Name: Daryl Houston's review of The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Item: The Great Believers
Rating: 4
Author: Daryl Houston

Rebecca Makkai

"In 1985, Yale Tishman is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery where he works. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying, and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister. Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster."--

The Great Believers

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD A NEW YORK TIMES Selection for BEST 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK A PICK FOR THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S 2018 BEST BOOKS THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR READERS “A page turner...An absorbing and emotionally riveting story about what it’s like to live during times of crisis. "—The New York Times Book Review A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris, by the acclaimed author Rebecca Makkai In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister. Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster.

sofia 🪆

"If we could just be on earth at the same place and same time as everyone we loved, if we could be born together and die together, it would be so simple. And it's not. But listen: You two are on the planet at the same time. You're in the same place now. That's a miracle. I just want to say that."

“I think that’s the saddest thing in the world, the failure of love. Not hatred, but the failure of love.“

tiff <3

Well, here it was, then: longing, missing. the most useless kind of love.

Daryl Houston

Great Believers

felt the air leave my lungs at one point 

Ryan Mateyk

Heather Margaret

“It's always a matter, isn't it, of waiting for the world to come unraveled? When things hold together, it's always only temporary.”This book made me so incredibly mad at the way people treat other people and the many things they don't fully understand. Rebecca Makkai does an amazing job at bringing you into the past while weaving the feelings and trauma into the present. Just a well-done book. And Yale 100% deserved better.

Lisa Lindquist 

Meghan Navoy

Was a little slow to get into it at first but then couldn't put it down. I loved going back in time between 1980s and 2015 in the story and seeing how the AIDS epidemic effected the victims and survivors. Really enjoyed this book even though it was sad.

anna near

I've never read anything more gut-wrenching in my life. I SOBBED.

The narrative alternates between Yale, a gay man surviving the AIDS pandemic, and Fiona, Yale's friend's younger sister who passed away from the disease. Yale's perspective obviously takes place in the eighties, but interestingly enough Fiona's chapters take place in the 2010s. I actually hate dual timelines, but this one was done so seamlessly. It significantly increased the impact of the narrative and went beyond simple plot convenience.

And Makkai's prose?? Beautiful. Her characters drop some  devastating  quotes without ever sacrificing their authenticity. Like when a SIDE character said; “I think that’s the saddest thing in the world, the failure of love. Not hatred, but the failure of love.” I'm physically ill just thinking about it.

I'm still mourning this book, but it is without a doubt one of the best ones I have ever read in my life.

faye

makai does a banger job taking the reader through the 1980s aids epidemic in chicago while exploring deeply human habits of judgement and bitterness. delightfully raw and sharply eloquent, a joy to read.

'the great believers' follows two storylines with a shared focal point - yale who has recently lost a friend to aids, and fiona, who is sister of said friend. the reader is bounced back and forth between a thirty year gap, all while connected to one another. i'm often not keen on reading split narratives, and this one does take a bit to find a good rhythm, but the payoff in the end is well worth it. 

this is an emotionally charged narrative - following two people impacted by the aids epidemic in different ways. the reality of the time is always heavy, and makkai does an excellent job of capturing it in a way that grounds the true consequence of it - these are not figures in history, but nonetheless people the main characters love and love strongly. 

this story asks what does one do in the face of a battle you are ill equipped to win? what if you do everything right and in the end the conclusion is out of your hands? what is the true cost of survival - of standing among the living? 

i hope i can find more words for this at some point, but i was so emotionally drawn to this book, and cried quite a bit during the second half. the layers and weaving of all different kinds of grief leaves the reader with a sense of gratitude for being able to learn about them, their lives, their loves. each character feels important to the overall story, memorable in their own ways. 

'the great believers' follows two storylines with a shared focal point - yale who has recently lost a friend to aids, and fiona, who is sister of said friend. the reader is bounced back and forth between a thirty year gap, all while connected to one another. i'm often not keen on reading split narratives, and this one does take a bit to find a good rhythm, but the payoff in the end is well worth it. 

this is an emotionally charged narrative - following two people impacted by the aids epidemic in different ways. the reality of the time is always heavy, and makkai does an excellent job of capturing it in a way that grounds the true consequence of it - these are not figures in history, but nonetheless people the main characters love and love strongly. 

this story asks what does one do in the face of a battle you are ill equipped to win? what if you do everything right and in the end the conclusion is out of your hands? what is the true cost of survival - of standing among the living? 

i hope i can find more words for this at some point, but i was so emotionally drawn to this book, and cried quite a bit during the second half. the layers and weaving of all different kinds of grief leaves the reader with a sense of gratitude for being able to learn about them, their lives, their loves. each character feels important to the overall story, memorable in their own ways. 

