Have you read this book? What are your views on the first part of this book and how do you think it is different from the reality?

[Sandali]

To ParadiseHanya Yanagihara
I am really confused from the beginning of this book. I am still on page no. 44 and starting to procrastinate. it could be because I am having serious issues with understanding this book. please share your views.

[José]

I was a big fan of the first story! I mean, it takes place in an alternative world where the civil war seems to have actually divided the country. The northeast remains the cultural hub with it's elite universities and aristocratic families venerated almost like like founding Father's. Meanwhile they look down at the southern states and anyone who migrated out of that famines and slave-dependenr state. California/the west seems more developed but it's still very much seen as a new money place from what I got. As progressive as the people of Maine are in terms of sexual orientation and marriages, they still have the typical expectations of marrying only within your social class and having offspring, whether adopted or born - which is at the center of the protagonist's issues with his family. He's a well educated but impulsive and naive man who is willing to sacrifice all that his grandfather gave him for love with a man who's been less than straightforward about who he is. And this is not even the first time he's been scammed and heartbroken! So I found it very interesting to see how a man would navigate this set up in such a time, since it never has been that way. I hope you finish it! It ends with a feel of, damn, you don't know what you're getting into.

[José]

Edit punctuation, sent before checking:

I was a big fan of the first story! I mean, it takes place in an alternative world where the civil war seems to have actually divided the country. The Northeast/Maine/New York remains the cultural hub with its elite universities and aristocratic families venerated almost like like founding Fathers. Meanwhile, they look down at the southern states and anyone who migrated out/up north from that famined and slave-dependent economy. California/the West seems more developed, not quite the wild West, but it's still very much seen as a place to either disappear in anonymity or where New Money people come, from what I got. As progressive as the people of Maine are in terms of sexual orientation and marriages, they still have the typical turn of the century expectations of marrying only within your social class and having offspring, whether adopted or born - which is at the center of the protagonist's issues with his family. He's a well-ducated but impulsive and naive man who is willing to sacrifice all that his grandfather gave him for love with a man who's been less than straightforward about who he is. And this is not even the first time he's been depressively heartbroken! So I found it very interesting to see how a man would navigate this set up in such a time, since it never has been that way. I hope you finish it! It ends with a feel of, damn, you don't know what you're getting into.

[Mike]

The first section of the book takes place in an alternate universe after the South has won the civil war and seceded from the United States. He struggles and endures toward his vision of Paradise. Section two takes place in the same house on Washington Square but in the 1990's. This man also struggles (along with his father) to seek his vision of Paradise. Section 3 is also in the same house and in a dystopian future that may look very familiar to you. This time a young woman struggles toward her paradise. In a rather thrilling finale she learns acceptance, not of her fate but of her (our) need continue the struggle toward paradise.