A Little Life

A Novel

By: Hanya Yanagihara

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 32 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century.

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE

A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.

Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

©2022 Penguin Random House Audio (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Heartbreaking

This is one of my daughter's favorite books so decided to listen to it. A long book and worth the credit. Great narration. Beautifully written story about the life of four college friends. Deals with some very disturbing subject matter. I called my daughter every day to let her know where I was in the book so that we could discuss the storyline and characters. Be prepared to have your heart ripped out.

Point of view

This was my first Audio Book experience, I don't have time to sit and read a book anymore, but I can drive and listen. The voice over on this book was phenomenal. I would tell of the bat whose point of view we had switched too. The emotions in the voice where unmistakable. This book hit close to home in some scenes and I can truthfully say I cried. I cried and felt so many emotions. The listening of this book will forever be in my favorites.

I cried but recommend!

I almost gave up reading this book but I’m glad I didn’t. The first half felt like it was dragging but the second half I couldn’t stop reading. Definitely a lot of trigger warnings for this book. I cried for sure.

This book hurt my feelings

Beautiful story, made me wish I had better friends. Lovely rendition, the voices that the actor chose for each character were a bit subtle so it took me a minute to catch on to who was who.

Heartbreakingly beautiful

It has taken me a long time to get back into reading, so I turned to audiobooks. Still, most fiction never compared to the classics of world literature I studied in college and I found myself not able to focus and stick with the story. Finally, I found A Little Life recommended by a young man on booktube. I fell in love with books once again. I fell in love with the characters and the eloquent writing. I was invested in the story and looked forward to listening every day. The narrator was also phenomenal and believable.

The emotional rollercoaster

This is one of the best and worst books that I’ve read in quite some time. It’s a heartbreaking story about a horribly tortured soul and the people around him that love him. As rough as the story is, the writing is really, really good. The author expressed everything so well and you felt everything. It’s a hard read but an excellent book.

The narration was perfect for the book. Especially how he did Jude and Harold. Gut wrenching.

Hard read

This book is beautifully written but its so painful to finish. Overall check out what the book involves before you start and if you think your up for it enjoy the beautiful characters and their lives.

A Devastating Character Study

I’ve always gravitated towards emotional books, this one, however, is tragedy beyond anything I’ve read prior. The writing is fluid, and (sometimes painfully) descriptive. Nothing could have prepared me for the heartbreak, violence, and despair undergone by the characters, and the rippling effects this has on the mentality of these young men throughout the story. It is one of the most gripping and well written books I’ve come across, yet I’d strongly suggest anyone considering this read to research the trigger warnings prior, and ensure they’re in a solid mental place before starting this book.

Heart wrenching

As someone who recommended it to me, described it, it is the baseline for all books on broken and desperate people. Yup. But I would read it again

A Masterpiece.

A book that could only have been written in this era. Truly a modern classic.