Devastating but brilliant

This book is both one of the best books I've read for ages and completely awful! The story is totally compelling and the characters are real and memorable and, in many cases, wonderful. But you will need therapy and/or a duvet day or two to get over the trauma of reading it. If you think you've read the most upsetting part, you are wrong. There is much worse to come. I think relentless is the best way to describe it. I loved it and I would recommend it, but don't say I didn't warn you.

35 people found this helpful

Relentlessly depressing

After investing 30 hours of my life listening to this book, I finally realised it was never going to get any better, that there was never going to be a redeeming moment when it was going to come together and Jude would finally get the moment he deserved. It just went on and on and on and rarely in all my life have I come across anyone who has been so ill used in the whole of their life.

Needless to say, I didn't finish the book and was really sorry I started it.

27 people found this helpful

Deeply disturbing and yet i couldn't stop reading

This book isn't for everyone and there were times when I had to put it down because the violence was so graphic, but I was compelled by it and felt like I'd lost something when it ended. There are plot holes and developments that don't ring true, but for all that the story surged forward. It's a hard one to recommend, given the lack of redemption, the violence, the relentlessness of suffering, but it's an engrossing story and a totally immersive experience.

26 people found this helpful

Shocking, heartbreaking, brilliant.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book but with the proviso that it is a book that will possibly upset you, shock you, horrify you. But it will grab you by the throat and not let go until the last page. And even then it will haunt you for a long time. It is not a book that you can listen to quickly and is best listened to in long stretches, concentrating on all the nuances and detailed layers of character and plot.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Little Life?

There are too many moments, many of them brutal and shocking, to mention. This story is complicated and told from more than one viewpoint and is a tour de force of visceral writing. I can still see many of the pivotal moments playing out in my head. For me it was a very ' visual' story.

Which character – as performed by Oliver Wyman – was your favourite?

Oliver Wyman is a terrific, gifted narrator and he managed to make every character come alive. Jude, the main protagonist, was believable and I became totally immersed in his story. But for me the character who caught myattention the most was Willem, Jude's best friend, protector and partner. He was the epitome of what true friendship should be and I cried for him, laughed with him, rooted for him, empathised with him and all because of the way in which the narrator portrayed him.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

One little life, four huge hearts.

Any additional comments?

This is a story of love, friendship, sexuality, relationships, culture, disability, discrimination and abuse (of all descriptions) and all tied up in the lives of four men who meet at a small American college. They remain friends for the rest of their lives, with various ups and downs, and forge bonds that see them through the need to support Jude, and the mysteries that surround his early life. It is a fantastic read, one that will make you laugh and cry, one that will make you dread the next sentence, one that will make you flinch and question what you know about people and what it means to be human.
I will definitely listen to this again. One of my top five books of 2015.

18 people found this helpful

Wow!!

Fantastic book, but quite harrowing and difficult to listen to in places. The story flowed beautifully, and although it was a very long book, still I didn't want it to end, and could have listened for another 10 hours quite easily.
The narrator can make or break an audio book for me, and this one definitely made it.

17 people found this helpful

Exhausting and difficult read.

This books grips one from the start, but from about halfway through, I thought I had never read repetition like this before. It was as if the main character, Jude's constant stream of thoughts had become too much, too repetitive. I have never read the phrase "I am sorry so many times in one book.
The writer, Hanya Yanigihara , was over indulging in her writing, her story. The 720 pages could have been cut by at least 200 pages.
An exhausting and difficult book to read and also to listen to on audio books.

15 people found this helpful

Don't listen if you need picking up

I found this book quite tough going, it is a pretty depressing subject matter and the tone of the narrator seems to amplify this. I found I was drifting off thinking of other things rather than listening to the book.

Still, I made it to the end, just.

