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yegua_blanca's review
3.0
"How I tried to tell you but did not have the language you would understand. Do you understand? I was a gaping wound in the middle of America and you were inside me asking, Where are we, where are we baby?
Beautiful writing that demands to be read slowly. Vuong writes so carefully that each moment becomes charged and meaningful, something that creates a life and is bound to everything that came before it. The past here is ever-present, an unwritten unseen cycle. Through the voice of Little Dog, Vuong is probing in his exploration of trauma, war, race, sexuality, immigration, and language.
At times it felt like the author was so steeped in the beauty of the writing, the form of language, that it took away from the intimacy. Some fragments felt impenetrable. Maybe this was meant to mirror the gap in language between mother and son? The failings of the English language in conveying the life lived in between them? Either way, I was left wanting more moments of clarity. Some moments, too, felt strained, the musings fake-deep in a way that made me embarrassed for their inclusion in the pages. They felt out of place in a book that feels so deliberate.
jstaton's review
4.0
Still thinking about this one - I may have more to say after discussion at the book club.
curiouspeas's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
hemlockpine's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
3.5
nattyspaghetti's review
reflective
medium-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
3.5
afroditi's review
3.0
This was a difficult book to go through. It is very emotional and traumatizing. I found myself stopping at times and switching to another book because it was too much for me. There is a vast variety of topics that are handled in this books and they are handled beautifully.
Why the three stars then you may ask after reading what I just wrote. The writing style did't always work for. There were absolutely beautiful moments like when the writer tries to explain the burden of the language. The women in his life are not fluent in english which puts a huge responsibility on little dog to translate for them. English is the only way to make them eligible and legible but the same language is growing the gap between them. There are other moments also, where I felt that the prose was too forced, the author trying to get profundity without saying much which made those parts not understandable. This type of language may work in poetry but it is not always working in novels. That is my main complaint about the book. My other complant is that because the books is written in vignettes the story feels at times incoherent. I understand that the purpose of the author was to write a fragmented story representing our memories, the way they come to us fragmented and in no chronological order. Still it the story left me wanting because it was incomplete.
I would definitely recommend this book. It is haunted and haunting, but I feel that despite its flaws it manages to transfere a huge amount of emotions, experiences and memories in such short space (the whole book is 189 pages). This is for me an admirable achievement.
Why the three stars then you may ask after reading what I just wrote. The writing style did't always work for. There were absolutely beautiful moments like when the writer tries to explain the burden of the language. The women in his life are not fluent in english which puts a huge responsibility on little dog to translate for them. English is the only way to make them eligible and legible but the same language is growing the gap between them. There are other moments also, where I felt that the prose was too forced, the author trying to get profundity without saying much which made those parts not understandable. This type of language may work in poetry but it is not always working in novels. That is my main complaint about the book. My other complant is that because the books is written in vignettes the story feels at times incoherent. I understand that the purpose of the author was to write a fragmented story representing our memories, the way they come to us fragmented and in no chronological order. Still it the story left me wanting because it was incomplete.
I would definitely recommend this book. It is haunted and haunting, but I feel that despite its flaws it manages to transfere a huge amount of emotions, experiences and memories in such short space (the whole book is 189 pages). This is for me an admirable achievement.
_jmperfeito_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
leseine's review
4.5
I loved the writing style, it really did read like poetry and prose. The cuts between stories was also interesting, the way he cut between two stories within the same space but it never felt stilted was brilliant. looking forward to reading his next novel, really loved this one.
hareen's review
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0