the people in the trees is a difficult book, meant only for the cold hearted. perina's behaviour throughout is so shamelessly cruel that it borders the people in the trees is a difficult book, meant only for the cold hearted. perina's behaviour throughout is so shamelessly cruel that it borders on comical. from his treatment of the children — constantly refering to them as animals, beasts, dogs etc., and the obvious sexual assault, his descriptions of esme (such brutal, raw misogyny that i myself, like perina, wished she would go away just to be allowed respite from the narrator's constant nagging and diminishment of her) — to, obviously, his colonization of and manner of conduct on the island. just a horrifying tale on all accounts, such that, as with a little life, i found myself constantly disconnected from the narrative and its absurdities. the logical part of my brain knows that things like these happened, happen and will continue to happen in the real world, but my sentimentality makes me unable to process the ideas presented in this book as anything other than pure fiction. can people really be this evil? obviously yanagihara thinks so. and i suppose i must only credit her for creating such a realistic tale. while reading the footnotes i often had to stop myself from googling the characters and the books mentioned. actually wish tallent was a real person so i could read his biography.
but, thankfully, this is fiction, which becomes very obvious in the final chapters. the people in the trees is a meticulously written, thrilling book, and yanagihara's style and cleverness shines — however i found myself drilling into huge qualms i had with the story itself. firstly, and pettiest, the lack of insects and disease during perina's first venture into the island. this is a jungle, in a tropical environment that no one has ever explored before, and not one of them got bitten by a mosquitoe and contracted some unknown illness and died? highly unrealistic and frankly a huge flaw in the idea of the narrative itself (esme's rash barely counts as such an instance, mainly because there is no mention of perina or tallent contracting anything like it. one could argue it is because of perina's unreliability as a narrator, but i'll say that's a poor excuse considering he's an actual doctor and should've been more interested in such things). secondly, kubodera as a character. having read a little life i know yanagihara is prone to writing lush stories of devotion and love. except kubodera's adoration doesn't really work in this context because we see and experience so little of their relationship. kubodera goes on sprawling monologues about perina, to the point of obnoxiousness, and yet perina spares him not a single mention. therefore the epilogue becomes, as even yanagihara admits, in an unsuccessful attempt to redeem herself, melodramatic and, ultimately, stupid, making the entire novel a lesser reading experience than it should've been. but still i am in awe of one's ability to craft such a story — albeit, one that is mostly burrowed from real life — and must gush over the dimensions represented here. the power of literature!...more
lennie said craftily — “tell me like you done before.” “tell you what?” “’bout the other guys an’ about us.” george said, “guys like us got no fambly lennie said craftily — “tell me like you done before.” “tell you what?” “’bout the other guys an’ about us.” george said, “guys like us got no fambly. they make a little stake an’ then they blow it in. they ain’t got nobody in the worl’ that gives a hoot in hell about ‘em—” “but not us, ” lennie cried happily. “tell about us now.” george was quiet for a moment. “but not us,” he said. “because—” “because i got you an’—” “an’ i got you. we got each other, that’s what, that gives a hoot in hell about us,” lennie cried in triumph. ...more
never in a million years would i have expected to find out in the year of our lord 2023 that shirley jackson is one of my favorite authors ever, but hnever in a million years would i have expected to find out in the year of our lord 2023 that shirley jackson is one of my favorite authors ever, but here we are. the subtlety in her horror, from a teen girl fantasizing about society's impending collapse to a man pushed out of his own home by his dinner guests, showcases her talent in finding the macabre in the mundane, how the everyday fears one encounters as they move through life—the fear of rejection and isolation, of repressive mannerisms and traditions, of not understanding other people and feeling alone in the world—leaves us and manifests themselves as physical, supernatural, eerie occurrences. she just gets it.
"what is going to help?" mrs. arnold said. "is everyone really crazy but me?" ...more
sex! drugs! homoeroticism! the horrors of being alive told through the pov of a chronically depressed guy™ with a daughter with anger issues and an obsex! drugs! homoeroticism! the horrors of being alive told through the pov of a chronically depressed guy™ with a daughter with anger issues and an obnoxious blond husband! what more could you want!...more
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