TITLE: The People in the Trees
AUTHOR: Hanya Yanagihara
GENRE: General Fiction
PUBLISHED: August 13th 2013
RATING: ★★★★★
PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon.com
MOBILISM LINK: Mobilism
Description: In 1950, a young doctor called Norton Perina signs on with the anthropologist Paul Tallent for an expedition to the remote Micronesian island of Ivu'ivu in search of a rumored lost tribe. They succeed, finding not only that tribe but also a group of forest dwellers who turn out to be fantastically long-lived but progressively more senile. Perina suspects the source of their longevity is a hard-to-find turtle; unable to resist the possibility of eternal life, he kills one and smuggles some meat back to the States. He scientifically proves his thesis, earning worldwide fame and the Nobel Prize, but he soon discovers that its miraculous property comes at a terrible price. As things quickly spiral out of his control, his own demons take hold, with devastating personal consequences.
Review: At first glance, I was intrigued by the cover which is really just a patch of lush jungle, but appears to be something with feet from far away - perhaps an animal of some kind. The title of the book itself is descriptive, and the summary of it enticing. Overall, the book is very clever and artful told, with vivid descriptions, a tight plot and intriguing characters. As I began reading, first I was reminded of State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, which I also enjoyed, however I found this story to be even more compelling and enjoyable. The character of Norton Perina is based on the life of Nobel laureate Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, who won a Nobel prize in Medicine in 1976 for his work on the infectious brain disease, kuru, and who was later convicted of child molestation of his numerous adopted children. Norton is also a scientist but seems more a misfit, not very respected among his peers. In spite of this, to his surprise, he is chosen to do research in the remote Micronesian country of U'ivu. When he arrives, he knows little about the subject of his research but quickly discovers he is to work with a researcher interested in a particular tribe of U'ivuans who appear to have abnormally long lifespans. Norton theorizes that their long life is connected to their ingestion of a certain turtle. The drawback to longevity is that the long lived members of the tribe also suffer a mental deficit that leaves them stumbling around with a condition that resembles dementia.
The first chapter begins with a newspaper clipping detailing the arrest of A. Norton Perina, for molesting his 43 adopted children. The rest of the book is written by Perina himself, who is writing from prison, but the book is organized and edited by his dear friend and colleague, Dr. Ronald Kubodera. Norton begins by reminiscing about his childhood, and events in his life which have affected his innermost thoughts and desires. He justifies his actions by saying:
"I found myself thinking that perhaps there was something inexorable about the way events unfolded, as if my life - which had begun to seem something not my own but something into which I found myself blindly toppling - was indeed something living, that existed without my knowledge but that pulled me along in its strong,
insistent undertow."
This is a book of nuance upon nuance, self-deception upon self deception. The book asks several very important questions: Does the character of the person detract from the brilliance of his work? And are extreme views (to us) of another culture (i.e., cannibalism, pedophilia, or self mutilation) always wrong, or are we biased by our own ethnocentricity? Clear as mud? Well I don't want to be coy and give too much away about this book, but I imagine you have gotten the gist of the problem: Norton is a bad guy, and worse he is non-remorseful; two transgressions not easily forgiven by others. I do notice that for a lot of readers, they just plain don't want to read a book about anything they find unpleasant, even if they are to learn something, be amazed, be enlightened, or sit back at the end and say, "Damn, that's good writing!". Some readers - full grown adults! - are put off an entire novel due to a few four letter words. To these people I say: you may be more comfortable reading Children or YA books; however, with the fairy tale endings, Hollywood love scenes and starry eyed, neatly wrapped endings in those books, I feel they would do you a disservice.
Please remember, as Norton himself says:
"It reminds us that love, at least the sort of pure love that so few of us will admit to feeling, is a complicated, dark, violent thing, an agreement not to be entered into lightly."
Love can be complicated, dark and violent, dear reader, don't be afraid to open your eyes and see it. To me, the best books seem to have a little darkness. And as we know, truth is stranger than fiction. This book closely mirrors the life of Gajdusek in many respects. Therefore, this book is for astute readers who can look past unpleasant situations and find excellent quality of the writing, a solid plot that unravels smoothly as one turns the pages, cleanly sketched characters, new information, and an imaginative journey found inside. If that is what you desire, you will enjoy this book. For those of you who start to like the character of Norton but are disturbed he is a "bad" guy, please skip the last chapter of this book. 5 stars.
I was quite impressed with the story and the writing. I was wondering how on earth the author came up with the bizarre plot but then I heard the backstory. As I said sometimes the truth is stranger than anything we can dream up. I hope you like it.