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 | The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Author: Junot Díaz
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Binding: Hardcover
Released: 2007-09-06
Sales Rank: 77
ISBN: 1594489580
Edition:
Cover
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 2008-07-24 - Funny, Poignant, DELIGHTFUL, and Real
Just read it -- that is all there is to say. This is the best of contemporary fiction, a justification for compulsive reading -- you keep exploring until you find something like this! The prose is honest, down-to-earth, and refreshing -- I can't remember the last time I laughed so much reading a book. (And I tend to read at my lunch hour, so I know there were a lot of people staring as I laughed and gasped in delight.) I am still absolutely capitivated by Oscar, and I have ordered extra copies of the book, but I know I will be giving them out as gifts for some time to come. Truly "wondrous." -- Una Morena
 2008-07-23 - Disappointing...how did this rate 4 stars?
I chose this book based on the rave-reviews it received on Amazon.com. I couldn't finish the book. It was difficult to read, difficult to follow and I felt nothing for the main character. I'm losing faith in Amazon's rating system. I read this book a few months ago and at that time it had a 5 star rating. How did that happen? I'm not surprised to see it's dropped a star. Needs to lose a couple more in my opinion!
 2008-07-17 - Derogative Spanish words
A reader with knowledge of Spanish will find this book more enjoyable then I. The Spanish sentences, terms & descriptions were foreign and distracted my reading pleasure. Spanish words were on every page. I did not know what an Abeula was so did not understand with whom Lola was staying with until pages later. I'm not sure if La Inka is a term or proper name. Why was there so much Spanish? I did not understand parting words, what was said to the burned girl etc. Furthermore many were slang Spanish so even a dictionary will not give a full meaning to a non Spanish reader. The author certainly has an excellent English vocabulary. I can accept some Spanish words for effect or because they fit well but many times they were an annoying chore to deal with that interrupted the story and did not add to my reading enjoyment. As our country becomes more Hispanic will I come to understand more? But keep reading, the book gets better.
The author's forays into Dominion Republic history left me wanting more facts and details, without which my understanding was very incomplete. But hated the small footnotes as they left me still confused. Jerald Diamond in Collapse writes a short summary of Haiti and Dominion Republic so at least I understood the Haitians were considered a lower class & migrated for work.. I did get a feel for the culture by the books end.
The story is good. The time periods jump around a bit but the story comes together. It was a fun enjoyable story with good characters. A little crazy on the beating up but maybe that is part of the character of the people living in the Dominican republic. I certainly would not want to be a woman in this culture. Not much respect, with limited male selection of any value. But there is seldom time for pity, the story moves.
 2008-07-14 - Not bad, dude, but a Poolitzer??
Yo, dude, the book got a Poolitzer, right? So you figure it's gotta be pretty good. But after reading the whole thing, I'm thinking that maybe the Poolitzer committee, whoever that is, maybe only read the first fifty pages and then figured the rest of it must be just as good, because, you know, they still had a lot of other books to get through before making the Big Decision. And yeah, I agree, the first fifty pages are great. I mean you can see the dude's got talent, right? But he's like one of them guys that gets the gold on the 50 yard dash trying to run a 26K marathon. I mean, the dude runs out of gas, sabe? I mean that whole business where Lola, the sister, becomes the narrator: bogus. And the mother's story back in the DR? Even boguser. I mean the footnotes area cute idea, but after a while even that gets old. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe it's not so much that he runs out of gas as that he's using the same gimmicks over and over and over and after a while, the novelty wears off. Reminds me of a lot of Vonnegut's stuff: great sprint out of the gate, but barely makes it to the finish line. As for Oscar, I sort of felt sorry for him, I even kinda liked him, you know, especially in the beginning, but by the time I got to the end, I realized I really didn't care what happened to him. Sorry, Yunior. I really wanted to, you know?
2008-07-14 - Worthy of the Prize
A common theme of novels on the immigrant experience is the success or failure of achieving in America or blending in with the culture. Here the focus in not the American experience, but on an inability to leave the past behind.
The writing is raw and replete with Spanish phrases/words that you can use a dictionary to decode or glean the meaning from the text. I had trouble determining the voice, and an Amazon review set me straight as to who is narrating the chapters.
The narrators believe that a curse, the "fuku" shapes the family's destiny. The story provides a more rational foundation for the family's troubles. The insecurity of childhood and peer rejection play the big role in emotions and hence the fates of Oscar and his mother. Both have the strong need to love and offer loyality for it. Due to their youth and the absence of first hand knowledge of their grandfather and father respectively, both expect loyalty which leads to parallel trauma for the mother and son.
Besides illustrating a contemporary immigrant experience, the book provides a history lesson on the Dominican Republic. One learns how the Trijillo dictatorship affected the lives of the people and bred the societal instability that followed it.
Throughout, the book seems real. The writing is spare, but clearly conveys the characters, their worlds and their choices.
I don't think that the word "wonderous" in the title or the childlike red silouhette (albeit blood splattered) on the cover accurately convey the reality inside the cover.
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