Hanya Yanagihara, "A Little Life"
Yanagihara’s first novel, The People in the Trees, drew on the timeless quest for immortality-and its always devastating consequences. In her second work of fiction, now available in paperback, the National Book Award finalist starts with an equally familiar premise-the course of four friends from college to middle age-and takes it in new and stunning directions. Jude is the core of the ambitious group of young men that leaves Massachusetts for New York, but his success as a lawyer is undercut by the life-long effects of childhood abuse and trauma. Yanagihara’s narrative is an insightful portrait of the extremes of endurance and the consolations of friendship.
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This event is part of the Politics & Prose and the PEN/Faulkner Foundation Contemporary Fiction Reading Series at Busboys and Poets.
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For me, the shocking moments didn't leave the most impact on me, it was instead the moments when Jude was receiving a lot of love and care from this friends and families and his thoughts in between that left me in tears.
I agree
Same
The grilled cheese scene was the first time I cried reading the book
@@steffidelzin4466it was so sad seeing Jude pushing away people who cared for him so much ..
@@steffidelzin4466 I knooow, the hug was like the missing piece of the Jude = x. Just knowing he was unconditionally loved
I've just finished it and I'm mostly here to cry.
I’m here for closure because I am not ok!!!
Lol I am here cos I am angry. She must be really messed up. The only thing this book has done is to upset the reader.
This is such a mood Ive finished it just now and im doing the same
Halfway through now. Please tell me it gets happier 😭
just trying to cover my emptiness by consuming as much content on the book as possible
People need to let go of the desire of satisfaction at the end of a book. You don’t always need to be rewarded a happy ending, sometimes things are just meant to be felt. Making the statement that trauma like this isn’t real is so unreal in itself. I knew someone just like Jude and may God rest his soul, but sometimes things are never ending. This was a tragic story, but a good read. Sometimes a story doesn’t need a clear plot just good characters and this is it.
it’s not even about that. it’s the fact that this book is even allowed to be published and promoted to very young innocent teens and adults. This book is more than just a sad story, it’s literally traumatising and way too graphic. It’s genuinely fucked up.
whoever read this book and wasn’t completely destroyed afterwards is insane.
For your thought i am thankful. That you knew of a 'better' life than so many others
@@Iloveyourmum6972 of course people are going to be destroyed after reading this in someway. as desja stated earlier, if people really expect happy endings or at least a positive satisfaction while indulging in this story needs a reality check. the book was intended to make people uncomfortable and it is fucked - the way Jude went out and (thinking beyond this story) the way people have been through the same things he went through or even the unspeakable. i assume that this book wasn't targeted to only a younger audience nor demographic - trigger warnings are also involved and mentioned numerous times so readers SHOULD know what they are getting into. but then again, this book isn't for everybody and everyone's opinion towards a little life is valid.
Exactly!
Unlike many regrets I have with my life, I only regret Harold being left thinking what he did wrong.. he can work it out by himself tho.. he's the only stable one.
“You are trespassing into someone else’s most intimate moment” I honestly can’t agree more when reading this story. Jude’s story particularly and Especially with the happy years. I felt I shouldn’t even be reading the parts and how Willem and Jude struggled in their relationship. It’s so private and honest it was painful to witness.
The emptiness and loneliness and hopelessness and all of the sadness Jude experienced when Willem passed away is so intense and vivid, more intense than the pain he went through when he was abused. I cried so much after Willem's death, seeing how Jude was tryingso hard to maintain his memories vivid... it was the most emotional part of the book to me, and I don't know how Jude was able to handle that emptiness for so long. This book is a masterpiece
Couldn't agree more
It really is..
Loss is the worst. I have personally endured a lot in life but my fathers death is something I can’t accept and move on from. That void 😢
Completely agree! The true emptiness of his being as if his soul was sucked away when Willem is killed. It is the most beautiful and painful part of the book.
Yes, I agree. The abuse scenes made me feel angry towards the abusers and to somehow want to be proactive and 'rescue' Jude (legally/physically) from each awful childhood/adolescent/disabled adult rape/abusive situation. Willem's death and Jude's intense grief (smelling Willem's perfumes and seeking comfort in his clothing for some remaining essence) and the hollowness of searching for someone who is no longer there, was realistically and intensly depicted.
Jude, the patron saint of lost causes. I have never read a character so tangible as him. He will stick with me forever. I met Jude five years ago, and still, he haunts me in the best ways.
HOW DID SOMEONE READ 700-800 PAGES IN ONE NIGHT
You don't know a book lover 😅
ik right. i happened to last really long ways into reading my books!
