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This is the long-awaited first novel from one of the most original and memorable writers working today.
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 the 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.
D’az immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot D’az as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time.
I Have Never Read a Book Like This One
| Customer Rating:   | | Fast paced, interesting language...a great book that makes you care for Oscar and his little life. Knowing nothing about the culture of the Dominican Republic, I learned a lot...which is always a good thing! The book has many footnotes which bothered me at first, but it just becomes part of the reading and you can easily dip in and out of them. Well done Junot Diaz...he has done a masterful job on many levels...story, DR culture, NJ culture and the crazy pace of this novel. |
spanglish Is Swonderful
| Customer Rating: | | Diaz's Pulitzer Prize winning novel didn't get any awards for its plot--it shines for its language. The intricate web of family history in a traditional Dominican upbringing is slowly unfolded with each long and eloquent sentence. Every sentence could be re-read four times over and still be appreciated for every deliberate diction choice Diaz makes. I often found myself pausing in the middle of a paragraph thinking, "How does he think like that?" Spanglish is a large part of Diaz's writing because it further emphasizes the messy transition from Dominican to American, from ancient curses to modern realism and how an awkward, chubby, adolescent dork gets caught up in the confusion of it all. However, the Spanglish isn't a roadblock for any reader, Spanish speaking or not. The words are expressive through tone and sound, so that the literal meaning of the short phrases that were precisely thrown into the story is not vital to comprehension of the plot. The novel flies by because Diaz writes in a conversational manner, a storyteller of sorts. As readers, we sympathize for Oscar and all his social failures but also question the source of his inabilities. Adolescent angst, or a curse of his family? Regardless of who causes Oscar to suffer from nerdiness, obesity and unrequited love, we sit enthralled in his story, his sister's story, his mother and grandmother's story, and the Dominican story. The sarcasm and ease with which the book is written makes The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao less of a novel and more of a movie. A story that hits every emotion, crying at points, laughing at others, Oscar Wao is a true gem in modern literature because it's focus is the language and not some convoluted and yet trite plot. A great light read, one of the best I've read this year. |
Come for the language -- stay for the wonder
| Customer Rating: | It takes cojones to promise that a story will be wondrous; indeed, that very word kept me from reading the book for several weeks. Wonder, which I associate with "the world of Disney," is usually something to avoid for fear of marketing. It's by no means the state of mind of most readers as they read Díaz's multi-voiced text. Oscar seems sad, pathetic, amusing, and stubborn - even his heroic act of romantic rebellion in the novel's climax seems as adolescent as his taste in literature. And yet it lingers, perhaps because the novel's poignant sadness has such deep roots in reality. The whole story has the pop quality of a comic book or fantasy fiction, but the exaggeration doesn't prevent the reader from becoming immersed in the deeper currents of feeling in the family Cabral. Engrossed in juggling Dominican history, family narrative, and allusions from the worlds of fantasy, anime, comics, video games, music, and literature, the reader finds himself increasingly bound to the characters, despite whatever feelings he may have about their personalities or the storyteller's hyperbole. Indeed, the distance between reader and narrative is a lot like the narrator's distance from the family he describes. It's clear that the author knows a thing or two about how books have worked in the past and what might be appropriate for this particular cultural moment. The result is a novel that feels post-modern but not at all trendy. Wonder is part of the game plan, and as days separate the reader from the last page it increasingly becomes the keynote. The story seemed ordinary, the language seemed funny and light, and yet even a month later I'm still moved when I remember the story. I wonder how he made that happen?
The spectacular thing about this book, though, is the language. From first page to last this is a Spanglish aria, full of irreverence, zest, and rude truth. It's a swaggering performance reeling with new phrases and fresh combinations. It reminds me of listening to a song by M.I.A. - there are bits and pieces of stuff I've heard on the street, but it's a whole new mash-up. I laughed from beginning to end, whether at the jokes or the sheer vitality of the narrator's self-assertion. The women's narrations sometimes sounded too much like the narrator, but they seemed like a game though limited attempt on his part. I'm not at all sure what Diaz might sound like apart from Yunior, but that requires closer examination of his other works. I'm eager to read Drown, but for the time being it's great to just hang out in the company of this narrator and listen to the sound of his voice, which has all the authenticity (and delightful artifice) of Huck Finn. I wouldn't write a history paper based on the Dominican history in the footnotes, but for readers just getting their feet wet in the Trujillan swamp or for people who know the story from writers like Vargas Lllosa, it's a strong and emotional version of the truth. Inviting deeper engagement with the "facts," Oscar Wao takes its place on the shelf beside texts like One Hundred Years of Solitude and Midnight's Children as an historical novel of the near-past and present.
