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Three Books and a Reflection, with Gratitude

anasuyaray



There is nothing 'Little' about A Little Life. It is, instead, a vast canvas that encompasses a complete lifetime, or perhaps many lifetimes.


When I had read To Live, I was amazed at how such a thin paperback, a mere 256 pages, could hold the essence of life within itself, fragrant with all its comedy and tragedy. Though nothing of that story seemed realistic and yet the whole of it felt so real that I cannot really explain the juxtaposition.

 

But then again, A Little Life was different. The book, A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara, had been sitting on Suva’s nightstand for a couple of years now, he had read it soon after it was bought. When her next book To Paradise arrived, it replaced A Little Life on the nightstand. The 800 page paperback was pushed into some dark corner of the behemoth bookshelf which houses the majority of the titles owned by us. It was only after we both finished reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow that Suva shoved it into my hands.

 

I was still tangled up with Sam and Sadie, when Jude, Willem, Malcolm and JB tiptoed into my foyer. What began as a novel of four friends merely hanging out together in the dorms of a graduate school soon washed me away in a tidal vortex, pinning me under the weight of Jude’s evasiveness, Willem’s kindness, JB’s boisterousness and Malcolm’s thoughtfulness. Reading the novel felt like watching dust particles dance in a beam of sunlight. The words in this book capture so much of our everydayness, those small gestures of how we react to each other's touches. Sometimes those moments are poetic, sometimes they are ugly, and sometimes they are bold. As life kept taking kind and unkind turns for these four characters and everyone around them, through New York streets and avenues, we accompany them from Lispenard Street to Greene Street to the Lantern Home, witnessing their growth and decay as they interweave with one another and with themselves.


Tension runs high in the book through all its 800+ pages, and you will really be scared to put down the book as Jude will always keep you up with worry just like your own kin. And yet, A Little Life, just like our real life, always takes you by surprise. Even after a week of completing the read, I can see Willem in his portrait by JB (In conversation with Jude) when I close my eyes.

 

This is not meant to be a literary critique. Frankly, I’m not sure this book can be dissected in the usual ways we examine novels. For me, A Little Life symbolizes the many lives we lead - the secrets buried deep within us, the truths we hold onto, and the deeds of the past versus the present. More than that, it is lyrical in a way that transcends prose. The rhythm of the words mirrors the beats of our heart, the flickers of our reflexes, our ambitions, our jealousies, longings, and sorrows.


I am profoundly grateful for these three novels - To Live by Yu Hua, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. They have reshaped me, built me, and guided me along this journey of life.



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