A Little Life by Hanya Yanighara is unequivocally one of the most impactful books I have ever read in my life and I will never recommend it to anyone. I am not a believer that stories must be happy in any capacity or that a story without hope is a less valuable story, and this book is neither happy nor hopeful. What it is, though, is a book that appeals to queer and disabled audiences and then exploits their trauma.
Jude, the main character, is a disabled queer man and without any other context, this book feels like it should be representative of marginalized audiences and communities. However, A Little Life is relentlessly traumatizing. It makes you a voyeur, a consumer of trauma porn, and leaves you without comfort. The only reason this book is not outright exploitation is because it is fictional. I am not at all saying that stories with queer and/or disabled characters must be happy or that the only stories that should be told about those communities should be happy, or even at all hopeful, but this book does not just present a story that ends in tragedy. Every page is tragedy and even the joys are jaded by this deep, romanticized notion that suffering makes you a better person. It is a secular representation of the idea of “righteous pain.” An essential part of what makes Jude so awe worthy to the people in his life is that he suffers relentlessly, unmediated and unassisted. There is no virtue in the suffering of queer or disabled people.
This book exploits the idea that stories don’t have to be happy to be worthy of being told by making a voyeur show of queer and disabled trauma. If you are a queer or disabled person or someone that has ever struggled with the self-harm/suicidal ideation, this book will be incredibly triggering. It is triggering to anyone, but particularly to those it claims to represent.
If you disregard this entire post and decide to read it, I cannot stress enough the importance of reading the extensive trigger warnings.