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Well-deserving of the Pulitzer!
| Customer Rating: | After Junot Diaz's collection of short stories was released some years ago, the eyes of the literary world waited, with much anticipation, for the results of his first full-length attempt. By all accounts, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao did not disappoint and went on to win the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for long fiction.
This story of a 300-lb, D&D loving, fantasy-adventure writing, Dominican nerdboy is funny, tragic, pitiful and sweet all at the same time. Told through the voices of those who know him best, it is a wonderfully fleshed-out account of a young man's life viewed from the many different angles and points that give us all our form, and never is it clearer than when driving home the point that no one of us is an island, and that no matter how we fight it, we are to some extent - more than most of us would probably like - products of our heritage, our upbringing, and the actions and words of those who love us - and, just as significantly or perhaps even more so, those who don't.
This book is all straight talk - nothing flowery here. At times vulgar and crass, even a little shocking, it might make your eyes widen a few times, but at least it's with feeling. I particularly enjoyed the viewpoint given by Lola, Oscar's sister, as she rages with her dying mother, who is no less a controlling tyrant even when facing death. If I were to express one wish to Mr. Diaz, it would be to write a companion novel just about Lola.
I don't think I've ever before read a novel where the subject matter varies so widely and vividly, from Oscar's obsession with the fantasy genre to the brutal reign of Rafael Trujillo, the former president of the Dominican Republic. You might wonder how on earth these two subjects could meet in one book, but they do, and in a way that makes you see how inseparable they really are. The past figures so prevalently in the present - and the future, one presumes - that it can't be ignored or glossed over.
Many, like me, have puzzled over the name. Oscar Wao? Is he Asian? I thought he was Dominican? Does he have an Asian father? Well, that question too is answered about halfway through, and like every other circumstance surrounding Oscar's life, it's both funny and a little sad, and not even close to what you probably think it is!
A good and thought-provoking read, in my opinion. Oscar is a character sure to stay with you for awhile.
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a blend of two worlds
| Customer Rating: | | Reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao feels a bit like a Spanish lesson. That is, if you are learning Spanish from an average teenager in the DR, as Diaz likes to call it. Junot Diaz's brilliant integration of English and Spanish throughout the book not only creates a style that is rich in culture, but also reflects on the journey of our protagonist, Oscar, who struggles to find the balance between his American and Dominican identities. This tug-of-war between the cultures, standards, and stereotypes in America versus those in the Dominican Republic is a recurring theme throughout the book as Oscar, after returning to the DR for the first time in many years, decides where he fits in the most. Fitting in has never been easy for Oscar; he is our typical overweight, awkward, Sci-Fi-obsessed, Dungeons & Dragons-addicted, but still very lovable, nerd. For obvious reasons he has always had trouble fitting in at school, and even more trouble landing a date with a girl, which eventually leads to Oscar's many years of isolation, depression, and loss of hope. We wonder if these failures are merely results of his geeky, awkward nature or if they are because of something bigger: fukú. Diaz explains that fukú americanus is "a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World." This curse, that we learn has hit almost every member of Oscar's family, is evidently now hitting him, or so the narrator likes us to believe. This presence of fukú adds a mysterious eeriness to the story, but also serves to string Oscar into his family's common experience with the curse. This reminds him, and us for that matter, that as much as he tries to assimilate and fit some American mold, he can never completely understand who he is unless he embraces his country, culture, and family heritage. Diaz's use of the stories and experiences of Oscar's family members is the perfect way, in my opinion, to show that all of this is an integral part of who Oscar is and who he will become. Diaz finds a way to throw us from world to world as he shifts protagonists, settings, tones, and even narrators, taking us on an exhilarating, yet sometimes bone-chilling, virtual tour of Oscar's family history. Junot Diaz's shrewd, intelligent, and incredibly fun novel will surely keep you on the edge of your seat with his relatable, authentic characters and their engrossing stories. His language is sprinkled with Spanish expressions, some of which you will go right over your head, and rich with authenticity, wit, and humor that he cleverly brings into his lengthy but fascinating footnotes. Although it took some pages to get used to Diaz's unusual writing style and cultural innuendos, I came to love the characters and really enjoyed the book. I highly recommend it! |
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