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bookwarmm's review against another edition
3.0
2.75 stars
Not really sure how I feel about this book.
It actually left me feeling disappointed. A book with such a beautiful title and such a beautiful cover and with so many people praising about it I did have high expectations.
A lot of the times while reading I truly thought it was beautiful... other times it left me feeling weirdly untouched by whatever was happening (good or bad). The whole of the book is carried by language I would say. Definitely a language driven book with some plot to it, which is usually my favorite type of prose. However On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous although its lyricism, did not move me at all for the most part. Especially the middle of it was hard to get through while towards the end I was more gripped by it. Still the ending did not feel satisfying and all I did was read the words without really feeling anything.
Reading about the daily struggles of Vietnamese immigrants living in the US was interesting and very informative and it is always important to find out more about racism still creeping its way through everyday life!
The supposedly beautiful language quite often felt hollow, blurry with no reason behind it though I am sure that Ocean Vuong has reason behind it and maybe the blurriness of the events and language was exactly what Vuong was trying to get across.
So yeah thats my white female view on this book... I might give it another try another time...
Not really sure how I feel about this book.
It actually left me feeling disappointed. A book with such a beautiful title and such a beautiful cover and with so many people praising about it I did have high expectations.
A lot of the times while reading I truly thought it was beautiful... other times it left me feeling weirdly untouched by whatever was happening (good or bad). The whole of the book is carried by language I would say. Definitely a language driven book with some plot to it, which is usually my favorite type of prose. However On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous although its lyricism, did not move me at all for the most part. Especially the middle of it was hard to get through while towards the end I was more gripped by it. Still the ending did not feel satisfying and all I did was read the words without really feeling anything.
Reading about the daily struggles of Vietnamese immigrants living in the US was interesting and very informative and it is always important to find out more about racism still creeping its way through everyday life!
The supposedly beautiful language quite often felt hollow, blurry with no reason behind it though I am sure that Ocean Vuong has reason behind it and maybe the blurriness of the events and language was exactly what Vuong was trying to get across.
So yeah thats my white female view on this book... I might give it another try another time...
katharim's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
nicinlos's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
conorcjoyce's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
csmoke85's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Animal death, and Cursing
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Mental illness
tobbled's review against another edition
4.0
I really struggled to rate this book. I considered 3 stars but it just didn’t fit. I’m not exactly sure that any rating will fit this.
I want to preface but saying that I loved this book, but the review might not sound like it. I’m a complete sucker for Vuong’s lyrical (and slightly pretentious) writing. I loved this. Did the writing feel somewhat ‘fake-deep’ at times? Yeah, definitely. At times the writing was original and thought-provoking and beautiful, at other times I’d read ‘laughter is trapped inside slaughter’ and want to put the book down.
I love the free-thinking, just thoughts on page aspect of the book. It’s the sort of writing that makes you want to read it in one sitting. And once again, most of the time it was beautiful. Just once in a while I felt like I was listening to shitty spoken word, or a GCSE drama performance.
My final issue with this book is one that I don’t really see mentioned in the negative reviews of the book. Anyone who bashes this book talks about the pretentiousness (despite praising any other author for that exact same pretentiousness). But my complaint is the sexual scenes and themes. It felt a lot like ‘Lie with Me’ (Phillipe Besson), which is a book I really did not enjoy. But I reckon if you like that book, you’ll enjoy this one. My issue with Besson’s work were the sexual scenes, and it was the exact same with this one. And before you say anything, I understand, I really do. I understand their significance and all of that, I just simply didn’t like them. The rest of the book is amazing, just not when he’s talking about hand fucking.
I think Vuong has a lovely and innovative voice - even if he does sound like a 13 year old on Tumblr at times.
I want to preface but saying that I loved this book, but the review might not sound like it. I’m a complete sucker for Vuong’s lyrical (and slightly pretentious) writing. I loved this. Did the writing feel somewhat ‘fake-deep’ at times? Yeah, definitely. At times the writing was original and thought-provoking and beautiful, at other times I’d read ‘laughter is trapped inside slaughter’ and want to put the book down.
I love the free-thinking, just thoughts on page aspect of the book. It’s the sort of writing that makes you want to read it in one sitting. And once again, most of the time it was beautiful. Just once in a while I felt like I was listening to shitty spoken word, or a GCSE drama performance.
My final issue with this book is one that I don’t really see mentioned in the negative reviews of the book. Anyone who bashes this book talks about the pretentiousness (despite praising any other author for that exact same pretentiousness). But my complaint is the sexual scenes and themes. It felt a lot like ‘Lie with Me’ (Phillipe Besson), which is a book I really did not enjoy. But I reckon if you like that book, you’ll enjoy this one. My issue with Besson’s work were the sexual scenes, and it was the exact same with this one. And before you say anything, I understand, I really do. I understand their significance and all of that, I just simply didn’t like them. The rest of the book is amazing, just not when he’s talking about hand fucking.
I think Vuong has a lovely and innovative voice - even if he does sound like a 13 year old on Tumblr at times.
baybater's review against another edition
5.0
a little harder to follow, really good writing/diction/syntax, heartbreaking, soulcrushing, enjoyed the embedding of different stories, although it was a bit confusing sometimes
jnnflwr's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0