The People in the Trees cover art

The People in the Trees

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

The People in the Trees

By: Hanya Yanagihara
Narrated by: Jeff Harding
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

In 1950, a young doctor call Norton Perina signs on with the anthropologist Paul Tallent for an expedition to the remote Micronesian island of Ivu’ivu in search of a rumoured lost tribe. They succeed in finding not only that tribe but also a group of forest dwellers they dub ‘The Dreamers’, 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.

©2013 Hanya Yanagihara (P)2013 Audible Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Tiger Lily cover art
Boy Parts cover art
The Giver cover art
The Rent Collector cover art
Remembering Babylon cover art
A Great Deliverance cover art
Every Heart a Doorway cover art
The Japanese Lover cover art
Fledgling cover art
First Meetings cover art
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats cover art
The World Walker cover art
The Velveteen Rabbit cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
This book is wildly imaginative and darkly engaging. I found the progression of the narrative and the self awareness (and lack of it) of central characters really intriguing. Raises lots of important themes in a novel and blackly humorous way. People with a taste for visceral and edgy anthropological satire like DBC Pierre will enjoy.

Not perfect, but so original I’ll give 5 stars

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I won't say I didn't enjoy this book because I did, I did but... It left me uncomfortable for the fact. A wonderful story of hidden natural wonders sandwiched between some very teeth clenching events of extreme taboo for our society underwritten with the questions of how such things are perceived by other societies - a questioning of moral values which no one wants to face.

Uncomfortable stuff, by the end, but none the less magical in parts.

Bizarre. Unique. Uncomfortable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Interlaced throughout this great and original story there are some very uncomfortable issues regarding child abuse and animal experimentation. These are not dwelt on in a moralising way or addressed they just form part of the story. This does therefore challenge the 'enjoyment' of the story as I was always waiting for another horror to make me cringe or to come to a conclusion. However, this aside the storyline is ambitious and engrossing and very thought provoking. I can't say I enjoyed this book but i'm glad I have read it.

At times uncomfortable but a great story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
really enjoyed listening to this original idea of a story
well read and captivating. the voice is kind of neutral but also believable as if he's a scientist without putting to much emphasis into it and detecting from the story.

colourful book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you’re looking for a romantic tale of early scientific exploration this is not the book for you

Uncompromising tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
the science the tale woven into a tapestry not knowing the end till the end

the intricate details of the islanders and their way of like . I was quiet shocked to realise the ending was about abuse

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What did you like most about The People in the Trees?

Absorbing story, good unusual and plausible characterisation, interesting ideas.

What other book might you compare The People in the Trees to, and why?

Similar book? (question has changed for some reason!) The Heart Broke In by James Meek. Both have scientific themes, and both feature a strong character as scientist who is not conventionally sympathetic.

Have you listened to any of Jeff Harding’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Jeff Harding's performance was good - clear and well-timed - and impressed with how he used different voices to convey different characters.

Any additional comments?

The story is presented in the form of an edited journal so the reader gets to hear the editor's and the main main character's point of view. I liked the juxtaposition of the two. It was a good way of presenting information.

Intelligent and Interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is compelling despite its central character being thoroughly unlikable. I was invested in Perina right up until the end which made me feel sick. Hanya Yanagihara is certainly an incredible writer and a unique and challenging storyteller but her work isn’t necessarily enjoyable. Excellently read.

Hard Listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Incredible book ,very uncomfortable to read at times but very well written . A very original story and far from being boring if you finish the book . Jeff Harding does a great job narrating this book (as always ) .

Wow what a shocking book !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Crikey – this is a skwirmingly, harsh, hideous and brutal story. But it is extremely well written although the content is somewhat indescribable. In some places, in particular at the beginning of the book, the drawn out and unnecessary barbarity of the story teller, Norton Perina’s entrance and background beginnings could probably have been watered down, as in my view it added nothing and left me feeling quite sick. I found him a dislikeable fellow. However, as we approach the middling of this tale the story becomes awkward and yet you are compelled to continue with it having struggled to get thus far. I was intrigued as to where the story was going to take me and at this stage began to like the main character and find him a person of substance. On coming to the end of this indescribable tale the story was again getting back to the uncomfortable and having felt sympathy for Perina, I had been duped by an abuser and had I known the book would take the turn it did, I probably wouldn’t have listened. Take on board a few reviews before making a decision as to whether you might want to spend your money on this story.

Em - Harsh, but well written

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews