To Paradise
Emotional
Touching
Inspirational

To Paradise A Novel

From the 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. 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 are joined in an enthralling and 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. TO PARADISE is a fin de siecle 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.
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Reviews

Photo of anne
anne@gh0stlikesreading
4 stars
May 14, 2024
+4
Photo of Audrey
Audrey@audedge
5 stars
Feb 5, 2024
Photo of Marta Chinellato
Marta Chinellato@marta_chinee
4 stars
Nov 5, 2023
+8

Highlights

Photo of anne
anne@gh0stlikesreading

Es bedarf schon einer besonderen Art von Grausamkeit, heute ein Kind zu machen, im Wissen, dass die Welt, die es bewohnen und erben wird, schmutzig und krank und ungerecht und schwierig sein wird. Warum sollte man es also tun? Wo ist da der Respekt dem Leben gegenüber?

Page 703
Photo of anne
anne@gh0stlikesreading

Ein Mensch war das schlimmste Vermächtnis, denn ein Mensch war von Natur aus unberechenbar.

Page 291

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