Ikr it took me 4 hours to read this-
@@oompapaoom112 4 hours, I-
@@vailreheart8083 imma slow reader sorry lmaoao
How could the author not do research on pedophilia or cutting and write do expensively? This book can be harmful for many. And she never went to therapy!
as i read the book, i found myself thinking that it was unnecessary trauma in too graphic of detail throughout the story, that it was overdone and almost too pensive. and then after i finished, i thought about willem and jude's friendship for maybe the week after, every day. it was all that was on my mind. and i realized that the book isn't about jude, or willem, or any of the problems they face- it's about taking time to enjoy friendships and life, even if there's no happy ending. ALL is one of my favorite reads now.
I hate when people think it's "too much trauma". Like you read the trigger warnings, did you expect it wouldn't be heartbreaking? People think talking about trauma isnt hard or that it shouldn't be talked about at all. We need to tackle the hard things.
@@RED-my9hl not in this way when Yanagihara didn't even do her research about mental health, doesn't believe in therapy and thinks Trigger Warnings are not necessary.
@@19Rena96 cry about it
@@19Rena96I agree with her. Life doesn’t have trigger warnings
@@chedderman101 Outing yourself as clueless is not a flex.
she has such a way with words i could listen to her for hours
I didn't have the heart to read the last few chapters of this book. I was so broken, so torn up. Jude St. Francis sometimes crosses my mind and I'd have nothing but tears.
please read the ending its written so beautifully and ik its gonna make you sad but its worth it i promise!
Same was the case with me
I can’t believe she wrote it that fast WHILE WORKING! It must have been a real work from the soul. It felt like a work from the soul. Omg. It was crazy good and crazy sad
I think she wrote the book how we read it, she couldn’t not write it once she had the storyline just like we couldn’t put it down when we first start reading it
She's been planning the book since she was twenty six so we can say the book existed in bits and pieces before she finally sat down to write the finished and final draft.
Jude St. Francis always comes to my mind... he deserved better
(TW!) I'm gonna be honest; this book triggered my suicidal thoughts and I literally tried to end my life after I read it. I obviously wasn't doing fine emotionally back then, but I wish I hadn't read it being depressed, I wish I could read it now, but I am so afraid of it that I can't even try to think about the main characters without shivering. I wouldn't recommend it to people with a bad mental state. However, if you know what you're getting into and you're not scared to be emotionally affected, then go ahead, it really is a beautiful book.
thank god you are better now if you want to talk i am here♡
@@amasyooh1664 Thank you🙏🏻💓
Seems unwise to subject yourself to such a book given your unstable mental state.
Your comment was featured in a KZhead video that was a review about a little life
@@bristiray3861 Yes. You're right. It was an honest mistake, but I learned from it. Now I'm more careful and cautious about what I read and consume.
When she speaks about how marriage has not always been with a person you choose, but friendship is undoubtedly a relationship you choose - you make the decision to surround yourself with this person for no ulterior reason, for no reason other than the pleasure you derive from each other - I am reminded of what struck me so heavily the first time I read the book, and what has brought me back to it each and every time.
I think what "stays with" one about this book, is the soul destroying effect of child sexual abuse. I don't like to say it was a "fun" read, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
oh hi! can you tell me please the name of the author?
@@Mimi-gu6gn Her name is in the title mate.
Physical & mental abuse as well. I’ll go so far as to say if the sexual abuse was taken away, it still would have been a hellish childhood. All the beatings and chastisements.
@@rlfolder5437 Yes, when Jude causes the mug Jacob made to break because he thinks Harold's playful lunge is a violent act. Likewise, when Caleb first hit him across the face he finds some 'solace' in the cruel action and 'expects to be hit'. It is the idea that because of past physical and mental abuse Jude is in wonder, especially earlier in the novel, when the adult males he knows don't hit him yet he expects them to. I found the scene when he is fourteen and tries to run away by hiding in the rebuilt cavity wall in the college and is found then climbs into the car, the 'cruelest' counselor is waiting for him, then punches Jude in the mouth and nose and Jude's own blood is described as 'nourishing... soup' - a really disturbing and pitiful scene.
I think some people are too attached to the idea it always gets better, it doesn’t. That’s real for a lot of people but also that’s something that we all feel, without knowing what the future holds things can feel like it won’t get better. That’s valid
I totally agree. But it can be also very problematic because it can or may seem to people who share judes trauma or suffer from the same illnesses or struggles that it will not get better and that is very much not true and can give a wrong message to people.
