Touted as the “great gay novel,” A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara exceeded what is expected and came up with a great work. Here are some memorable lines from her second novel.
“The world has two kinds of people. Those who are inclined to believe, and those who aren’t.” ~ Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
“You came and you’re here now, and you should concentrate on your future, and not on the past.” ~ Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
“Fairness is for happy people, for people who have been lucky enough to have lived a life defined more by certainties than by ambiguities.” ~ Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
“But what was happiness but an extravagance, an impossible state to maintain, partly because it was so difficult to articulate.” Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
“He wished he was made of metal, of plastic; something that could be hosed down and scrubbed clean.” ~ Hanya Yanagihara
“Things get broken and sometimes they get repaired, and in most cases, you realize that no matter what gets damaged, life rearranges itself to compensate for your loss, sometimes wonderfully.” ~ Hanya Yanagihara
“Life is so sad… It’s so sad and yet we all do it. We all cling to it; we all search for something to give us solace.” ~ Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
“There was something scary and anxiety-inducing about being in a space where nothing seemed to be forbidden to him, where everything was offered to him and nothing was asked in return.” ~ Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
“You see, in life, sometimes nice things happen to good people. You don’t need to worry – they don’t need to worry – they don’t happen as often as they should. But when they do, it is up to the good people to just say thank you, and move on, and maybe consider that the person doing the nice things gets a bang out of it as well, and really isn’t in the mood to hear all the reasons that the person for whom he’s done the nice thing doesn’t think he deserves or isn’t worthy of it.” ~ Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
“But what was happiness but an extravagance, an impossible state to maintain, partly because it was so difficult to articulate.” ~ Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
Haven’t read my review on this book yet? Click here.
