Since I was so enthralled with Hanya Yanagihara’s second novel A Little Life, it made sense to tackle her first book People in The Trees. I knew I was asking for trouble. A Little Life was a most exceptional read and will remain one of my most beloved books of all time. Much of her brilliant writing is in evidence in the first novel. The story of scientists discovering a secret civilization where eternal life exists makes for intriguing story telling. But lengthy mock documentation and footnotes wears down the reader. Less than compelling characters makes for a floundering experience. The suspense does build towards the end. For a moment I thought there would be a non-ending full of unsatisfying resolutions. Have no fear Hanya uses fine writing skills to wrap the story to a gratifying ending. I have no regrets about reading this work. ( )

At the request of a colleague and friend, Norton Perina, a medical researcher who won the Nobel prize for medicine for his work on a Micronesian island which offers the chance of physical immortality, is writing his memoirs in prison where he is serving a sentence for sexual assault.

Perina is an unpleasant character, full of whining self-justification. The book is very slow with occasional bursts of movement to shift the plot forward. It does give the reader much to ponder but it was a struggle to get through. ( )

I'm a bit at a loss on how to rate this book. Technically, it was very well done. The way the story was crafted and unveiled was very sophisticated for a debut novel. The problem isn't the craft, but the content. The book is essentially about rape, the rape of a civilization, a culture and its mythology, but also the literal rape of children. The main character is a misogynistic, entitled, closeted, haughty, paternalistic scientist, who looks down on most the world, doesn't value any of the relationships in his life, but because he takes credit for discovering immortality in the form of an extremely rare turtle on a remote Micronesian island, he is viewed as "an important man" and treated as such by the rest of the world. The last chapter was not unexpected, in fact it was hinted at broadly throughout the book, even the first page, but was still shocking and sickening. The blurb on the back is very accurate: "Exhaustingly inventive and almost defiant in its refusal to offer redemption or solace..."(The New York Times Book Review). There are almost no happy moments in this book. Even when the character is writing about a happy time in his recollections, it is always tainted by his arrogance, or refusal to be moved by the events occurring around him. He is a deeply flawed person and it was very difficult to read this book at many times because he is so unlikeable. So, on one hand, I appreciate this book as a technical marvel, but on the other, the subject matter is so bleak and dark that it is difficult to actually like it. Taken allegorically, it is powerful, but there are also many books like it about supposedly great men who do terrible things but mostly get a pass throughout their lives until someone has the courage to take them down. But mostly it was just heartbreaking. So how does one rate such an experience? I still don't know.

This ain't your mother's Flowers For Algernon.
( )

En 1950, Norton Perina, un joven médico recién graduado, se une a una expedición a la remota isla de Micronesia, Ivu'ivu, en busca de una misteriosa tribu. Allí, comienza a investigar lo que lo llevará a ganar el Premio Nobel: la extraña longevidad de los isleños. Antes de regresar a los Estados Unidos, decide adoptar a cuarenta niños nativos para rescatarlos de la pobreza. Pero en 1955, uno de sus hijos lo denuncia por abusos...
Mientras cumple condena, Perina, a instancias de su fiel colega Ronald Kubodera, escribe sus memorias con el fin de recuperar el prestigio perdido y demostrar su inocencia.