the other members - but Jules was the draw of this group and others could be drawn back in by events in his life
- the book has a narrow focus and it is Jules - we do not see the whole lives of the other characters except in very limited aspects - when they are not in the scene we often do not know what is going on with the characters unless it deals/affects Jules.

Also for me, in this book I did not feel like I was there in their lives but was hovering above them and looking down into their lives.

Yes, I agree that some of the scenes seem to be absurd or not necessarily "realistic" - but for me I can often let that go because sometimes you have to make certain situations more absurd/painful for people to notice.

Beverly wrote: "Yes, I agree that some of the scenes seem to be absurd or not necessarily "realistic" - but for me I can often let that go because sometimes you have to make certain situations more absurd/painful for people to notice. ..."

It seemed to me like the author wasn't giving her readers any credit for any kind of intelligence and pounded her points in with a sledge hammer. How many times does Jude say "I'm sorry"? How many times does she tell us he feels shame? It was grossly overdone. I prefer something a bit more subtle.

I found almost everything in A Little Life as believable as any other novel I've read.

Just to take that one detail, how many times he says "I'm sorry." In certain situations, one of my best friends says that much more often than Jude does so that rang quite true to me.

I've noticed for those who are on the Hated It side, the main criticism I'm seeing is that it is not believable. I wonder what the connection is. I think that is really meaningful beyond whether it is truly believable or not.

Michele wrote: "I've noticed for those who are on the Hated It side, the main criticism I'm seeing is that it is not believable. I wonder what the connection is. I think that is really meaningful beyond whether it is truly believable or not. ..."

I have a lot more criticisms but can't voice them right now until we can discuss the whole book.

Louise wrote: "Beverly wrote: "Yes, I agree that some of the scenes seem to be absurd or not necessarily "realistic" - but for me I can often let that go because sometimes you have to make certain situations more..."

As a friend of mine says - Every book is not for everybody but every book is for someone.

I found the writing/storytelling very well done and liked how the author used "time" in the book. That I still think about this book makes it worthy for me.

How the author paced out Jules story was masterful - she definitely knows how to hook the reader.

Michele wrote: "I found almost everything in A Little Life as believable as any other novel I've read.

Just to take that one detail, how many times he says "I'm sorry." In certain situations, one ..."

That is a very good point about the "not believable" and not liking the book!

so, is the audio version of the book the preferred reading method used for those who've read the book or currently reading? anyone read/reading the paper or ebook?

Columbus wrote: "so, is the audio version of the book the preferred reading method used for those who've read the book or currently reading? anyone read/reading the paper or ebook?"

I started reading print book but then at the beginning I switched to the audio as it was easier for me to continue reading the book on a consistent basis.

I thought the narrator did a very good job.

I liked the print version better. But have heard others say the opposite.

I can't imagine having to physically read this book. I would have quit halfway through but since I listened to it on audio I soldiered on.

I think I'm staying within the confines of the reading discussion outline but if I'm not please let me know and I'll add a spoiler. I don't have the book and only read up to page 250.

One of the main criticisms of the book and I read this from several casual or regular reader reviews is the fact that they are all very successful. Not only are they successful but they are good at like everything. Jude couldn't just settle for being an excellent singer but he was a master of the German art song. Really? über über über.....Was this really plausible to you? Yanagihara seemed to want to smash this criticism In that wonderful podcast interview saying even she knows pockets of ultra-successful, young New Yorkers who schooled together, stuck to their own group and were all extremely successful people. I couldn't tell whether she was sort of like defending herself against this criticism or not, because I don't recall the interviewer bringing it up. I could be wrong though.

Reminds me of some of the fun urban or street lit books I read with friends where they were all successful, had wonderful careers, all extremely beautiful and had wardrobes to kill for. Not to mention a different glamorous paramour, daily. But even that was supposed to be ebullient, light-hearted fare. I think.

I'm loving this discussion!

I liked the successful friends part because it added to the message that you can "have it all" and still be so broken inside that you can't be fixed.

Columbus wrote: " Jude couldn't just settle for being an excellent singer but he was a master of the German art song. Really? über über über.....Was this really plausible to you?."

Nothing about Jude was plausible to me. He was also a great pianist. When was he able to learn to play the piano???

Another character I could not buy into was the doctor friend Andy. I'm sorry but no doctor worth his salt would continually turn a blind eye to someone with as many problems as Jude. That is not doctoring, that is enabling....

Michele wrote: "I liked the successful friends part because it added to the message that you can "have it all" and still be so broken inside that you can't be fixed."

You could do that by having Jude be successful, but all 4? And all INCREDIBLY successful? You would think that at least one in their group might struggle a bit professionally.

It's a book of extremes, in everything.

I also found most of the characters were either psychotic, or angelic. Not much in between.

Yes, the character did not buy into was the doctor friend.

I did not think that all four friends being successful was that odd - this probably helped to keep them friends over the long haul - besides they all did have their trials and tribulations in getting to be successful.

Janey wrote: "I took found that class background played a large role in their characters. I was aware of the social class they each came from throughout the book, and it affected their actions at times. I guess ..."

I actually saw race as a major role in the characters' lives. No this book is not about "race" but the race and class backgrounds affected the trajectory of the characters' lives. Their class backgrounds also had a major affect on their experiences. There was a lot of implications that J.B. and Malcolm had to work extra hard and engage in the "politics" of their professions in order to achieve their successes. It also was implied that if Willem really took full advantage of his looks and his talents he may have been a bigger star. Because the focus of the tale was the characters in relation to Jude their struggles were never fully explored.

One thing that is striking is the ambiguities surrounding the time and setting of the book. The book takes place over decades of these characters' lives yet contextual details like the time period each scene takes place and the important places in their lives are left vague. For example, the four went to very elite schools comparable to the Ivy League for college and grad school but the book never states what schools they went to. That information probably would added some context to the characters' identities.