Anita

dnf but the part i read was good - just didnt feel like continuing

Siya S

This book was painful to read but it's not your average mopey tear-jerking dramas. Set during the 1980s right in the middle of the AIDS epidemic in Chicago, the story explores loss, grief, friendship, and the burden of memories that weighs down those left behind. 

I am not sure if it's appropriate, but I can relate the story to what we went through during the COVID pandemic these past 2 years. At least in a sense that — people fight hard to live their lives with dignity while the healthcare system and government policies fail them. And surely, the system ended up killing the marginalized people the most. It saddens me to think that 40 years after the event in the book, things remain pretty much the same. For example, health insurance persists on being such a tricky, slippery, exclusive business. People are still being ignored, left behind, or forced through a slow death process on a daily basis. 
 
While I liked this book very much, props to the beautiful writing and how the story played out, I couldn't bring myself to care much about Fiona even though she was one of the two main characters. I could relate to her pain, but I found Yale's storyline more gripping. I wish things turned out differently, but yeah, Yale's story will stay with me for a long time.

Gisela Ayala 

Review to come... oh just wait. This book. I'm sobbing.

Kathy Andrew

How did this book not win the Pulitzer?!?

Alex Q

I started this book during an incredibly busy week, so I’ll admit I had trouble making time for it. But I am so glad I did. This will be added to my all time favourites list, and I’ll be recommending it to anyone who will listen for the foreseeable future.

Fraser Simons

Fantastic characterizations of the characters and the structure that jumps forward and backward in time ultimately struggle against the premise, which has basically become the quintessential gay story. There are so many queer stories that do not focus on the AIDS crisis and do not play on this need to humanize people you should not have to struggle to have empathy for, that this feels out of time and place, despite its strengths.

Cindy Lieberman

4.5. A heartbreaking novel alternating between the 1980s in Chicago and 2015 in Paris. A tight-knit group of young men mourn the loss of Nico, the first of them to succumb to the newly discovered AIDS virus. Nico’s older sister, Fiona, practically raised him when their parents turned their backs on their gay son, and she continues her nurturing role as the rest of the group face their bleak futures. Fiona has also been through a war and now, in 2015, tries to make up for the past and find a way to start living in the present.

Shafel McDowall

I have no words to explain how deeply this book touched my soul. I am crushed. Devastated. This book will go down as one of the best works of fiction I've ever read. I have no doubt that it will stay with me for a long time. Like 'The Colour Purple', some books leave a stain on your soul, and this is one of them.

Abby Byers

Makkai is a master. This book deserves every ounce of hype.

WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS WINNER OF THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD - BARBARA GITTINGS LITERATURE AWARD FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES FICTION AWARD 'Stirring, spellbinding and full of life' Téa Obreht, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger's Wife In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup: bringing an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDs epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, he finds his partner is infected, and that he might even have the virus himself. The only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister. Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago epidemic, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways the AIDS crisis affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. Yale and Fiona's stories unfold in incredibly moving and sometimes surprising ways, as both struggle to find goodness in the face of disaster.

Gabrielle F Fiihr

I'M OBSESSED!!! This book broke me in all the best ways.

Karen Shimek

This novel casts a human light on the suffering of AIDS victims when the disease first appeared in the early 1980s, yet it is also a tribute to the resilience of friendships.

alyssa

Summer Stanley

Enjoyed the intertwining of the two stories. I really appreciated how something would be casually mentioned in one story and expanded and impactful in the other.

Jennifer Dieter

I was skeptical, but Makkai handles the early AIDS epidemic and the people in Chicago who were impacted with a great amount of care and research. It took me awhile to get into it, and I feel there were parts that tended to drag. But I became invested in both Yale and Fiona’s stories, and Makkai writes beautifully.

Katie LaMarre

It took me a while to get into the book but then I got to a point where I couldn’t put it down! I wish Yale was my friend in real life

I picked this one up somewhat randomly when browsing bookstore shelves. I like books that have stories pertaining to art (dunno why; I'm not an artist, it's just a particular interest), and I had many years ago read and valued Allan Gurganus's Plays Well with Others, which covers the 1980s AIDS crisis in New York, so this one seemed a possible good fit for me. Makkai's name also rang a bell, and indeed it turns out that I had read a short story collection of hers that I felt sort of meh about. In fact, in my brief review, I said that "it'd take a pretty spectacular novel" to pull me into her work. 

Well, this is that novel. It's hard to name a flaw in this book. The prose is often lyrical, sometimes crushing. The characters feel real. She portrays the losses of the men who die with (I believe) sensitivity. The pacing keeps both of the major story lines moving along comfortably. It feels like a finely made object. The Great Believers is easily the most rewarding book I've read over the last year or so (maybe the last couple of years).

Daryl Houston &
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

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Daryl Houston &The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

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Daryl Houston &
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