The People in the Trees
Ratings60
Average rating3.5
(Read this book years ago in high school, recommended by my cousin)
I absolutely loved this book, the topics of anthropology and sociology fascinate me. It was interesting to see how the researcher viewed the world prior to the visit (ethnocentrism) and this slow uncovering of the magic through the lens of cultural relativism, the studying of their culture, it was all so fascinating to me.
I was perplexed by the ending, I forgot some key points but I'd read this again!
4.5 stars. I had always hesitated to read this book, I felt like it might be inferior to her other work, which I love, as it was her first book? I needn't have worried, I found it as readable as all the rest. It didn't quite all tie together and land for me but I still really enjoyed it nonetheless.
Rating: 1.5 leaves out of 5-Characters: 1/5 -Story: 1/5-Writing: 2.5/5Genre: Contemporary, Fantasy, HisFic, Magical RealismType: EbookWorth?: NoHated Disliked Meh It Was Okay Liked Really Liked LovedYou know I thought A Little Life was bad but I would happily take that over this any day of the week. I DNFed it but got close to 50% in and so I am doing a review.This is the second book by Hanya and it is concerning what her subject is about... especially with children (boys) and men. I am not going to get deep into it, because it become more rant than anything.The book in itself was boring as hell. I don't care about a horrible man and what he has to say. The only thing that had me going was the stories from the islands but everything else that takes place on that island with the people... hell no. I don't care. Just hell no.
I love this book. It is challenging, and makes you question, morally speaking, the (current) existence of mankind, its ‘achievements' and aspirations, and its norms. A M A Z I N G
Also uncanny writing, again.
Cannot compare this to A Little Life though, so 4 stars instead of 5 lol
Nope. This was not for me.
I am far from the intended audience of this book. I acknowledge the author is an extremely talented writer, but the writing style is not for me.
My classmate said it best so here's a quote from them: “This is just a tour guide through the eyes of a pedophile”
It is not worth the time for me but I see why some enjoy it. I just could not stand the narrator or the authors lack of development for any of the female characters.
Contains spoilers
Why was I incapable of stopping? ...What was it that I wanted?
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy. How do I even rate this book.
TWs: child abuse, sexual assault, rape, animal abuse, suicide
Like A Little Life, it is certainly not an easy read, and it makes you really question ethics, morality, human life... Yanagihara sucked me in with her writing again, but the content.. the content is so disturbing. Taking place mostly on a fictional island of Micronesia, Norton finds a discovery that earns him a Nobel prize. But at what cost? Endangerment of the tribe and people who lived there, the turtles they, Norton and the ones that come after him, hunted for their experiments, and harming the lives of the children he adopted. And for what? The warm feeling he felt with a child that 'comforted' him. attempt to kill an adopted child because he's an animal. Calling his adopted children "creatures" and his "extravagant collection".Another thing that disturbs me is the ending. The editor for Norton, Ronald, has also disappeared with him. For him to say he needs to prove Norton's innocence, or at least his commitment in science and providing his research, then run away with him? Guilty, guilty, guilty.
Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐️
The whole book feels like setup for the very last scene, which makes it all seem pointless. I'm also sure that was intentional by Yanagihara. Perina wrote his memoires to defend himself, so one could think he wrote all that setup to deflect from what ultimately happened. Or to get the reader on his side—which would've been a pretty lousy attempt anyway since Perina seemed unlikeable from the start. Yanagihara did manage to shock me with the ending, though. And, knowing her other two books, I feel like she knew exactly what she was doing at every point in the story, and from that perspective I really appreciate it.In the end, this book didn't even come close to A Little Life and To Paradise (apart from the writing, which was very beautiful as usual), but that has mostly to do with my personal preferences and not the obejctive quality of the book (as far as I can judge the latter anyway
What a book! OMG - The writing, the imagery, the story, the characters - just exquisite. I never wanted this book to end.
An interesting read and at the very least a strong debut. Have to admit I wasn't feeling it at the beginning, and I'm still not sure I was completely sold– maybe it was the (intentionally) authentic-feeling academic prose and structure and some sections feeling duller than they could've been. But it deals with some interesting topics.
