The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Ratings182
Average rating3.8
Actually currently listening to it whenever I'm in the car. I really like the narrator, but being that the narrative is so disjointed, I'm not sure only listening to it sporadically is the best method. We'll see at the end.
This book is a post-modern family epic couched in Dominican culture, history, and folklore. It follows the sad life of an overweight sic-fi nerd's struggle with cultural/stereotypical machismo expectations (being a Dominican man) and his inability to be with any women due to aforementioned weight/overt neediness, and how this somehow delegitimizes him as a human. Díaz employs a super interesting narrative style that includes footnotes explaining the Dominican dictatorship of the 20th century via footnotes, interjections sci-fi and pop culture references, and playful Spanglish.
Overall I liked it and it was like nothing I've read before, but I had a hard time getting really absorbed in it.
Really interesting, and weird in the best way. I learned so much from this book about Latin American history and the 20th-century diaspora. I found Lola more compelling than Oscar. Reading in audiobook was excellent, though I probably missed more of the Spanish this way (my fault).
This is one of those books that makes me realize most fiction I read is tired and boring. Maybe Oscar Wao is just vibrant and immensely real by comparison?
I can't decide which story I liked more...Yunior's time with Oscar at Rutgers was great. But in the end, I think I think I like the rise and fall of Abelard Cabral more than anything. All the characters, even the minor ones, feel so well defined. Very well written.
I am going to need to sit with this one a long while before I can say what I actually think of it.
Good? Yes. Completely gripping? Not entirely. I do wish more of it focused on Oscar instead of the rest of the family. The history of the rest of the “Wao” clan was interesting but at times I, personally, found it distracting. Good stuff, would recommend, but have enjoyed others.
“you can't regret the life you didn't lead.”
These words have occupied the back of my mind since I first read this book years ago. When I decided to reread Oscar Wao this year, I wondered if this line would jump out - it sure did, and has never meant more to me.
This is a tragic story of growing up, familial pressure and struggles, a culture you don't necessarily understand or agree with, and much more. If you've ever felt like the outcast or the nerd, give this book a try.
This one was a peach of a book, with sparkling writing and characters (many of which i found disagreeable - and therein the ability of the author). But the whole thing brought to life with a fantastic reading bu Lin Manuel. Outstanding job.
My husband and I started a tradition a couple of years ago of used books as stocking stuffers, and this was one of his gifts to me this year. And it was quite a gift. A beautiful and tragic story packed with enough Lord of the Rings references to stump any hardcore nerd. I love the blend of narration, the effortless switch between DR history and the second age of Middle Earth, the magical mongooses (mongeese?). It's called the life of Oscar, but it shows how Oscar's life is also echoing and ricocheting off of his sister, mother, grandmother, great grandfather, and deep down his cultural roots. It does it with gorgeous prose and a depth of emotion. Definitely worth the read even this late to the party.
Couldn't get into it. Didn't connect with any of the characters. Got really tired of having to google all the Spanish phrases throughout which means i missed about a quarter of the book. I hated the chapters that were about the mother.
Edit 03/25/2019: Counting this as my Dominican Republic book around the world.
Original angry rant...I mean review. Leaving this unedited because it's Harisa of the past (almost exactly 5 years ago past!)
Cannot even begin to describe how horrible this book was. Some parts were mildly interesting, but the characters all sucked and I found it hard to feel any amount of sympathy for them. They're all morons and choose/prioritize the wrong things in life and I'm not surprised their life is so horrible.
The author incorporates an attempt at magical realism in the novel, but it's mostly him blaming a “curse” for the horrible outcomes of each family members, when in reality, each family member doesn't even seriously try to build a good life for themselves. So, there is no “curse”, they're all idiots.
Isabel Allende is wonderful with this literary device (magical realism), but I can't even say that this author even tries to use it...I just think he tried to make a story of crappy characters into something deeper....he failed.
Would not recommend, unfortunately I had to finish if for a class otherwise I would have given up a while ago.
The book was simply brilliant. It's been long since I came across such a beautifully written book with such an engaging story. I already feel like reading it again.