Here's my question- why did JB kiss Jude?? And further into that spiral: did he think of Jude of more than a friend? Finally, a statement: I will sell my soul to own *Jude With A Cigarette*!!!!
did he really kissed jude or did jude imagined it? bc jude did think harold was trying to rape him but he was hallucinating at that time
didn't he kiss his cheek
JB was always attracted to Jude, its said explicitly in the book multiple times, they say in the book that JB kissed Jude just to see what it would be like and neither of them enjoyed it.
Spoilers: That is one of the moment I believe that were unnecessary because from what I understood JB wasn’t attracted to Jude but to Willem. JB was just triggered about Jude because really he never gets to know him. I believe that the ending would have been the same without making JB kiss Jude as their friendship was never truly restored.
@@constancehalstead8457 nah that Willem Edit: jb liked Willem not Jude jb only kisses jude once and that was at the end
This book made me go from not reading at all to 200 pages a day. I'm still not sure how I feel about this book, but I treasure it for the impact it had on me. I read constantly now.
The way a teared up when Jude was adopted by his Professor
She’s an unforgiving author. Makes the reader feel so helpless
She literally said she didn’t care i- 😭😭
I just finished the book. I’m not crying but the pain I feel is very inward and will probably stick with me for a while. It’s an amazing book.
This book took me 2weeks to finish (I have kids, you know what it's like) - HOW did the woman finish it in a NIGHT?! I felt like the length of the book, how detailed it was made it more intimate, like I was sitting right behind Jude and witnessing his life.
right, not to mention how emotionally draining it was to read. i can’t imagine reading it in one go!
Hi.. I'm a mom as well and I've been reading this book for almost a week.. I'm so eager to know what is going to happen that every time I have to put it down I feel mad 😂
Despite being a frequent reader, I always had difficulty connecting to books I read and find myself becoming extremely bored or tired from so many books. A Little Life opened so many dark doors I did not even know existed in my life, and become completely immersed within the world Hanya created. It has been months since I have read this novel and I am still craving for a book that creates the same dark, dense, layered connection. This story was so sadly inexplicable, yet I creepily want to read more books that make me feel this strange pain.
I recomend to you Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante then. The pain I was left with after reading A little life reminded me of pain I felt after finishing that series. They're completely different stories, but what they have in common is that they both deal with the subject of violence and how it affects people also leaving reader crushed after the lecture. It isn't as graphic as ALL, but it's still a very powerful story.
Gosh she is so eloquent and articulate! I love listening to her speak.
I cried for the past 2 hours finishing the book. That literally broke me
I read this in 3 days, I couldn't put it down.
the way she could explain every singular particularity and detail of this book just had me speechless. the things that i loved the most about A little life was the writing style because everything was beautifully presented even though there were a lot of trigger warnings. but seeing yourself in this book’s characters was something that has made me feel emotions i’ve never felt. as Hanya said , there are a lot of male friendships that overpowered this book , and as a young girl reading about a man going trough his trauma made me understand men more. indeed it’s true, men rarely talk bout their feelings because feeling emotions isn’t “manly”, and especially when we’re talking about gay men. so reading about these 4 men had me feeling constantly empathetic
01:20 Reading A Little Life in one night IS POSSIBLE. For those of you who put harsh comments, here’s my explanation. The host said, her friend read from 3pm to 3am. My hardcover copy is 720 pages. 720 pages : 12 hours = 60 So it’s like 60 pages/hour or 1 page/minute. Remember, it’s not really 720 pages, because there are some blank pages or title pages. If you’re reading A Little Life book in your native language, you barely have reading disability and a fast reader in general, then reading 1 page/minute IS TOTALLY POSSIBLE. Even 2 pages/minute is still possible. How about eating or bathroom break? Easy. Can rest, of course. But another option: AUDIOBOOK. Some readers like to listen to audiobook to 2x-2.5x speed, so it could cut more times. The thing is, us, as avid readers, once we love a book, we can read it so fast like crazy but still comprehend the book itself. Have you heard challenge like “24 hours readathlon” and 1 person can read 5 books (with average 300 pages)? Yeah... So, before accusing someone is lying for reading 700 pages book, maybe break down how it could be possible first. Thank you for coming to my T*D talk.
It's not that she's lying, is that how can someone grasp the full essence of a 700 page book when read in one night. It is indeed possible but you need time to process/ponder on what you've read. Otherwise you'll forget what you've read in 2 days.
I finished this book in 2 weeks because I had to pause at some parts my heart cannot take.
hanya is so elegant. and i think the interviewer had actually some good points!
Hanya Yanagihara, I think you may have just written one of my favourite books of all time. Thank you for making all the effort, your book is completely amazing. 😊📖❤️
I love this author. She is so eloquent and well-spoken and she doesn’t ramble.
