Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

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flipp525
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by flipp525 »

Okri wrote:Okay, I'm being convinced. The NY Times re-reviewed it and Maslin's opening paragraph was
It's such an honest review. And so spot-on at several points ("The full parade of [a series of sadists] adds up to almost more misery than one novel can contain."). Even when she's finding fault with the novel, she cannot deny how utterly powerful it is.

What is she describing here, do you think? "One major development here is gasp-inducingly unexpected, the stuff of life but also of melodrama. It may not lift the bleak mood, but it explains a lot about this voyeuristic book’s popular success."

Seems a little dramatic for the car accident that takes Willem's life, however, I know that that's a pretty shocking, unexpected development.
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by Okri »

Okay, I'm being convinced. The NY Times re-reviewed it and Maslin's opening paragraph was

"Hanya Yanagihara’s “A Little Life,” published in March, turned out to be one of the most talked-about novels of the summer. It’s a big, emotional, trauma-packed read with a voluptuous prose style that wavers between the exquisite and the overdone. A potboiler about very intense male friendship, it’s a sui generis phenomenon that became a runaway hit. And it is now a shortlisted contender for the Man Booker Prize, which will be awarded on Oct. 13."
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by flipp525 »

Okri wrote:Not really that optimistic, flipp, but I will be thoroughly delighted to be proven wrong.

I haven't seen Olive Kittredge (I believe you're thinking of dws) but I hope to soon.

It's placement on the Booker shortlist is awesome. I love the Booker Prize (I own almost 250 shortlisted novels) and while I think Marlon James will trip the Yanagihiri at the last hurdle, it's a significant achievement.
You're totally, right; that was dws. I'm sure he's happy with the showing Olive Kitteridge made last night at the Emmys.

I may just be over-estimating Yanagihara's chances but, as Mister Tee predicted, the book really has caught on like a wave and everyone is reading it right now.

Also, going back a bit further, your Montgomery Clift suggestion for Jude St. Francis is really on-point. It was difficult to fully picture Jude throughout the novel besides this idea of a handsome man succumbing to major physical incapacity. That mixture of his handicap/scarring with the physical beauty is an interesting combo. Towards the end of the book, I latched onto a comment made by Brother Luke that Jude is possibly part Native American, based on his running and early athleticism.

Oddly, I was picturing Wentworth Miller for Jude at one point. He might make a better Malcom though.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by Okri »

Not really that optimistic, flipp, but I will be thoroughly delighted to be proven wrong.

I haven't seen Olive Kittredge (I believe you're thinking of dws) but I hope to soon.

It's placement on the Booker shortlist is awesome. I love the Booker Prize (I own almost 250 shortlisted novels) and while I think Marlon James will trip the Yanagihiri at the last hurdle, it's a significant achievement.
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

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Okri wrote:I'm) In terms of taking off/awardage, I have to admit I'm a little less optimistic. The Wall Street Journal article says 35,000 copies are in print. That's a good number, but not a HUGE number. It's probably too monied-American for the Booker. The Pulitzer prize rarely goes to the obvious choice (though I think it's well positioned for the NBCCA). I hope it's successful. It's too good not to be.
Are you still less optimistic given the novel's recent placement on the Man Booker shortlist and now the National Book Award nod?

I just have this feeling that A Little Life is growing real momentum and will likely be one of the favorites for the Pulitzer Prize.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

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Okri wrote:g) Flipp, I would rather any adaptation went long-form, miniseries. But I instantly thought of Montgomery Clift (longest suicide in Hollywood history) for Jude when reading your question.
Okri, there are other things in your post I'd like to respond to but I thought I'd start here. I think a film adaptation could definitely work as a long-form (HBO?) miniseries. HBO did an incredible job recently with Olive Kitteridge (weren't we both in agreement at the time that McDormand's performance in that wiped the floor with any of the actual Best Actress nominees? Not to mention Corey Michael Smith's performance.) and Mildred Pierce before that. Both adaptations stayed utterly true to their respective source material.

If a major studio got ahold of this property and tried to turn it into a two-hour movie with a happy ending, I'd fucking gag. As I mentioned down-thread, I know that Yanagihara has already turned down one film offer so I have to assume she has similar concerns.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
flipp525
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by flipp525 »

The accolades keep piling up. A Little Life has just been longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award:

http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2015.html#.VfrdxckpDxj
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by flipp525 »

New The Atlantic article about the explosion of A Little Life over the summer based on word-of-mouth and social media as well its recent placement on the Man Booker 2015 shortlist (***Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS contained herein***). Not in agreement with much of what this writer has to say about the novel - if you didn't cry at any point while reading this book, I'd start to question whether or not you were human:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainmen ... st/405385/
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by CalWilliam »

I've purchased it and tomorrow it's going to be in my hands. Despite not being translated yet, I'll make the effort of reading it in English encouraged by all your enthousiastic remarks. I would need some tips in order to bear the undertaking (I mean disposition-wise). Thank you for letting us know its existence. There's no information of this book at all in Spain.
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by flipp525 »

FilmFan720 wrote:The book is a nominee for the Man Booker Prize...
It just made the shortlist this morning!
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by FilmFan720 »

The book is a nominee for the Man Booker Prize...

