Late last year, we asked you, our Substack readers, to choose some of your favourite titles from the Booker archives, so that we could feature them in a new series. You answered in your hundreds, nominating everything from well-known winners to forgotten gems.
Today, after whittling down the list of suggestions, we’re launching our first Booker Prizes ‘Book of the Month’ - a month-long celebration of a book from the Booker Library - with Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life.
Yanagihara’s novel is an intense and deeply moving novel that explores the limits of human endurance and the power of friendship, through protagonist Jude and his three closest companions. Shortlisted for the Booker in 2015, A Little Life has now sold millions of copies across the world, creating a passionate fanbase in its wake.
So, this month, we’d love you all to join us in reading - or re-reading - this powerful novel. Each week, we’ll share features and discussion points here in this thread. We would love to hear from you as we turn the pages together - in the comments below, tell us what moved you, and about those moments when it kept you up at night and remained in your thoughts, even after you put the novel down.
In an exclusive essay for The Booker Prizes, award-winning singer-songwriter Dua Lipa talks about interviewing Yanagihara on her podcast, where the author speaks in detail about toxic masculinity. ‘It wasn’t that men didn’t feel vulnerability, shame or sorrow, it was that we live in a culture that doesn’t allow them to express those things,’ Yanagihara told her.
Yanagihara goes on to detail the effects she believes this can have, which we see in her characterisation - particularly of Jude: 'What happens to half of our population when they are not allowed to express the fundamental human qualities that make us vulnerable? Where does that shame and anger and sorrow go? And, of course, it either explodes outwards or it turns inwards.’
What do you think about the author’s comments? Did you notice this in your reading of A Little Life and do you agree? Do you think Jude ever allowed his vulnerability to show? And is this true of men generally? Let us know in the comments.
When four graduates move to New York City to find their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride.
If you are new to the story or are re-reading once again, we’d love to hear your initial thoughts on the novel’s opening in the comments below. Did you see any glimmers of what is to come?
The novel’s protagonist, Jude, intense self loathing doesn’t make any sense and nullifies any meaning to the book. Jude was a victim of abuse. Had he recruited other young boys to be abused by his abuser, it would have justified his self loathing. I kept waiting for this to be revealed but it’s not there. An abused child can rise above their abusive history but to become so intelligent, wealthy and worldly as Jude does here and yet be so unforgiving of oneself after a lifetime of therapy is, in my opinion, ludicrous.
I'm very sorry to hear that as it won't have made sense to you at all. Success, intelligence, friendships, family; they don't stop people hating themselves. You're very lucky to not know the truth of that in your own, perhaps large, life.
I agree with Tim. Jude was a success to the world even if he was not a success to himself.
For example, Donald Trump (sorry for the political reference - he is the first one that came to mind) is a hugely successful person in his own mind. I do not know anyone else who thinks he is such a success. I know I have been successful in my career but my last dean of the college would deem me a total mess. That was exactly the point. He would be very successful, have all the therapy in the world and never get over his pain. I loved this book because it was so realistic. peace, janz
In an exclusive essay for The Booker Prizes, award-winning singer-songwriter Dua Lipa talks about interviewing Yanagihara on her podcast, where the author speaks in detail about toxic masculinity. ‘It wasn’t that men didn’t feel vulnerability, shame or sorrow, it was that we live in a culture that doesn’t allow them to express those things,’ Yanagihara told her.
https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/dua-lipa-on-a-little-life-hanya-yanagihara
Yanagihara goes on to detail the effects she believes this can have, which we see in her characterisation - particularly of Jude: 'What happens to half of our population when they are not allowed to express the fundamental human qualities that make us vulnerable? Where does that shame and anger and sorrow go? And, of course, it either explodes outwards or it turns inwards.’
What do you think about the author’s comments? Did you notice this in your reading of A Little Life and do you agree? Do you think Jude ever allowed his vulnerability to show? And is this true of men generally? Let us know in the comments.
And if A Little Life hasn’t made its way into your TBR pile yet, you can win a copy of the book, and an exclusive Booker Prizes tote bag, in our competition here. https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/win-a-copy-of-a-little-life-by-hanya-yanagihara-and-a-booker-prize-tote
When four graduates move to New York City to find their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride.
Read the opening pages of A Little Life - Hanya Yanigihara’s deft depiction of trauma and friendship - and listen to an audio extract over on The Booker Prizes website. https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/read-an-extract-from-a-little-life-by-hanya-yanagihara
If you are new to the story or are re-reading once again, we’d love to hear your initial thoughts on the novel’s opening in the comments below. Did you see any glimmers of what is to come?
The novel’s protagonist, Jude, intense self loathing doesn’t make any sense and nullifies any meaning to the book. Jude was a victim of abuse. Had he recruited other young boys to be abused by his abuser, it would have justified his self loathing. I kept waiting for this to be revealed but it’s not there. An abused child can rise above their abusive history but to become so intelligent, wealthy and worldly as Jude does here and yet be so unforgiving of oneself after a lifetime of therapy is, in my opinion, ludicrous.
I'm very sorry to hear that as it won't have made sense to you at all. Success, intelligence, friendships, family; they don't stop people hating themselves. You're very lucky to not know the truth of that in your own, perhaps large, life.
I agree with Tim. Jude was a success to the world even if he was not a success to himself.
For example, Donald Trump (sorry for the political reference - he is the first one that came to mind) is a hugely successful person in his own mind. I do not know anyone else who thinks he is such a success. I know I have been successful in my career but my last dean of the college would deem me a total mess. That was exactly the point. He would be very successful, have all the therapy in the world and never get over his pain. I loved this book because it was so realistic. peace, janz