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Description
A thrilling anthropological adventure story with a profound and tragic vision of what happens when cultures collide—from the bestselling author of National Book Award–nominated modern classic, A Little Life “Provokes discussions about science, morality and our obsession with youth.” —Chicago Tribune It is 1950 when Norton Perina, a young doctor, embarks on an expedition to a remote Micronesian island in search of a rumored lost tribe. There he encounters a strange group of forest dwellers who appear to have attained a form of immortality that preserves the body but not the mind. Perina uncovers their secret and returns with it to America, where he soon finds great success. But his discovery has come at a terrible cost, not only for the islanders, but for Perina himself. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’slatest bestselling novel, To Paradise. Read more
Publisher : Vintage
Publication date : May 6, 2014
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
Print length : 496 pages
ISBN-10 : 3
ISBN-13 : 13
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.08 x 1.07 x 7.92 inches
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Kindle
It's a stunning achievement when an author creates an inherently unlikeable anti-hero, and his enabler, and then allows them to tell an exceedingly creepy story which turns out to be literate, compelling, provocative and engrossing. I felt the heebie-jeebies at several points but it would have taken a natural disaster in my neighborhood to make me stop reading this astonishing first novel. Our anti-hero is Norton, an eminent and dangerously narcissistic scientist. Picture Sheldon Cooper from "Big Bang Theory" and you have the basis for this character. Add "well intentioned" evi to the narcissism, plus the literary power to tell his own story to his own advantage, and rather than feel joy for his well-deserved self-destruction, we instead might feel some pity for this chretien. Not a lot but his undoing is his own creation and it is tragic for all concerned. Further, I always enjoy the brazen & unreliable narrator and Norton is one of the best I have encountered since "As Meat Loves Salt". Delusional, self-righteous, dangerous, compelling. Additionally, the author writes in a clear but enriching manner. Her characters include anthropologists and other scientists so the level of discourse is high and rewarding. She introduces many usual words and finding their meaning is one of the small delights of this book. Since the book concerns the discovery of a compound which will greatly extends life, Yanagihara has many opportunities to explore the themes of human morality and ethics for scientists. Neither of these themes are overbearing but again, they are rewarding elements in an excellent read. This book can be enjoyed from many perspectives, not the least of which as a literary power-house which will likely grasp you, inform you, creep you out, then live in your memory for a bit while the dust settles.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2014 by vmcla
Format: Paperback
After reading "A Little Life", Hanya Yanagihara's second novel, my favorite book in a look time and a story that totally captivated me, I was ready to devour her debut novel, "The People in the Trees". I didn't come to the story with any knowledge of the real life individual that the core of this books was based upon, only learning more once I finished the story. The book is written in the form of memoirs from Dr. Norton Perina, rationalizing his life, brilliance and ultimate demise (alluded to in the very beginning of the book). After medical school in 1950, Perina travels to a small islands near Micronesia with two anthropologists to study a "lost people". It is on these islands where he makes a profound discovery --- certain tribal members ("The Dreamers") live 5 to 6 times normal human life spans, remaining physically healthy while ultimately losing mental capacity --- that leads to his Nobel Prize in 1974. Perina discovers this condition is the result of eating an indigenous turtle, the Opa'ivu'eke. While on the island, he decides to bring back four "Dreamers" and turtle meat to conduct studies and validate his hypothesis. During his initial time on the island, we begin to see the see the darker side of Perina shine through --- his arrogance, both toward the native culture and his American anthropologist partners, Tallent and Duff, who he views with scorn and disdain. Upon his return to the US, Perina conducts his research, publishes his findings and generally castigates those who questioned him and his findings until they were replicated by a more recognized scientists. Over time, Perina continues making bi-annual trips and adopting native children as the size of his "family" swells to over 40. His motivations are never super-explicit, although his conceit starts to surface as he becomes more famous and older, in the form of saving the savages by acculturating them into Western life. By the final chapter of Perina's memoir, his narcissism and egomaniacal nature fully bubble to the surface. While I enjoyed this novel, I don't believe it approaches the brilliance of "A Little Life". The first 50-75 pages were a little slow and I didn't emotionally connect with any of the characters like in her other novel. Also, I felt the overall pacing of the book was a little uneven and found my mind wandering throughout several sections. I'll profess to prefer novels that tackle tough and controversial subjects. Unlike some other reviewers, I don't believe Yanagihara some of the touchier items in a gratuitous manner. If people prefer uplifting subject matter, books that avoid deeply flawed characters or non-Western based cultural norms, they should do research beforehand and choose other books to read. I did appreciate Yanagihara's ability to write the novel in memoir form, striking the delicate balance of allowing Perina to both tell his story in his own self-serving way while ensuring his hubris and arrogant nature came through. One thing I regret is having read an Amazon review before starting the book that ruined the ending for me. As a result, I was even more attuned to the duplictious nature of Perina than I otherwise would have been. This was definitely a great debut novel that announced Yanagihara as an author to pay attention to and she certainly didn't disappoint with her second effort, "A Little Life". I'll be anxiously awaiting her next effort and definitely will start reading it as soon as it is released.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2015 by William Capodanno
Format: Kindle
I am not sure what to make of this book . it was really two separate stories. the first in the jungle was too unbelievable but the writing was very descriptive and amazing. but the story was really creepy to the point that it was revolting at times. the second story with the orphans was way over the top. it would be legally impossible for this to happen . i liked the way it was written with the footnotes. but all in all i can't say I enjoyed this book or was entertained. i think the arrogance of one culture destroying another for greed was a good premise but this went way off the rails. the whole thing kind of made my skin crawl on too many levels.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2018 by jantravels
Format: Kindle