I think this book have amazing life lessons but people just think about how sad it is! this book straight up tells you the point of life is to be a good friend and feeling proud of one's life
I agree and thought about this aspect of it too
None of them was a good friend to him though if you see the story critically. In fact they all let him down in more ways than one through their toxic positivity.
as much as i loved this book, it impacted my mental health immensely. yes, i did read the trigger warnings and for the most part, i knew how the book would end and that it wouldn't be happy. but actually reading and experiencing the pain that jude went through was likely the most detailed, disturbing, and emotionally unsettling feeling ive ever felt. the ending somehow did not make me cry even though i felt like i wanted to cry for days, weeks after i finished. not long after reading this book, i (selfishly) relapsed. i cant exactly say why, the trauma i experienced was no where near as awful as what jude had to go through, but i still felt a sort of connection to him. the pages describing his self harm felt all too real, perfectly described the emotions (or lack thereof) that come from such self harm. all in all it was a both beautiful, yet heartbreaking story to read. some days i wish i never picked up the book and others i feel overwhelmingly grateful that i did. i think this book will stick with me for many many years to come. im not sure how im going to recover from reading this honestly lol. its tragic, yet realistic. i wish everyone who has read this book, went through what jude did or had to help a "jude" of their own, the absolute best. sometimes these awful things dont happen for a particular reason. you arent being punished and it is not your fault. there are cruel people in this world. and all we can do is try to help, care for, love, and understand each other, and thats enough. because it will get better. you may not believe it now, or ever, but you have to keep pushing through. dont hesitate to reach out, whether it be to a friend, family member, a random person on the internet. you are needed here.
Really, really well said. I just finished reading and it’s scary how easily you can relate to every character or how they feel. Wish you the best and hope you’re doing great too!
I finished the book in 3 days and it took me a week to recover mentally
She did answer gracefully
I'm in so much pain just finished it last night and i have no clue how to go on from now on
How can I even begin to describe the book that has haunted me for months after reading it? It's genuinely one of the best and worst books I've ever read, I love it with my whole heart but it also shatters it into tiny pieces. I can't move on from it.
This book is a work of genius
When she said the lady finished it in a night... LIAR
Yes then you read or sooo f ast that nothing what uou read stays with you or ........yes liar ....why is it so important to read fast...i read slow but the books i rea d stays with me.....greetings from holland
Have you heard..... 24 hours readathlon? :)
I don't think it's that big of a stretch. I read about 80 pages an hour, so this book would take me 10/11 hours to read if I'm being generous with time i.e taking breaks, snacking, etc. And I have friends who read 120-150 pages an hour. It's something you can teach yourself to do, although I'm personally fine with where I'm at. If you meant because of how emotional it is it would be very hard to continue reading after certain parts, I can't speak on that. But I do know people who have read it and have pushed passed really hard stuff to finish the book so they didn't have to cry the next day lol.
I watched many reviews of this and finally got it for Christmas.
I just finished the book omg I am in tears!! Absolutely amazing story.
The interviewer was underwhelming to be honest--the audience had better questions.
Her intellect is astonishing
Couldn’t put it down?! Every time I put this down I had to put so much effort towards picking it back up, which feels like a feat of discipline and commitment. Its detail is what makes it a masterpiece, but by no means was this something that consumed me or stayed up late into the night devouring.
It's amazing how the book spoke for me, I had a hard childhood and I many times what Jude thought is exactly my trail of thoughts
This book comforted me in a ways that therapy never has. I feel like I can rebuilt myself now. This book has turned me around. Thank you.
She is a great speaker. And very cute, too!
I loved this book. Have read it three times now and have been moved every time. Beautiful characters and so very well described. Thank you for a portrait of lovely characters. Christopher Australia
finished it and i am devastated
I love this interview so much! I'm glad that I was really able to get inside the author's mind as to how and why she wrote this book. & I can't wait to see what she has in store for the future!
lily: *finishes in one night* hanya: I call bullshit
Such a great group of listeners with great questions and comments. I wish we have a panel with a group of people like this in my area.
Is it just me that I think Jude had a full life despite the unrelenting tragedy and bleak ending? At 53 yo, Jude really did it. And his death left a legacy and would never be meaningless. The only thing that's heartbreaking for me is that he would never have known that. He wouldn't have known that he was loved unconditionally by people around him. It's so heartbreaking that his trauma had been clinging to his developmental phase so strongly that he couldn't help to just be distrustful of people he should've trusted. 😭😭😭
I just finished the book and I’m here to cry more
This interview made me realize even more consciously the masterpiece this is. This made me understand i just read the book of my life.
