The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (edition 2008)

I've heard a phrase used several times to describe a book - a great summer beach read. This is *not* one of those books. This is tragic, harsh in language, harsh and blunt in the opinions of the narrator, and easily one of the best books I've read. The synopsis here understandably only describes this book in a vague way and doesn't come close to hinting at the experience of reading it.

The author goes into the history and experiences of each of the main characters in turn. For one character this takes place entirely in the Dominican Republic. For her daughter the backstory happens mostly in the Dominican Rebulic. The story of Oscar, his sister and the narrator, who very interestingly is both an observer of and a lesser character in the story, takes place in a New Jersey immigrant neighborhood. This is an epic story with great insight into the Dominican experience, the immigrant experience, the Dominican/American historical relationship, racial relationships in Latin America, and based on other things I've read in the past it offers insight into the common experiences of Latin American people under complete, unhindered dictatorships historically supported by the United States government. All of this in a personal and compelling story that will stand alone if you have no interest in any of the just mentioned subjects. Thank you Elisabeth. ( )

Worth every accolade it has received. I freaking loved it. ( )

This is a superbly crafted story. Beautiful (Spanglish) language, wonderful flow, fascinating back and forth inter-generational tale, really it could be considered an epic. But I cannot give it 5 stars because the why of the end just infuriated me. Also, it was so very sad and so incredibly violent. I’m really surprised that none of the many Goodreads friends and other Goodreads members who have given it superlative reviews and mostly 5 and some 4 star ratings have mentioned how disturbing this book is, at least not enough in my view. Maybe it wasn’t at all traumatizing for them but much of the story was exceedingly unpleasant for me. The reader is continually prepared for the worst of events to come, but it didn’t minimize the impact of all that happened. In my opinion, this could be considered a definitive novel about the Dominican Republic and its history and culture. Reading it did make me sufficiently curious that before I finished reading I researched some information about this place. This novel is well worth reading and I’m glad I did, but it was not always an enjoyable experience. I’ll have to see whether or not this story and its many characters make a lasting impression on me. ( )

Left me with unforgettable characters and images. ( )

Occasionally marvelous language and fascinating (humorous and tragic) tale spinning about a country the author rightly assumes that most North Americans know very little, but the overall arc was deeply disappointing -- as in 'shaggy dog' story disappointing. ( )