13 people found this helpful

So glad when it was finally over

This is first book I have read by this author and chose it due to all the ‘hype’ surrounding it due to its place on Man Booker List.
Jude the main character is a top lawyer at an equally top New York corporate law firm. Jude is brilliant, drawing in new business, administering and managing without comparison. Yet he is caring, kind thoughtful towards many almost equally talented devoted friends. He plays the piano and can sing in varied languages to professional standard. He is a chef to professional standing as well as being a mathematician and of course a lover and expert of all things ‘arty’. We are told he became all this following abandonment as a baby followed by 15 years of physical emotional and sexual abuse. Difficult to believe and some….
Jude is complex. He has physical issues including constant pain and a long time need to self-harm. This bit I can believe but it could be argued that to be kind emphatic understanding and giving to others would need to have been thought through example during his formative years. As a child Jude had no knowledge of these yet he possesses and uses them with ease in a correct and competent way. The wording and prose is delightful and carries the reader along the story but add in a little reflection and no .. .not really believable.
In one scene Jude experiences the pleasure of people already loved by him loving others that he loved. To feel this surely one would have to have experienced love care and feeling of being held securely while developing from childhood as otherwise how would an individual be able to recognise it.
This is ultimately a story of male friendship set mainly in New York. Jude is the Lawyer; JB is an Artist; Malcolm an Architect and Willem is an Actor. Their enormous success detracts from their overall credibility. Moreover their personalities remain unchanged over 35 years. Characters like Harold move from convincing to almost ghost like in the later stages of the book. Moreover the environment in which they operate does not seem to change within the time frame.
We are led to believe that Jude has self-loathing for himself yet seemingly outwardly portrays love and affection to ensure idol worship by friends and rescuers alike. They continue to care for and support him throughout his many life trials regardless.
The early scenes between Jude and his mentor Harold were heart-warming.
There is graphic overload on flesh rotting and cutting sessions. I know some of this has to be discussed for the story to progress but it felt too much and more for shock than story value. In this book it’s too much in whichever direction you travel for example the pendulum is swinging towards extreme wonderfulness or extreme wickedness and damnation.
I did feel the book was gripping in parts. I just found it such ‘ hard work’ from the start and only by forcing myself on did I ultimately get to the finish. However with such widely varying lifestyles and professions it’s amazing that these characters remained the mainstay for each other throughout their lives. They did suffer especially Jude but I guess if suffering is a requirement why not do it in luxury. Ordinary individuals like cleaners nurses are mentioned due to the work they do but then that’s it there is no further look into their lives. There are no strong female characters with roles other than to complement their men.
This book is way way way too long with much repetition and over description of trivia with meal preparation for example. I know child sexual physical and emotional abuse is real for some as I work in the Child Protection field but with everything that happened to Jude after the abuse with the domestic abuse relationship and the conclusion of the book it really does not seem so much horrendous misery can continue to befall one person. I can see how many have loved it but for me it was a well written middle of the road read. It has its enjoyable bits but Booker Prize Winner in my opinion no which ultimately it did not receive.

13 people found this helpful

Just not for me.

Too long and I found myself becoming more and more irritated by the 'goodness 'of the characters and annoyed by the over use of 'Im sorry. I'm so sorry' .. also didn't buy the Jude story really. But it was beautifully crafted and read really well. Sure lots of people will love it

9 people found this helpful

Painful listening to a painful story

I cannot understand why this book is so long. It’s painful to say the least but lacks poignancy for the most part. I cannot understand Judes relationship with Howard, after all those years together, did he not feel Howard deserved some warmth and connection? The women in this book may as well not be there and why the hell did Jude trust that abusive guy, I can’t remember his name because I finished it a couple of months ago. He was adamant throughout his teenage life, in spite of having wonderful, sometimes flawed but not abusive relationships with his close friends. I can’t understand his rejection of the artist guy because it was on the basis of stupid behaviour which happened when he was under the influence of DRUGS. He was not in control. Too long by far. And, we needed to have more reference to why all these people loved Jude. The story of Judes abuse is heartbreaking and left me on the edge, but other than that I didn’t like it. I’m sorry.............

8 people found this helpful