I finished this book today and I am here to cry 😭😭😭😭 not having anybody to share my feelings
me right now i am crying and shaking
@@newmoon7661 I can understand your feelings. 😭😭
Me
😢😢😢
I literally feel crushed to bits, please reassure me that it will get better, please 😭
One of the best books I have ever read
I admire Hanya Yanagihara for her literary skills. It proves how powerful and destructive writing can prove to be. Efforts and imagination can do anything you wish to.
hope you don’t mind me sharing the following poem, one of my all time favorite meta poetic poems by a poet named “Howard Dull” titled “Suibhne Gheilt” that I recently chanced upon. When I read it, I became speechless. And most of my poetry friends consider this as one of their all time favorites. It was published in a 1970s anthology titled “ Open Poetry” and proves that once Poetry hits you in your heart, , you could be the worst nefarious scoundrel with kings and Empires at your command but you will be transformed and never again return to your previous Self. ~~ Suibhne Gheilt 1 He has haunted me now for over a year that madman Suibhne Gheilt who in the middle of a battle looked up and saw something that made him leap up and fly over swords and trees - a poet gifted above all others - 11 How could a proud loud mouth who yelled KILL KILL KILL as he plowed done the enemy - heads rolling off of his sword - be so lifted up ( or fly up as those below saw it - wings beating) be so suddenly gifted with poetry and nest so high in Ireland’s tall trees? Is there a point where all paths cross? And why am I so drawn to him that all my questions seem shot in his direction? “And they ran into the woods and threw their lances and shot their arrows up through the branches” What parallels could I ever hope to find - my refusal to fight ( weaseling out on psychiatric grounds)? my leaving my country behind? my poetry? “and my wife wept on the path below. . . Oh memory is sweet but sweeter is the sorrel in the pool in the path below” I fly down every night to eat 111 Sweeney like the rest of us would have been better off if he had never anything to do with women. But the point of it lies hidden in a pool of milk in a pile of shit for you to see when a milkmaid smiles Sweeney like the rest of us flies down and when she pours the milk into the hole her heel made in the cowdung Sweeney like the rest of us kneels down and drinks and dies on the horn the cowherd hid in it. So before you have anything to do with women remember Sweeney the bird of Ireland lying on his back in the middle of that path in the moonlight. 1V And on my way home this morning ( my wife waiting) my shadow racing up the path ahead of me I saw something ( a black stone?) thrown at the back of its head ducked and spun around so fast I almost fell down - it was a bird flying up into a tree V No good could come out of this war out of what burns in the heart of our highly disciplined John Q. Killer as a whole village bursts into one flame - the villagers streaming like tears towards the forest cover his helicopter’s blades blow the leaves off and and the flame towards. . . as we sit in front of our bubbles watching our president ( whose bubbletalk no one can escape and he is a little bit mad -calling the reporters in for an interview while he’s sitting on the bubble having a bubble movement) and first lady climb into their big bubble bed an Lucy, born of their own bubbles, crawls in between - “ Mah daddy has so many troubles turning the world into a bubble and sick of crossfire - the cries of the women and children flying over his head - he stumbled down to the riverbank and found, the wreckage twisted around the tree behind, his skull. . . Noises, there are noises, noises that can of themselves drive a man mad -NOISES! But last night the Stockhausen penetrated from the four sides of the auditorium, stripping each layer of feeling and thought until all that was left was something the size of a nut - so tiny, so hard, so impenetrable it was alone in the middle of an infinite space. . . -Howard Dull ~~ ps: Howard Dull was such an obscure poet that he never published a book and ( to my knowledge) never published another poem. But OMG, this was so brilliant that in my opinion it should be read and studied at the college level. All love in isolation from Miami Beach, Florida, Al
What a magnificent experience I had, not just reading but translating the book into Ukrainian! Dear author you are great!
Came here after finishing the book and I managed to go most the book without crying, but those last few pages. I cried for him and I cried for anyone who has ever believed the lies of their abusers.
This book broke our hearts fr
I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH.
I was in a psych ward after a suicide attempt when I was reading this book. I don't think it'd be safe for me to read it outside of the ward in the state of mind I was in, but I'm so thankful I did
i hope u are doing better. I’m so sorry u went thru that, but it’s such a blessing u still walk this earth. U are so strong 🤍
I love Yanagihara so much, she is my idol. Amazing woman.
I just finished reading a little life. The ending of the story makes sense. I don't want to trivialize the s word. Dealing with trauma takes courage and it is challenging. I don't recommend to read this book to people who are also struggling with their mental health. I actually don't know what i am saying, i am still processing the whole story.
I have a few chapters left and I’ve been crying so much. How can a life be plagued with so much sorrow?
