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gone_awry's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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? Yes
4.5
An incredible and poetic work of creative non-fiction. Sad and joyous in unequal yet equally significant measure. The author pushes you to question how the lives we lives and the family dynamics we exist within, are formed by the narratives we tell, retell, and edit as we live our lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Child abuse and Homophobia
imaniamanullah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
crying
the way he writes…. can’t deal with it absolutely cannot deal
it’s so beautiful i don’t know anyone else who can pull off a damn metaphor the way he does it’s crazy
the way he writes…. can’t deal with it absolutely cannot deal
it’s so beautiful i don’t know anyone else who can pull off a damn metaphor the way he does it’s crazy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Death
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and War
artemisg's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? Yes
4.75
I don’t know if I have the words to review this book properly. I am simultaneously numb and overwhelmed with feeling, and that feeling is both profound existential sadness and immense hope (?). This book was beautiful; every other page held lines I wanted tattooed into my brain.
This book is written as a letter from a son to a mother, telling the story of his life intertwined with his family history. As a family “born from war”, their history is turbulent and filled with tragedy. This tragedy made my heart hurt for quite literally everyone involved. But, the novel continued, diving into the beauty of loving and living, and the family became one “born from beauty”. The beauty they were born from has been directly transferred into the pages of this novel. I was somehow manipulated into loving and caring for seemingly unsympathetic characters because no one in this novel was truly unsympathetic.
Weirdly, it felt like a privilege to read this book. It was very intimate. I felt like I was crawling into Vuong’s brain and having a rummage through his memories. I loved how fractured some of the prose and ideas were; this made it feel like an actual stream of consciousness, a real letter to a real loved one.
Anyway, this review is borderline incoherent; all I can say is that this book is beautiful. Nice work.
This book is written as a letter from a son to a mother, telling the story of his life intertwined with his family history. As a family “born from war”, their history is turbulent and filled with tragedy. This tragedy made my heart hurt for quite literally everyone involved. But, the novel continued, diving into the beauty of loving and living, and the family became one “born from beauty”. The beauty they were born from has been directly transferred into the pages of this novel. I was somehow manipulated into loving and caring for seemingly unsympathetic characters because no one in this novel was truly unsympathetic.
Weirdly, it felt like a privilege to read this book. It was very intimate. I felt like I was crawling into Vuong’s brain and having a rummage through his memories. I loved how fractured some of the prose and ideas were; this made it feel like an actual stream of consciousness, a real letter to a real loved one.
Anyway, this review is borderline incoherent; all I can say is that this book is beautiful. Nice work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Transphobia
blueberry0531'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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Abortion, and War
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Racism, Transphobia, Vomit, and Pregnancy
riloreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, and Grief
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Abortion
draven_deathcrush's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Death, and Homophobia
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Genocide, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Vomit, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
humanmosquito's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Drug abuse and Homophobia
toriauricht's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Homophobia
Minor: Death, Drug abuse, and Homophobia
bookgirllife's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
It is simply impossible to overstate how much I loved this book. Ocean Vuong took my breath away and knocked me clean off my feet with this gorgeous novel. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is an epistolary of sorts, a letter from an immigrant son to his mother who cannot read English. I knew this was a 5 star read within the first few pages. The combination of the themes addressed in this novel with Vuong’s beautiful and brilliant writing makes for an enriching experience.
One of the many, many notes I made whilst reading this novel was “this is what literature should be.” I make no exaggeration when I say that I have underlined more than half the book from cover-to-cover.I have never connected with writing in this way before, which is why I regard Vuong as my favourite writer. He has a way with words that is unparalleled. There were many instances while reading this where I had to put the book down, take a breath and process what I read.
I think the reason why I felt so moved by On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is because Vuong details the experience of being an immigrant Asian child in a way that touches to my own experience. I saw so much of myself in Little Dog, in his way of existing, that I couldn’t not love this. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous depicts family as a complicated and layered dynamic, not devoid of its demons or its beauty. The generational trauma of the Vietnam War, and survival and violence are echoed throughout the lives of the characters.