It wouldn't have been that interesting if it solely focused on its “immortality is bad because or something” trope that we've seen so many times before (I read a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin in her book Changing Planes recently that also explored this concept in a fascinating matter, 20 years ago), but its anthropological feel, the narrative voice, the structure, scientism, the character development, the imagery, its themes of (neo-)colonialism, racism, the rape of nature, the rape of a people, playing god, the rape of people, ... At times, it also reminded me of the Strugatsky's Hard to Be a God.
I have to say I didn't like the ending all that much, because it showed you something very much in your face that had been hinted at the entire book... For me, it didn't feel at all necessary to then suddenly have the big “reveal”, as if it hadn't been obvious the entire time. Feels like Yanagihara didn't trust us, but since it's a debut I can kind of understand.
Worth a read!
Luister naar mijn review van het boek in de podcast Team Boek Toe:
https://team-boek-toe.simplecast.com/episodes/notities-uit-de-jungle-en-een-plek-waar-eenzaamheid-niet-bestaat
I'm reviewing this six years after reading it because it still affects me, which is probably the marker of a technically very good book. It was just SO extremely viscerally upsetting that I had a really strong aversion to it after reading it, and I honestly still do, six years later - if I see even another book by the same author in a bookstore I will feel uncomfortable. I've never had this kind of reaction to a book be so strong and last so long before, and I read a lot of upsetting books, I don't know what it was about this one.
Again probably important and since it was semi based on a true story I think?, even more so, just good to know going into it that it is very intense and upsetting.
Loved the writing and the disturbing, multifaceted story told in this book. It pulled me in from the beginning and held my interest through to the last page.
A beautifully written fictional memoir of a scientist who explores an island culture wound around a story of accusations of abuse and rape by the children from that culture who he adopted. Eery, odd, but told in a matter-of-fact scientist voice. I've stopped giving stars to novels. It seems an odd way to judge a book. I'm not sure if I'd recommend this to friends or not. I'll have to mull over it for a while but perhaps that its a good indication to some that its worth reading.
This is a strange book, but not as strange as I had anticipated it being. The fictional story of a young man (Norton Perina) who tags along with an anthropological research group into the jungles of the island of Ivu'ivu in search of a lost tribe is unique. Add to that the discovery of “the fountain of youth” through the consumption of a local turtle and you've got a story teeming with magical possibilities. Though the tribe has its share of strange customs, and the turtle itself particularly stands out, the story is a fairly straight-forward narrative, a biography about the man who went on to win a Nobel, and subsequently was jailed for molestation charges.
In the case of The People in the Trees, the novel's best quality is also its one downfall. I love that the entire story is told as a memoir. It works exceptionally well. It allows a minor character, editor and friend of Perina, to pepper Perina's memoir with what could be unreliable narration. At the same time, it makes the whole story feel more credible. Footnotes abound providing ample information both real and fictional. Yanagihara made a very wise decision choosing this format for the book.
At the same time, the structure was not always true to itself. Especially toward the end, the true biographical nature of the book was sacrificed for the story. The tone of the memoir no longer matches the media. In order to forward the story, the once professional Perina becomes overly confessional and sentimental. Would Perina include such elaborate scenes of dialogue from his personal life in a book he intends on releasing to the public? What friend of Perina's would allow such personal details? Though it would've taken some work, I think the author could've sacrificed some of the clearer story and stayed true to the biographical format of the work. Yes, it would've forced her readers to make their own conjectures, possibly misunderstanding the novel, or disliking it because of its unclear intent, but it would've fit. I think Yanagihara is a talented enough author to have pulled it off.
In spite of and because of its challenging form, The People in the Trees is an exceptional debut. It elicits questions about morality from its readers on many different levels. Certainly not a book for the casual reader seeking a riveting story, The People in the Trees is a slow build up of “what if”s and “what about”s. And, if you're “fortunate” enough to find Perina's opa'ivu'eke turtle, you'll have hundreds of years of think these questions over.