There are many lives like this ..we don't see or choose not to see
Right, and to think the suffering started from the moment he was born and lasted until his final days😭😭💔❤️🩹
I knew the interviewer was lackluster, a tack in the beautiful enigmatic wheel of Hanya Yanigihara, as soon as she asked if Jude would have been triggered by 9-11, further on saying that it is somewhat avant-garde and gauche to pen a writing about New York without referencing 9-11; to assume that books exist within this universe is an exception to the rule, not the law itself. Her questions were limited in scope, and while Yanagihara remains lively in her elocution of response, it is a shame that more beautiful questions, an abundantly flowing and revealing conversation, was a missed opportunity.
Amo cómo se expresa, tiene carisma. Leí el libro en febrero, es difícil olvidar un libro como A little life, hice buenas y malas memorias, pero sin duda daría todo por leerlo por primera vez otra vez.
47:47. Queen.
Never been so complimented by an insult
Can someone please argue with me on this, am I the only who finds it problematic that she did not research regarding self-harm and child molestation? I loved the book, but I do think those triggering parts could have been handled way better
I don't think there's something wrong with those triggering parts she wrote, however I do agree that it's wrong that she didn't do any research on that.
I entirely agree with you. I think there's a lot of responsibility when writing about such delicate topics, and she should have done the research in it to ensure she's not being irresponsable with her portrayal. I'm genuinely curious why she thought research was needed for the professional sections of the boon (law, math, show biz etc) but not for those issues. But then I see she doesn't go to therapy and doesn't believe in it, so I imagine it has something to do with it. I would say she probably thinks research on those two issues is unnecessary, just like therapy is unnecesary, and that she feels confident in portraying those issues just going by the narratives she's been exposed to from people who have gone through that. I don't know what to make of this. She's clearly a very insightful and intelligent woman, but I still think of she respected the seriousness and uniqueness of those issues and the people who suffer from that, she would have taken the time to go deeper in her research of that.
Although having said that, I still think that considering the lack of research on those issues, she still managed to build a realistic portrayal of them. I've seen many comments from people affected by similar past trauma, saying that they approve of the portrayal.
Just found out there is a play. Anyone know where to watch it digitally?
47:48 love her sense of humour haha
Very much enjoyed your poems and reading. Your unique imagery engage me throughout. I, too, am a poet ( and also a fictional story writer that I will elaborate on and post after the poetry) but for now my poems specialize in Japanese forms i.e. haiku , senryu, tanka/kyoka, haibun. I hope you don’t mind me sharing a haiku dedicated to Matshuo Bashō’s frog with added commentary by the late AHA founder and poet Jane Reichhold who considered my poem among her top 10 poems of all time! What an honor. And a tanka. Here’s the Bashō poem with Jane Reichhold’s insightful commentary: Bashō’s frog four hundred years ripples At first the idea of picking only 10 of my favorite haiku seemed a rather daunting task. How could I review all the haiku I have read in my life and decide that there were only 10 that were outstanding? Then realized I was already getting a steady stream of excellent haiku day by day through the AHA forum. The puns and write-offs based on Basho's most famous haiku are so numerous I would have said that nothing new could be said with this method, but here Al Fogel proved me wrong. Perhaps part of my delight in this haiku lies in the fact that I agree with him. Here he is saying one thing about realism-ripples are on a pond after a frog jumps in, but because it refers back to Basho and his famous haiku, he is also saying something about the haiku and authors who have followed him. We, and our work, are just ripples while Basho holds the honor of inventing the idea of the sound of a frog leaping is the sound of water As haiku spreads around the world, making ripples in more and larger ponds, its ripples are wider-including us all. But his last word reminds us that we are ripples and our lives ephemeral. It will be the frogs that will remain. ~~ Now the tanka: returning from a Jackson Pollock exhibition I smear paint on my face and turn into art ~~ Finally, the fictional story that not only should appeal to Afro-Americans but all individual and groups that experience racial injustice. It’s based on a true incident that took place in the 1950s and has an inspirational ending that coincides with my own belief akin to Dr Martin Luther King’s non-violent approach and resolution to racism. Titled “ Eloise , Edna And The Chicken Coop” ELOISE, EDNA & THE CHICKEN COOP There was once a Black woman named Eloise who inherited from her grandmother a parcel of land in the suburbs of Compton California at a time when there was strong racial prejudice against women of color-especially those Black women who owned property in predominately white neighborhoods. It happened there lived adjacent to Eloise’s land a white woman named Edna who did not like the fact that this Black woman owned land next to hers. Eloise would try to be friendly because she believed Jesus when He said “Love Thy Neighbor” and to Eloise that meant even if your neighbor was unfriendly. But whenever Eloise saw Edna, Edna would turn her back in disdain. In