To Paradise

A Novel

By: Hanya Yanagihara

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Catherine Ho, BD Wong, Feodor Chin, Kurt Kanazawa

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the award-winning, best-selling author of the classic A Little Life—a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: VOGUE • ESQUIRE • NPR • GOODREADS

To Paradise is a fin de siècle novel of marvelous literary effect, but above all it is a work of emotional genius. The great power of this remarkable novel is driven by Yanagihara’s understanding of the aching desire to protect those we love—partners, lovers, children, friends, family, and even our fellow citizens—and the pain that ensues when we cannot.

In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him—and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearances.

These three sections comprise an ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can’t exist. What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness.

Really hard listen, but so thought provoking.

This book really challenged me, but also broke me open and made me see many things from different perspective. I probably would not have read if I knew it was going to touch on the issue of pandemics, but glad I did because it made me open my mind in a way I doubt I would if I were discussing with another person with strongly held beliefs.

Masterpiece

This is a complex story weaving together disparate, yet connected narratives of an escalating, collective unraveling. The characters are rich, the writing is very smart. Yanagihara is a gifted in her ability to suck you deeply into the inner lives of so many characters. You’re left with many questions. This book will be in my head for a long time.

to Paradise

this woman knows how to write!. dystopian tail about a grandchild who makes it into a safe place.

soo many Charlies, Edwards and Davids

Started out interesting but too long to keep interest throughout; confusion used to convey several underlying themes of the book

A Historical Fiction of the Future

There was an excellent use of vocabulary sprinkled in with accessible dialogue for a comfortable read. The story has challenging themes of personal relations that enlarged my perspectives.

Be prepared for a long read but a worthwhile one.