I am an anthropologist by training with a degree (1970) from the University of Chicago. When I was studying the societies of Polynesia and Micronesia, one of the famous case studies involved Dr. Daniel Gajdusek and the disease of kuru amount the South Fore people of New Guinea. Kuru was the first prion disease (think "mad-cow" disease now) discovered in humans and was found only in New Guinea. It turned out to be transmitted mainly by cannibalism - when one tribe defeated another in battle, to honor the dead and take on the most heroic qualities of the dead, the victorious tribe would eat the brains of the vanquished. The irony was, the one quality of the dead which thereby was taken on was the neurological disease of kuru, which was transmitted through the brain tissue of the dead. The People in the Trees is a great re-imagining, and novelizaton of this whole story. I urge you to read the book first, and then check out Daniel Gajdusek on Wikipedia. You'll see what a great job the novelist has done in using this story as a jumping off point for the novel. The book reminds me a lot of State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett, a book which received much acclaim and was nominated for numerous awards. I love Ann Patchett and her novels State of Wonder and Bel Canto, bt I think The People in the Trees outshines State of Wonder. It gets more into the crucial issues in anthropology of how studying a people can negatively impact those people and their culture and how in seeking to "rescue" primitive cultures and people you can destroy them. This book is a must read, both for how engrossing and well-written it is, and for the big questions it asks. It is brilliant.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2014 by K. Thomas
Format: Paperback
This book is truly remarkable. First, the premise is fascinating -- a substance that can make bodies immortal, but not minds. Then there's the narrator, who is a real piece of work, a highly unlikable character imprisoned for child abuse. Then there's the plot element of first contact with a so-called primitive tribe, and the inevitable changes that "civilization" bring. There's the intriguing story within a story, with the supposed editor adding revealing (and sometimes very funny) footnotes. Then there's the amazing quality of the writing. I could pick almost any paragraph at random to illustrate the stellar prose. But here's just one: "My fingers closed around the first thing they encountered, but so lost were my senses that it was another second or so before I was able to identify it as an arm, a disembodied arm that I could not see but that had somehow taken shape within my grasp, or so it seemed. And then I found my voice and screamed, and Even screamed with me, and the arm screamed too, and from behind it came other screams, all of us so loud that I could hear the forest wake and rearrange itself: bird wings, bat wings, a chorus of flapping, or insects' patter, of colonies of unknown, hidden beasts being roused from their idyll and scuttling from one unseen tree branch to another, our noises an insult to the forest's perfect crystalline calm." Overall, a total delight, even if you develop an increasing dislike for the narrator.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2014 by Global Prof
Format: Kindle
"The People in the Trees" is a magnificent book, but with some disturbing elements. The writing is incredibly beautiful in style and imagery. Character development was complex. The story is intellectually engaging, adventurous and philosophical without ever being boring. The contrast between what is good, what is evil and the murky mix that sometimes lies between them was thoughtfully presented. Some difficult to read incidents occur with children and with animals which may be too disturbing for some readers, but are necessary to plot development. Questions are raised, but left open-ended,such as whether a life can be judged for either good or bad based on one aspect of a person's personality, or can a good person sometimes do bad things -- or conversly, can a bad person sometimes accomplish good things, or whether (and where) limits should be set for scientific exploration, and is experimentation on animals (or humans) justified by future lives that may be improved or saved, and exactly what is culture and to what extent are people obligated to perserve it? This is a many themed book written by an extremely talented author. I can hardly wait for Ms.Yanagihara's next novel.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2013 by A Reader
Format: Kindle
I am going to be more critical of this highly acclaimed novel than most of the other reviewers here. I almost put it aside about 50% of the way through on the basis that reading it seemed a waste of my time. I only slogged my way to the end based on the many 5-star reviews, only to wind up disappointed. Let me first of all say this novel is not what it appears to be about. For example, if you think it is about anthropology, it is not. Spoiler alert - stop reading this review now if you prefer to waste your time reading this novel, because I am about to give away what this novel is really about. This novel is a first-person account written by a highly detestable character who turns out to be a pedophile. We discover this fact about 95% of the way through (although hints are dropped along the way). He pretends to be an medical researcher and anthropologist in order to procure his child victims. One problem with the book is that both the anthropology and the pharmacology is completely ridiculous . No such lost native people exists on any Micronesian island, their purported culture is completely implausible, and the premise that there exists a species of turtle that, if ingested, makes people immortal, is also completely absurd. The book uses the "unreliable narrator" plot device. However, this does not justify the fact that the plot is based on a set of absurd premises. Frankly, I am confused by the authors intention. Are we to believe the basic (absurd) story is true, and the narrator's unreliability is limited to hiding his pedophile nature? Or are we to believe that the *entire* story is a set of lies made up by an unreliable narrator? Either explanation leads to the conclusion that reading this novel is a waste of time. If you want to read a first-person account of a pedophile, read Nabokov's classic and brilliant Lolita. Skip this book.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2015 by Richard Title
Format: Kindle
I was particularly interested in reading this book because it was about Micronesia, a region I've wanted to go to all my adult life. The story was very slow getting started with LOTS of odd details. There was an underlying unrest to the book and it made me uncomfortable to read it, like I was about to find out way more than I'd choose to know about the characters. I suppose the story was written to tell about these primitive people who had never been "civilized" and the narrator had made this great discovery of a completely "virgin" culture. But the tale takes a rather perverted twist which continues throughout the second half of the book when the narrator brings the natives to live, sealed in his lab, in the USA. It all seems so unlikely and concludes recounting a grotesque and picayoun set of circumstances and seems to forget all about the niave people that were the focus of the study. I have read A Little Life: A Novel, and loved the writing and the development of the characters and the delicate and exciting sense of place. The trees book lacked most of that for me. And I never did get much of a sense of Micronesia!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2017 by Vicketty