fact, ever since her husband died a decade ago, Edna became mean and unfriendly to everyone in the neighborhood. But to Eloise, she was so hateful and full of animosity that one night when all the lights in Eloise home were off Edna went to her own backyard where she kept her chicken coop and gathered up all the manure and dumped it on Eloise land and upon her tomatoes and her greens and everything she was growing, in an attempt to destroy it. And when Eloise realized the next morning that there was all this manure, instead of becoming angry, she decided to rake and mix it in with the soil and use it as fertilizer. Every night Edna would dump the manure from her chicken coop litter box and Eloise would get up in the morning and turn it over and mix it. This went on for almost a month until one morning Eloise noticed there was no manure in her yard. Then one of the neighbors informed Eloise that Edna had fallen ill. But because Edna was so mean and unfriendly , no one came to see her when she was sick. But when Eloise heard about Edna’s condition she picked the best flowers from her garden, walked to Edna’s house , knocked on her front door and when Edna opened the door, she was in complete shock that this Black Woman who she had been so cruel to, would be the only neighbor to visit her and bring flowers. Edna was deeply moved by Eloise kindness. Then Eloise handed the flowers to Edna who said, “These are the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen! Where’d you get them?” Eloise replied, “You helped me make them, Edna, because when you were dumping in my yard, I decided to plant some roses and use your manure as fertilizer.“ This genuine act of kindness opened the floodgate of Edna’s heart that had been closed for so long. “When I’m feeling better, I would love to have you over for tea,” Edna told Eloise. “Thank you, “Edna said- assuring her she would come. And then added “I will pray for your speedy recovery every night. “ And with those words Eloise departed. It’s amazing what can blossom from manure. There are some who allow manure to fall on them and do nothing. But then there are others-like Eloise -who “turn the other cheek” when abused or in this case “turn over the soil” to make something new like those bevy of beautiful red roses that opened a white woman’s heart. ~~ All love in isolation from Miami Beach, Florida, Al
i haven't read the book but she just seems amazing!
Jude is a logistician/ mathematician, lawyer, baker, cook, good at singing and playing the piano, know different languages, and many other things but if we take all these excellences and achievements would he still be as lovable as a character?
i believe so yes, many ppl still would be able to relate and sympathize with his pain and shortcomings
I think we would. He didn’t start out that way in the beginning of the novel, him and willem are broke living in a tiny apartment, and his friends loved him and supported him but as he gains more money and success his self image doesn’t change he always thinks he’s putting up a ruse and he’s “dirty” and horrible because of what’s been done to him. I think the point is that Jude is valuable and lovable even without all of those talents and skills, you have value just being a human being on this earth and there’s nothing more you are required to do to have value but Jude is always trying to prove himself capable both physically and emotionally to others. It’s not all of those things that we as an audience and all of Judes loved ones love so dearly about him, we love him because he’s Jude and what makes him frustrating as a character is that he never comes to that realization that he doesn’t need to earn value he already has it.
don’t forget how all his friends loved him and cared for him during college and after. also willem always called him the best listener he knows. he, at the end, forgave JB for what he did. always put so much effort in trying not to load his friends with his own problems and traumas but sometimes he couldn’t help himself. he even used to clean his friends’ rooms/places and cook for them as a way of giving back because this was the only way he could give back during that time before he became successful and wealthy. i loved Jude before knowing what he will be a couple hundred pages after being introduced to him.
Oh definitely. It was none of those achievements that made me feel for and love Jude. It was just the way he was. Jude,the center of gravity.
Of course we all feel a raft of emotions for Jude but Willem's love for Hemming and Harold's longing for his lost son left me holding my heart.
Finished reading the book last night. The amount of sadness, emptiness, loneliness and anguish I am feeling isn't something I can translate into words.
The book was 700+ pages but I felt like I read it so fast. By the time I knew it, I passed page 100, 200, 400, 700. I would say don't let the size intimidate you. The way it hooks ypu makes it feel like its going by faster than a 300 page novel
This book (although it’s arguable that the trauma was unrealistic etc.) is absolutely poetic and masterful just because of how it makes you think of what life is and happiness and relationships. There is so much to think about it’s stunning!
LOL the audience is so much better at asking questions
47:50 "What a bunch of p***s you know!" Aysh, this woman. I couldn't help but laugh because she's right, it's true that it is hard book but not enough to cry.
You're fucking amazing Hanya! I'll get my copy now
I just want to know what made her write that Jude had literally been through every horrible thing imaginable. Why not one or two terrible traumas? It is just as hard to recover from that. Why did Jude have to suffer from so much, his entire life?
