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Comments (15)

Community comments are the opinions of contributing users. These comments do not represent the opinions of Pima County Public Library.
What did you think about this title?
1 to 15 of 15 items
Feb 15, 2024AlisynC rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
After reading the stunning, beautifully brutal 'A Little Life' I immediately sought out more Yanagihara at my library, and I'm so glad I did. 'The People in the Trees' was not as all-consuming as its predecessor, nor as stunning, but…
Apr 23, 2022Hannah_59 rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
I found this book tedious in the ad nauseam descriptions of a man with no redeeming qualities. The unreliable narrator was also kind of annoying. She is a great writer but the content just felt icky.
Dec 20, 2021
~400 pgs
Sep 29, 2020clhjdllm rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book. You have to be able to stomach a difficult, repulsive subject matter and character couched in what is presented as brillance. It makes you question all your initial opinions of the character, and this--his…
Aug 03, 2018BostonPL_JessicaM rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
In this fictional memoir, Norton Perina – a medical doctor who began practicing in the 1950s – tells the story of his increasingly twisted life and career studying (and taking advantage of) the nearly immortal people of a remote…
Jul 25, 2018
I really disliked this book. Although the previous novel written by the author was beautifully done and heartbreakingly intense, this novel left much to be desired. Based on the book's description, I expected a fantastical tale of eternal…
Sep 21, 2017ryner rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Weary of performing dull experiments in a university research lab, Norton Perina leaps at the chance to join an anthropological expedition as the team's doctor because, frankly, it promises to prove more interesting than what he's doing…
Jun 15, 2015ddebner rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT PEDOPHILIA. It is a well written book which deals with pedophilia obliquely, but in the end that is what this book is about. In other words, pedophilia is, for most of the book, in the distant background, so much so…
Jun 06, 2015mclarenbruce rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I'm sorry to say I found nothing to like about this book. The main character was a simple, arrogant narrcissist with nothing of worth to share. The concept of the book is facile and done before in much better ways. The twist at the end…
Mar 20, 2015rationallady rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book is a really excellent read, but a disturbing, perhaps shocking, plot element will offend some. I found it an interesting corollary to "The Island of the Colorblind," a nonfiction scientific examination of another South Pacific…
geezr_rdr
Aug 28, 2014geezr_rdr rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
This is not an enjoyable book, particularly in the Kindle format, where the footnotes are a particular irritation. The monologues by the chronic whiner Nobel laureate, Norton Perina, required a large amount of text skimming in order to…
Aug 04, 2014
oprah
Feb 22, 2014whitkat2002 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A compelling read. I loved the layering of narrative...the self-deprecating journal entries, the news items, and the overall blind love of a man who pulls together the story of abuse--to both old and young--without prejudice. Of course,…
Nov 21, 2013quagga rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Dr. Norton Perina is a fascinating character, a closeted gay man who seems nearly incapable of experiencing emotion.
brianreynolds
Oct 20, 2013brianreynolds rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Hanya Yanagihara's The People in the Trees reads so much like a non-fiction memoir that it's difficult to review it as a story. The themes of the book—the conflict between anthropology and science, the destruction of indigenous culture,…