Little: A Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year

Product Information

This book wasn’t for me but I know a lot of people loved it. More thoughts in the future (maybe) because it’s currently 1am and I very tired. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be devastating. This book is heartbreaking and emotional and full of so much trauma. The main character Jude suffers trauma after trauma after trauma, which the author describes in heartbreaking detail. Also see: review from The London Review of Books [ Review]: " He wishes he too could forget, that he too could choose never to consider Caleb again. Always, he wonders why and how he has let four months – four months increasingly distant from him – so affect him, so alter his life. But then, he might as well ask – as he often does – why he has let the first 15 years of his life so dictate the past 28."

Not only do all four friends become enormous successes in their fields, but they’re constantly jetting off to exotic places (Paris for the weekend? Why not?!), buying up lofts (stylish and trendy downtown, of course, NEVER uptown) and having Malcolm decorate them in the best Architectural Digest taste. And then there’s the cultural snobbery. I howled when Willem was going to film Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and ALL OF HIS FRIENDS KNEW THE CHARACTERS FROM THE PLAY. I’ve seen Vanya several times, and even I don’t know all the characters in the play. This is one of those books that brings a whole lot of genius to the table but very little real enjoyment. It's long, slow in parts, and very VERY depressing. But if you are not put off by the length and the dark subject matter, I would say it's the kind of book that needs to be read. It's the kind of book people will talk about and it's the kind of book that has you saying "this is the most ________ book/relationship/characterization I have ever read". So, yes, this book is about faith, but it’s also about being human, because believing in things is just part of our existence. So, wherever you sit on the faith spectrum, I’m here to tell you it’s okay. You don’t have to sign up to all of something to get something out of some of it. You don’t have to like every song on the album.Even Jude's relationship with Willem is abusive, Willem is effectively raping Jude (Jude feels like he can't say no to sex, even though Willem is supposed to be his best friend), and it feels like it is only there to drag Jude's torture out to the bitter end. Such deliberate machinations violate the implicit compact between readers and authors: for the former to keep an open mind and suspend disbelief in reading the novel, and for the latter to write a story as truthfully as possible, which means not deceptively attempting to manipulate the reader's emotions. To write the story with its fictive facts in a way that is honest, veridical, organic. Sure, the writer can sway with subtext and mood and motifs. Yet, I don't recall a writer, as did this one, who admits that her purpose in writing this book was to make the reader feel as awful and as sad as possible. All of our upcoming public events and our St Pancras building tours are going ahead. Read our latest blog post about planned events for more information. Everyone keeps saying “books don’t need to have a happy ending” and that’s why people dislike this book. But it’s not the reason? Atleast not for me. This book could have the saddest ending for all I care but what matters to me is how it got there. And reading through a friendship that we didn’t even get to watch grow, was not it.

It may sound presumptuous to say in January that I've read the best book I've read all year, but reading is a lot like love. Sometimes you just know. Let us read and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.' -Voltaire. Of course, the list is not designed as a fait accompli, but rather as an inspiration for further discovery and debate. Tell us what you think – and what you think is missing – using the hashtag #100GreatestChildrensBooks. We hope that you find the poll as fascinating and illuminating as we have – as a celebration of writing, creativity and the books that have truly shaped us all.Some people believe this is a novel about friendship. That also couldn’t be more wrong. The author warns you early on [225] that friendship is nothing but the slow drip of miseries. This book is not about friends, it is about enablers. All the main characters are there specifically to enable Jude, which is precisely what destroys him. Were they his friends, they would never have let things progress the way they did. I loved this enormous warming hug of a book. Kate writes beautifully and humanely about the ups and downs of life and the role of faith (and lasagne!). A must read for people of all faiths and none. Now, we all know and love that kind of book, those epic and dramatic novels we read, cause they'll sweep us away and make us weep, make our heart ache. And we love those books cause we know they will mend our broken hearts again. We will suffer, but we're going to be happy about it. Please keep in mind: A Little Life is ruthlessly depressing. In the end, Jude really receives no reprieve from his anguish. As someone who has suffered his own abuse - a version less intense than Jude's, yet still real - and as someone who reads a lot about abuse, I appreciated Yanagihara's dedication to showing the darker side of reality. Trauma is trauma is trauma. And while we can all fight for recovery, sometimes that absolvement may never come. Sometimes, we just have to act with whatever kindness we have left and hope that it brings even a moment of light into the dark.