Vibrant. Truly. In a weird way it reminds me of Allende, I think because of Diaz's ability to combine a sweeping & heartbreaking cultural history with the minutia of a heartbreaking personal history–except there's very little cursing in Allende. And no footnotes. Both of which I loved. The narrator, Yunior, has as strong a voice as I've read recently, possibly ever, and the book as a whole is thoroughly, completely modern. Funny, tragic, and beautiful. A must read, even though I'm sure everyone else was ahead of me on getting to this one.
The f-ing thing never arrived...
sigh
It wasn't what I thought it would be.
The narration begins in Oscar's childhood, but the story itself starts back in the 50s, or so, with Oscar's grandfather being imprisoned and his family broken, and assumably cursed, to never be able to succeed in love.
Only the youngest daughter survives and is rescued by her aunt, who raises her. She has her own unhappy love story with a “gangster” when she was 15-16, which ended with her being sent to New York to keep her safe.
We follow Oscar and his sister, Lola.
Some parts are narrated by Lola's boyfriend Yunior.
I LOVED it, but I think a lot of my enjoyment arose from my year+ spent in the DR. For example, on the very first page I cracked up at this sentence: Despite “discovering” the New World the Admiral died miserable and syphilitic, hearing (dique) divine voices. That “dique” killed me, since Dominicans throw it out all the time to say, “I heard that.../they say that...” and distance themselves from whatever rumor or madeup thing they say. Granted, the backbone is a semi-typical “immigrant/ generational culture shock” story, but executed with panache. For added enjoyment, move to the DR.
I really could not get into this, even though a lot of people seem to enjoy it. His narrative voice is entertaining, and I really quite liked the mixing-in of Spanish language. But somehow I didn't connect to the characters, and also felt the whole idea of the curse didn't pay off, as this is truly more the tragic story of victims of fascist dictator Trujillo and the violence and corruptions left behind in the Dominican Republic. Besides that it's a lot about getting people laid and avoiding getting laid.
On multiple occasions you'll double over with laughter and at the same time your heart will break. This is a literary gem that encompasses a very specific side of the human experience. Can't recommend it highly enough.
What's in a title? What does it mean to be a titular character? When is a title just subterfuge, a way of hiding the real message, the real narrative in any kind of story?
These are questions that I've pondered at least twice this past week, questions to which I do not have any answers.
The first time I reflected upon titles this week was after watching Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl. Ostensibly the story of the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery, at least as hinted at by the title, The Danish Girl is not the story of Lili, as it would like us to believe. It is, instead, the story of another Danish woman, Lili's wife Gerda, and of how her life changed as her partner went through this journey.
Finishing The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao gave me another opportunity to think about titular characters; Junot Díaz's novel may claim to be about Oscar, but it is more aptly the story of the lives of the people around him. Oscar (Wao) De Léon may be the thread that ties all of these personal histories together, but these are rich histories, a multitude of narratives of lives and loves, that could stand on their own. Mr. Díaz shows immense skill in weaving all these stories together, and uses Oscar to bring a deft cohesiveness to the book.
By the time I had finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I was yearning to learn more about Lola (Oscar's fierce yet compassionate sister), about Beli (his headstrong and proud mother), about the Dominican Republic under Trujillo. I did not care to know more about Oscar, but that was unimportant; he may have been the titular character, but he certainly wasn't the raison d'être for the novel.
A lot has been said about Mr. Díaz's fascinating writing style, littering the prose with references to science fiction and fantasy, seamlessly drifting between English and Spanish slang—rightfully so, as the writing is not just unique, but beautiful. Not enough has been said about how Mr. Díaz wrote a novel where the title character was the least interesting character in the book, and still managed to make it one of the most engrossing stories I have ever read.
What is, then, in a title? We are all the titular characters in our own lives, but whether or not our we will be the most interesting, the most central characters will matter mostly on who tells the story when that time comes.
(originally published on inthemargins.ca)
The author won the Pulitzer in 2008 for this novel, his first BTW and I can certainly say it was well deserved. This was a fantastic read from beginning to end and I especially enjoyed the bits of history of the Dominican Republic added in as footnotes. I will definitely be on the look out for more from this very promising author!
I enjoyed this book about a Dominican-American man trying to find his way in New Jersey and Santo Domingo.