I am justs over a hundred pages in. I had a real hard time getting started, but now I have started getting sucked in with Jude's story. I'm avoiding the rest of this thread, though :)
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by Okri »

Random thoughts in the order they come to me and musings on comments made in this thread.

a) A couple years ago, I was reading a biography of Van Gogh and I was completely into it. When I had about a quarter of the book left, I put it down briefly to wiki Theo van Gogh (I know, why wiki/research in the middle of a biography, but t'is the world I inhabit). The biography had done such a terrific job of detailing his exhaustion and frustration with his brother and the sheer bloody-mindedness of the painter himself and I was wondering if he got a chance to witness the success of his brother's paintings. To find out he had died only six months after him absolutely wrecked me. Like I actually put the book down for a month because I didn't want to get to that point. When Willem died.... oh, man, I was ready to put the book down and never touch it again. I felt like a kid almost, like if I stopped reading, the characters existed at that point only.

b) God, the number of times I looked away from the pages to wipe away tears....

c) I have a friend who says I "stalk art." Anything that passes a certain threshold, I guess, trips into something like obsession for me. I actually woke up a couple mornings and started immediately thinking about A Little Life. Mark Harris said it perfectly when he said "fall deep" into the novel. I don't normally race through books this long this quickly (though, yes, I'm proud that I did) but "soul-engrossing" is right.

d) Flipp, the methodical reveals worked for me, up to a point. You mention the "not having sex" line. It's heartbreaking, but it becomes even more so with the immediate (next page) reference to Jude prostituting himself (being prostituted by Luke - I don't recall specifically which at this point) . Again, wrecked me.

e) If this book is heartbreaking, "Dear Comrades" is the absolute apex of its emotion. The way Yanagihara articulates that curdled rage that grief can contain is a thing of remarkable power.

f) The "axiom of zero" elegy was beautiful. If it was an anathema to me to write in books, I would've highlighted that entire passage. But the entire book is marked with moments like that. The "x = x" passage. Harold's chapters. The "who am I/who are you" speech.

g) Flipp, I would rather any adaptation went long-form, miniseries. But I instantly thought of Montgomery Clift (longest suicide in Hollywood history) for Jude when reading your question.

h) I will say I didn't quite get that passage of time from the book. Or, more accurately, I didn't feel the world change at all. It spanned decades, but so little of the world intruded into the book - no changing technology, fashions, etc. It didn't bother me too much but she would drop a birthday or repeated Thanksgivings and that's what signposted the passage of time more than anything else.

i) That grace, Mister Tee mentioned, is the sign of a terrifically mature storyteller. I go back to the ending (so pitch perfect) where we learn of Jude's death. We know it's coming, of course, but the way Yanagihara depicts it is wonderfully generous. She gives it the gravity and impact it merits, but also surrounds it in Jude telling the story about leaping from the fire escape. How beautiful is it for the author to give us secretive Jude telling a story as the final beat. "And then he did."

j) Tee, while I agree Malcolm feels a little underthought (especially because she's so generous with many of other supporting characters - Andy, for example), I almost like the deft way she burrows in on Jude (and Willem).

k) I didn't mind the wealth, though the way Richard works into conversation that he gets a building every five years was, well, not a terrific moment.

l) Dr. Traylor was the least effective part of the book, but I was kind of okay with that. I needed Jude to be better/healthier. I definitely get why she eased off the pedal.

m) In terms of taking off/awardage, I have to admit I'm a little less optimistic. The Wall Street Journal article says 35,000 copies are in print. That's a good number, but not a HUGE number. It's probably too monied-American for the Booker. The Pulitzer prize rarely goes to the obvious choice (though I think it's well positioned for the NBCCA). I hope it's successful. It's too good not to be.
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by Mister Tee »

And a tweet to confirm what we're saying:

Mark Harris ‏@MarkHarrisNYC 9m9 minutes ago
To everyone who told me that I would fall deep into the novel A Little Life and not want to leave it: Thanks. You were right.
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

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Fantastic podcast interview with Hanya Yanagihara linked below. This isn't the interview that I had mentioned earlier, but she does touch upon some of the same things including this idea of the vastness of America and the stories hidden in small houses and motels along the highway. There's also a disturbing anecdote I hadn't heard before of some real-life inspiration for the Jude/Brother Luke characters:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b064f5dk

Tee, my friend went to three different Barnes & Noble stores looking for the book and was unable to find it. He finally found it at Kramerbooks in Dupont (which is where I told him to go first!) I think you're right that the novel has officially taken off.

I also can only guess that a film adaptation can't be too many years off (all the examples you listed were also made into films, some quite quickly following the source material's publication). I know that Yanagihara has already rejected one big offer for the film rights of A Little Life. I'm unable to picture a project like that at this point because the novel (and the characters as I constructed them) are still so much in my own mind, I feel very protective of those images as I'm sure Yanagihara does as well.
Last edited by flipp525 on Tue Sep 08, 2015 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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Re: Official A LITTLE LIFE Thread

Post by Mister Tee »

That Wall Street Journal article confirms the feeling I had, that this book could really take off. I went to buy a copy for a relative last week, and Barnes & Noble was sold out of it. And when I mentioned my niece loving it, I maybe should have added that she's in a job here in NY that advocates for literary writers; her enthusiasm matters.

This kind of unexpected success -- based almost solely on reader enthusiasm -- has of course recently happened for a number of books I'd view as mediocre: The Kite Runner, Water for Elephants. It's gratifying when it happens for a work of greater quality. Though they're obviously very different kinds of books, it reminds me a bit of the way The World According to Garp took off in 1979. Irving is of course now an established best-selling writer, but then was he little-known, and, while the book had been well-regarded, it was no phenomenon till it hit paperback. I read it in about four days, and, over the months that followed, I heard stories about the least likely people raving over it and recommending it to friends. This may not happen to quite such a extent for A Little Life -- there are probably pockets of people who won't be able to deal with the amount of gay content (however non-hardcore it is) -- but I think there's a pretty substantial upward potential.
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