To Paradise

Three stories each a century apart, tied together by themes of family, loyalty, belonging, nationhood and desire. I am a bit conflicted about how to feel about it, as Yanagihara's writing and storytelling is so skilled. But it felt like she was holding back on us, probably not wanting this to be another tearjerker like her predecessor. But the potential for grandeur was there, it was just more toned down, more clinical, more a very detailed drawing of constellations of ideas and emotions and personae, instead of the big emotions themselves. And still, very memorable (besides the majority of the second story, which turned into quite a slog I have to say). The triptych of stories tied together across time very much reminded me of [b:The Actual Star 56304414 The Actual Star Monica Byrne https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618279333l/56304414.SX50.jpg 86058464] .