2013 book 209

Hanya Yanigihara's The People in the Trees
Comparisons to Ann Patchett's State of Wonder are apt for this book--not only in terms of subject matter and themes, but for the strength of the writing. This doesn't at all read like a first novel. It's about a Novel Prize-winning scientist, who once discovered a small Micronesian tribe that eats a specific turtle to become immortal--but also leads to dementia. Now disgraced and imprisoned for child abuse, he's writing his memoirs, which are being edited and annotated by a colleague he mentored. It's one of those books where the main character is completely unlikable in every way (not only is he extremely racist and sexist, you can actually see the moment where he decides sexually abusing children is a-ok), but it's told so well that the book is great anyway. There's also a whole interesting thing with the multiple levels of unreliable narrators, and the discussions of 1950s academia are pretty fascinating too. Now, this book was very hard to read at times--besides the sexual abuse, there's a very lengthy description of terrible things done to lab animals--but it was also EXCELLENT. I honestly can't believe this is a first novel--it's a remarkable accomplishment. A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on August 13th.