This was my second Yanagihara book, and I loved how entirely different it was from my first (which I'm still not over after months have passed). This writer has a way of pulling me into her worlds that entirely makes me forget I'm reading. I'd even go as far and say her voice sweeps me away so intensely that many aspects that could lead to a lower rating on my end are rendered entirely inconsequential to my reading experience. To figure out how to best phrase this review, I read a couple of them out there and am not surprised that many regard this book with a big fat "what?" I'm also not surprised that, similar to A Little Life, there seems to be a great gap between love and scorn for this book. To point out the biggest "problem areas:" Yes, this book is somewhat split threefold, starting with a classic-literature feeling novella, followed by two related short stories (with one of them having an almost memoir feel) set 100 years later, and finally, a novel-sized section which is set yet another 100 years later and has two timelines interweaving that each have their unique style. The latter even is a dystopia (which I usually avoid) set in a pandemic-ridden world, so one could say this book spans also a wild mix of genres. Yes, the main characters' names reappear like a leitmotif throughout each of these three sections, and so we deal with multiple David Binghams and Charles Griffiths (to name a few) throughout the book. No, there isn't an explicit reason for that stated. No, the three parts of this book share no obvious connection other than those names, the book's own world, and, if we squint a little, the exact same setting. Yes, there are massive time skips between these sections (and even within one of them). Yes, there are long passages, especially in the middle, that made me wonder "will this be relevant to the plot later at all?" only to close the book at the end and think to myself, "nope, seems not." Not to mention the narration switches from section to section (3rd person, 1st person and then letters in-between that are LONG and could disrupt the flow so easily though magically don't). And yet, whether in spite of or even because of all that…somehow, it worked for me. It worked so well, that when I reached the end I gave a wail since I didn't want it to be over. Especially the last part surprised me in the most positive way since, again, I usually stay away from dystopian literature, especially when it touches on subjects currently hitting close to home. (Interestingly, as I learnt in hindsight, Yanagihara was already deep into writing this last part when spring 2020 dropped covid on us, and after lockdowns and everything that followed, this section gave me spooky goosebumps.) I liked the repeating names. As someone who tends to struggle with names and keeping the characters behind those names apart during reading, it worked astonishingly fantastic for me. I even smiled by the end at knowing Adams would always, unfailingly be the butler. If anything, I LOVED this idea of name repetition and experienced it as an interesting way to play with symbolism, bloodline connections throughout 200 years, and perhaps even the question "Who will break this family pattern?" I liked the separate sections too. I see why some readers don't and regard it as confusing even. But each of the sections share one universe, which I find reason enough to bundle everything in one tome, like combining the different lives in one neat alternate-to-our-history parcel. Publishing them separately would, to me, even have felt off and destroyed this "of one piece" feeling I got. I also liked the middle section which many describe as not fitting, simply for it being there and enriching the book's world. A bit like travelling to a place you've never seen and spontaneously making a detour you end up liking a lot. Generally, I loved the writing in itself. It is character-driven and complex yet feels so very effortless. I really love how this writer again begins with a mundane/harmless seeming moment from which I slowly but surely get sucked in until I'm so deeply immersed in the current main character's feelings and thoughts and their world that I could stay there endlessly and any ending will come "too soon." I love the way she handles interpersonal dynamics, families, and the feeling of being alive with all the entailing pains and joys always coming hand in hand. I love how the topic of choices was handled here again, both the personal choices and those we make for others. I loved how every moment, no matter how small, felt so ALIVE and created such a rich tale. It's yet another Yanagihara book that I want to recommend so wholeheartedly though can't without adding "but I don't know if it truly will be your thing." If it is your thing, however, it likely is one of those rare gems to hug and roll around with on the floor in an overflow of feelings.

I'm sure many authors first write multiple books ('off the page writing') and then distill it into one. Yanagihara just published them all ;) I enjoyed it most of the time though. Once I got over the fact that I had been lured into reading a YA dystopia that hit way too close to home... I couldn't resist to dig deeper into that misery! Got a little bored by the amount of male protagonists, though.