Little Dog, the narrator, ruminates on life, on his history and his identity, on love and loss in its many forms. In this letter to his mother Rose, written in English, a language she cannot read, he creates a barrier and behind that barrier, he lays his truths bare. As we follow him throughout his life, we see the ways in which being a Vietnamese immigrant shapes his world view and his relationships with the people in his life. Through his coming-of-age, we are exposed to a fragile love, and beyond it, a reckoning with death and grief. Rose is a very complex character, as mothers tend to be to their children. She is compassionate and cruel. She is trying her best to survive, and to ensure her family survives. The relationship Little Dog has with his mother is perhaps the most important one in this novel. It is fractured by their differing life experiences. It is difficult to reconcile that your parents don’t really know you. Rose is tender despite all the tough things she has had to endure in her life. Little Dog sees his mother, not only in relation to what she is to him, but a person. A life. Lan, who has the most devastating story, is Little Dog’s grandmother. She is bold and damaged, her life touched most directly by the Vietnam War. Lan has such a wholesome relationship with Little Dog, very much the protective grandma. Trevor, who has an equally devastating story in an entirely different way, is Little Dog’s first love. He is wild and full of so much life and so many contradictions.
At its root, this is a novel about community and belonging as much as it is about being othered and foreign. A family is a community. A culture is a community. An identity is never singular. This novel is a series of life stories, tied together with vivid, lyrical and emotive prose. There is so much perspective to be gained from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. I highly encourage getting your hands on a copy. Absolutely, without a doubt, the best book I’ve read this year.
One of the many, many notes I made whilst reading this novel was “this is what literature should be.” I make no exaggeration when I say that I have underlined more than half the book from cover-to-cover.I have never connected with writing in this way before, which is why I regard Vuong as my favourite writer. He has a way with words that is unparalleled. There were many instances while reading this where I had to put the book down, take a breath and process what I read.
I think the reason why I felt so moved by On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is because Vuong details the experience of being an immigrant Asian child in a way that touches to my own experience. I saw so much of myself in Little Dog, in his way of existing, that I couldn’t not love this. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous depicts family as a complicated and layered dynamic, not devoid of its demons or its beauty. The generational trauma of the Vietnam War, and survival and violence are echoed throughout the lives of the characters.
Little Dog, the narrator, ruminates on life, on his history and his identity, on love and loss in its many forms. In this letter to his mother Rose, written in English, a language she cannot read, he creates a barrier and behind that barrier, he lays his truths bare. As we follow him throughout his life, we see the ways in which being a Vietnamese immigrant shapes his world view and his relationships with the people in his life. Through his coming-of-age, we are exposed to a fragile love, and beyond it, a reckoning with death and grief. Rose is a very complex character, as mothers tend to be to their children. She is compassionate and cruel. She is trying her best to survive, and to ensure her family survives. The relationship Little Dog has with his mother is perhaps the most important one in this novel. It is fractured by their differing life experiences. It is difficult to reconcile that your parents don’t really know you. Rose is tender despite all the tough things she has had to endure in her life. Little Dog sees his mother, not only in relation to what she is to him, but a person. A life. Lan, who has the most devastating story, is Little Dog’s grandmother. She is bold and damaged, her life touched most directly by the Vietnam War. Lan has such a wholesome relationship with Little Dog, very much the protective grandma. Trevor, who has an equally devastating story in an entirely different way, is Little Dog’s first love. He is wild and full of so much life and so many contradictions.
At its root, this is a novel about community and belonging as much as it is about being othered and foreign. A family is a community. A culture is a community. An identity is never singular. This novel is a series of life stories, tied together with vivid, lyrical and emotive prose. There is so much perspective to be gained from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. I highly encourage getting your hands on a copy. Absolutely, without a doubt, the best book I’ve read this year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: War