It is 1950 when Norton Perina, a young doctor, embarks on an expedition to a remote Micronesian island in search of a rumoured lost tribe. There he encounters a strange group of forest dwellers who appear to have attained a form of immortality that preserves the body but not the mind. Perina uncovers their secret and returns with it to America, where he soon finds great success. But his discovery has come at a terrible cost, not only for the islanders, but for Perina himself.
The People in the Trees is the debut novel from Hanya Yanagihara, an author I discovered upon the publication of the absolutely superb A Little Life. This novel is quite different, and while it is a work of fiction, it is loosely based upon the life of scientist and convicted sex offender Daniel Carleton Gajdusek. It’s worth noting that there are elements of child abuse in the novel and some readers may want to avoid it for that reason.
The novel takes a fairly simple structure. It begins with a newspaper clipping detailing accusations made against Norton Perina by a child in his care. Charged and imprisoned, Ronald Kubodera – a friend and colleague of Perina’s – encourages him to use that time to write his biography. This forms the bulk of the novel, as we read the manuscript with Kubodera as he edits it, adding footnotes to explain Perina’s comments where necessary. For me, this does raises questions as to reliability. Kubodera clearly still supports Perina despite his arrest, and so I couldn’t help but wonder whether he may also want to hide things from me. That said, Perina is presented with what appears to be brutal honest and does not come across as being at all likeable.
This isn’t helped by the accusation of sexual assault which pits the reader against Perina immediately, and the account of his life – starting from his childhood – does him few favours as he shows himself to be arrogant and condescending, putting himself above all those he encounters. His first trip to Ivu’ivu and which enables the research that eventually leads to a Nobel prize shows a blatant disregard for his more experienced female colleague whom he dismisses immediately, determined to usurp her position in the expedition. He works towards his own goals throughout the trip with little thought to the goals of the expedition or the consequences of his actions. He returns to these islands repeatedly throughout the years, and maybe does develop a sense of guilt over time as he witnesses the changes to the islands, but I also think that he likes to revisit the moment of his discovery which ultimately made him famous. There’s a sense of hubris and even had I not known of his eventual downfall, I’d have suspected it.
“I did what any scientist would have done. And if I had to – even knowing what would become of Ivu’ivu and all its people I would probably do so again.
Well, that is not wholly true: I would do so again. I would not even have to consider it for a moment.”
Yanagihara looks as the impact that Perina’s discovery has on this small, previously untouched Eden as scientists, corporations, and missionaries descend on these islands and the native population in a way that is both sickening and all too plausible. Trees are felled to accommodate these incomers with natural habitats destroyed and ecosystems devastated, all abusing the natural habitat for their own benefit and profit. And Perina feels no remorse for part in this – he’s not directly responsible for the devastation, and yet it’s him, more than anyone else, who highlights the potential of the natural resources on these islands and who’s work leads others there and that results in this destruction.
One element that the novel explores is the separation of the art from the artist, or in this case the science from the scientist. Perina is a doctor and Nobel Prize winner, and the accusations and his arrest serve as a reminder that few are perfect. Kubodera stands with him throughout and seems to be willing to look past the claims made against Perina. While it may be that he simply doesn’t believe the accusations that have been made, I think it goes beyond that. Kubodera argues that Perina should be above such allegations, his work and developments in science having been so important that he should essentially be allowed a “get out of jail free” card. Of course, we don’t know for sure whether the accusations are true until the very end of the novel, and this introduces an element of doubt – the question of no smoke without fire played out against the possibility of a wrongful accusation. I think that few would support Kubodera’s stance, however, and his perspective makes him seem sycophantic in his regard for the disgraced Perina.
A state that led to an unnaturally long life – an immortal life. But it was a parody of immortality, because while the afflicted did in fact remain physically frozen … her mind did not. Bit by bit, it disintegrated – first the memory, then the social nuances, then the senses, and then finally speech – until all that was left was the body. The mind was gone, worn down by the years
Perina’s work focusses on a form of immortality that he discovers on this island, and it’s something that I found extremely thought-provoking. The idea of immortality and eternal youth is of course tempting, but at what price? Perina discovers that the people of Ivu’ivu have – quite by chance – discovered a way of living unnaturally long lives and retaining their health and strength. But their minds still age as normal, eventually deteriorating to the point where these individuals no longer function as humans. While many will have thought about the benefits of living forever, or retaining their youthful visage, it’s a hefty price to pay, and sounds more like a curse than a gift.
The People in the Trees won’t be for everyone, and it is a very different novel to A Little Life, but I found it to be an incredibly thought-provoking read. It feels relevant in its approach to renowned individuals who are shown to be monsters under their veneer of respectability and highlights the devastation of natural habitats for greed and profit and which inevitably leads to climate change.
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