Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

I’m a massive fan of Vuong’s writing and first read this novel back in 2021, I think. I loved the epistolary form and the ache of grief - and ultimately hope - that the poignant, incandescent words are infused with. Vuong explores the many facets of what it means to be human with stylistic emotion.

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dan_tee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

Writing this almost immediately after finishing and I'm struggling to put into words my feelings.

Part fiction, part autobiography, this epistolary novel presses a weight upon something deep inside me.

The prose is beautiful all throughout, as are the poems. In parts it's like reading a song, the author singing and baring their soul.

It's heartwrenching and beautiful.

This book is not written for me; a boring, straight white British man in his 30s. But that's not to say I didn't get something from it. Vuong exposes parts of him which rarely touch light, and in doing so illuminates memories and evokes feelings lost to me.

The areas which are foreign to me are made relatable by the carefully painted imagery he creates through the pages, and a direct manifestation of Little Dog, who glides between Ocean and the character, blending facsimile with truth so you're left feeling like you know both beings.

I'm sure people who can relate to the character more physically and culturally will get even more from this.

This novel is full of familial struggle, frustration, grief, poverty, death, and so, so much gentle but blinding love. The empathy Oceans writing displays towards everyone, alongside the open-hearted spotlight on Little Dogs struggles, acts as a pilot light throughout.

I need space and time to further process this. Like a stone thrown into the river, I'm sure time will dull some of the intensity this has left me with, but I hope the I continue to remember the weight of this, and how it sank me.

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stephengiles's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I was loving this book until about 70%. While I didn’t have a strong narrative thread and that was something I was enjoying it became a little too meandering and failed to stick landing. Overall I would strongly recommend it. It made me incredibly emotional and it’s unlike anything I’ve read before.

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astridrv's review against another edition

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I am so curious about the author's poetry now. This was a mesmerizing, gorgeous book, born from the five senses, a detailed attention to the world, an ear to the heart and beyond. I did feel it had the pitfalls of its daring: a lack of structure despite a love for patterns, parts that didn't fly despite most of the prose soaring, an occasional cliché despite such fresh and vivid images, too many rhetorical questions and aphorisms when everything is already there. But I loved it.

"And like a word, I hold no weight in this world yet still carry my own life."

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hannahnadeshda's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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lulaabees's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

presented as a letter to the author's mother, "on earth we're briefly gorgeous" is a deep dive into his experience as a vietnamese american gay man. i will be lucky to read another book like this in my lifetime. ocean vuong's masterful, raw prose does not let up, from the very first line and until the very last. this book reads like one long poem (i mean it as a compliment), one long confession, one long love letter. it is intense, incisive, and gorgeous in the painful way. it stays with you.

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kelisabeth's review

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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ssamdaly's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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