Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

186 reviews

gaypoetree's review

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

wa wa wa wa waaaaaa. I love poets! I LOVE POETS!!!!! I AM CRYING OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me start by saying: when some people criticize the book as “too lyrical,” I understand and in some sense even agree. There are definitely lines in there that feel like they were inserted just because they sound poetic (though Vuong perhaps mocks this himself at one point, saying “that meant nothing but you have it now”), but that is very few lines in an almost frustratingly tightly-woven work. In some sense, those lines were a relief to me. I could brush something aside.

I don’t seek to rate books by perfection; that’s silly. Five stars, to me, is a work that made me consider the world in new ways, feel big feelings, and that I would– WILL– eagerly return to again and again. Check, check, check. Five-star book. The only book I own that is more dog-eared or underlined than this is the book that I used while writing my undergrad capstone.

To avoid this being too long, let me rest on what truly impressed me about the novel, and what edges it into prose poem territory in my mind: the very basic structure of the story reflects its overwhelmingly myriad and complex themes. I don’t just mean the way the switch between tenses relates to the conflict of switching between languages with different relationships to time, or how the invocation of parataxis as a poetic form also renders the characters as different images somehow modifying one another. I mean the little things, too. Theme: writing as a form of liberation that, yet, was given to the narrator by the oppressive culture. Expression: a repeated callback to beginning sentences with “and” or “because” (a thing he was taught never to do) in moments of resistance or of joy. Theme: navigating multiple languages of care, some of which are at odds with each other, often all at once. Expression: The abandonment of the epistolary form into something more obviously poetic when the narrator begins to speak of a personal trauma which is not familial, which his mother does not necessarily share. 

I need to stop before I get too excited again. Yeah dude. Good book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Drug abuse, Addiction, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Homophobia

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

violetbentbackwards1036's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Addiction, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Gore, Abandonment, Abortion, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, War, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

elbent's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely phenomenal. Unlike anything I’ve ever read. Made me a better writer just by reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Cancer, Sexual content, Addiction, Death of parent, and Drug use

mel_muses's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A beautiful novel full of nuance, grief, love, and ultimately self. This book is so vivid that I actually had to look up whether this was a memoir or novel. I may not have grasped everything, but I'm glad I read it and have this story to think back on. I know it'll stick with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, War, Physical abuse, Addiction, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, Excrement, Homophobia, and Terminal illness

pastlifetragedy's review

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Animal death, Death of parent, Abortion, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Cursing, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Colonisation, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Confinement, Classism, Excrement, Dementia, Cancer, Blood, and Vomit

earthsigil's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Abortion, Drug abuse, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Racism, War, and Homophobia

Minor: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Transphobia

thesoftestcowboy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Drug abuse, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Racism, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Cancer, and Animal death

Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexism, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Drug use, and Addiction

gentlethem's review

emotional reflective sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, War, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Drug use, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Minor: Terminal illness

lalu's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was very different from what I usually read. It was beautiful, confusing, challenging, desperate, touching, and intimate. Easy to read despite the extraordinary prose. 
But I have to say I don't envy students who have to analyse and interpret the hell out of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, War, Violence, Sexual content, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness, Racism, Gun violence, Death, Abortion, Mental illness, Cancer, Car accident, and Grief

shayh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Homophobia, War, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Cancer, Bullying, Abortion, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, and Car accident