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Loading... The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (original 2007; edition 2007)by Junot Díaz
Work InformationThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (2007)
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I was a bit disappointed in this book, as its Pulitzer had raised my expectations. But I never really became invested in any of the characters, save Beli during her back story. It's also worth noting that anyone planning to read this should have a Spanish dictionary close by while reading; there are an abundance of phrases I didn't understand. Maybe I'd have enjoyed it a little more if I had! It has elements that appeal to me, but there are two big problems with the novel from my perspective. The narrative voice became more grating as the story went on; strong in machismo and a tone of ironic distance, Yunior’s voice was not the voice to tell this story for me. How much this is affected by the controversy surrounding Díaz’s own behavior and a sense that this voice is how Díaz likes to see himself, as a Don Juan who sees himself a bit above it all, I’m not sure, but I feel I would have enjoyed the novel more told in Oscar’s voice. There’s a reason the novel isn’t called The Continuing Irritating Life of Yunior. Secondly the novel’s structure impeded my enjoyment. This is a personal preference to be sure, but in general I prefer not to hop around between characters and time periods back and forth, forth and back, in lengthy sections. In some novels it works great but generally I like a more time linear construction. I don't mean to go in for shameless ego-stroking here- I'm really quite more shocked. But I just read a Pulitzer Prize novel in the same year as it won the prize! (This never happens for me.) Actually, I read this because my friend RoseAnna was reading it because a Dominican friend recommended it, and she laughed out loud reading it. When she flew home, she left it with me, and now I enjoyed it, though I never would have picked it for myself. (Sometimes it good to do that- have someone else pick out a book for you to read.) I won't synopsize the story for you- being so popular right now, that stuff's all over the place (and I need to go make vegan cupcakes for the office picnic). It's one of the most original plot lines (if not the most) I've ever read. It wasn't a story I particularly identified with, but I was definitely feeling the fuku (curse) by midway through the book. My biggest problem was that I felt like I missed so much of the story by not being able to understand the parts of the story in Dominican. ("Couldn't you include a glossary, Diaz?") But then I heard an interview with DIaz on Fresh Air (from May 2008, I think) in which he explained that not necessarily understanding the language of the whole book- and therefore not getting all of the story- was part of the point.
Díaz’s novel also has a wild, capacious spirit, making it feel much larger than it is. Within its relatively compact span, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” contains an unruly multitude of styles and genres. The tale of Oscar’s coming-of-age is in some ways the book’s thinnest layer, a young-adult melodrama draped over a multigenerational immigrant family chronicle that dabbles in tropical magic realism, punk-rock feminism, hip-hop machismo, post-postmodern pyrotechnics and enough polymorphous multiculturalism to fill up an Introduction to Cultural Studies syllabus. It is Mr. Díaz’s achievement in this galvanic novel that he’s fashioned both a big picture window that opens out on the sorrows of Dominican history, and a small, intimate window that reveals one family’s life and loves. In doing so, he’s written a book that decisively establishes him as one of contemporary fiction’s most distinctive and irresistible new voices. Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inHas as a student's study guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fukœ-the curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Glad I finally read it though, it is interesting even if I didn't necessarily enjoy it all the way through. ( )