Think you articulate what a lot of people wonder, why so much exactly? Like repeated
@bangtan trash absolutely true, which is also why it’s so great. I just think that a smaller percentage of people can relate to that much trauma and it is fiction so she didn’t have to write it that way
@bangtan trash you’ve made a good point! I think everyone who has read this book feels it is amazing or a trauma dump. I thought the book was amazing and touching and written beautifully. Been a little disappointed over the authors interviews, but don’t care. Thanks for discussing!
Yeah it should’ve just been the Luke stuff
@bangtan trash of course, and yes art shouldn’t be limited and trauma is not predictable and absolutely things exactly what Jude had experienced have probably happened to real people- and worse. Just based off of these authors interviews and recoils writings it seemed like she trauma dumped ): she wrote it so beautifully and so accurately, however, it truly touched my soul. So much that I adopted a puppy and named him Jude in hopes that I could give “this Jude” a wonderful life. My imagination reincarnated this fictional character to my pup lol. I loved the book.
Love her
Her mind>
This is a book that changes you as a person after reading.
WAs It a GIrLsboOK oR a BOYSBoOk
I have to watch this interview all the time to remind myself that A Little Life isn’t real, it really hurt me and Jude’s story broke my heart, The book made me very emotionally drained and depressed, I never recommend this book to anyone.
I am really intrigued by her saying JB grew the most in the book because I actually thought the opposite. He did mature, he did become clean, but his relationships were always unsteady outside his core friends and when he kissed Jude during the finals chapters I wanted to smack him 😂 I thought that was so out of bounds and presumptuous and I said to myself he really hasn’t changed much at all. I personally saw a lot more growth from Malcolm 🤷🏼♀️ but I did love and appreciate JB for being unapologetically authentic to himself. His art work was such a contrast to him as a person in my opinion
just finished it.
The story of our time.
The traylor plot point was so stupid
I can not imagine Harold not being played by Robin Williams in another universe
Sometimes it just doesn't get better. 🙁
I just finished the book and I'm here to say is the book has some flow, and then it just ends... Just ends, and i stopped breathing. Like you can't do this to me!
Sooo... I'm 100 pages in.. Nothing huge has happened yet but I'm taking massive breaks as I'm scared about all the reviews hinting the impact it has on one's mental health.. I'm not the most stable person but when I heard about this book.. It was like someone saying "don't push that button." you kind of want to push it right? So I started reading it and decided I'd take big breaks and also skim read certain parts if it triggered me. Am I playing with fire here? Anyone want to talk me down, I'm open to it tbh.
I had this exact thought while watching this video. I haven’t started reading it but it’s been on my bookshelf for a long time. Did you finish it?
@@karinadominguez1261 I decided to stop reading it.. Once I feel more stable I will read it again. Putting myself first I suppose. Have you decided?
i also am 100 pages in, the comments on this video really concerned me, i'm doing the same as you !! proud that you're putting your mental health first :) i bought the book out of curiosity but it's definitely much heavier than i could imagine
i hope this isn't too late but i'm glad you're putting yourself first! it gets EXTREMELY triggering after the first 200 pages, the self harm depiction and everything else started to affect me a lot and it took me a mentally crushing week to finally finish. for me i feel like it was worth it, gave me new and revealing POVs on the vastness of love and kindness, as corny as that might sound hehe :) this book made me talk about my depression to my dad, finally, after 3 years of going thru it (there's no expiration date on needing help) but at the same time i cannot physically recommend this book to anyone because it is THAT devastating. anyways i hope you can take away something from my rambling and i wish you well if you decide to continue the book !!
Just u wait sis...
I started it 2 days ago and I'm already at page 487, I literally can't put it now
i told myself i wont read the book because of how depressing it is but i am in school to be a social worker and i feel like i have met people like jude already so i think i would be okay & might be able to get something substantial from reading it... i dunno...
I am now only half way through until the Caleb chapter, and before that one scene in Jude's Apartment, it was fine. At times it was annoying me and frustrating me, but still it was fine. But the blatant torture that Jude gets to suffer from (and with in the context it becomes worse) is just irresponsible and exploits Jude on a level that left me helpless and guilty as a reader experiencing it with him. As of now, I need a major break from this book before reading the second half. What I can acknowlegde is the way the book challenges the reader's emotions in ways that I have never felt before. But again, I would have felt the same way without that one scene with Caleb and Jude. It was the most gruesome thing I have ever read or watched, not because what happens itself is the worst thing a human can do to another (although it is truly cruel and violent) but because the context makes it way worse. It's like witnessing your best friend or your family member getting abused.