Reviews tagging 'Racism'

”I am writing you from inside a body that used to be yours. Which is to say, I am writing as a son.”

A letter from a son to his mother who cannot read. A complex and compelling non-linear story about a Vietnamese family (the boy Little Dog, his mother and grandmother) living in Hartford. The letter follows the past, present and future of Little Dog and his family, with all the pain, love and care that life brings with it.

I cried until I got a headache reading this book. It is heavy, sad and beautiful all at once. The characters are deeply flawed (as people are) and their love isn’t always pretty. Ocean Vuong’s poetic prose is slow, thoughtful and haunting. One of my favorite reads ever.

Content Warnings

sing_to_me_paolo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This is beautiful and I understand why it's so beloved by so many. I just struggle with a book that has so little plot momentum.

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michaelapr's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

This was a beautifully written book that was heartbreaking in some moments, hard to read in others, and poignant throughout.
I was under the impression that this was nonfiction but it's actually fiction. I read it as more of a lyric essay with some parts prose, other parts poetry, and parts that still feel very true even after knowing some parts are fictional. All of these parts were connected through a process that seemed to appear on paper even when I know that the words only sound the way they do through a lot of editing.
This is essentially an exploration of identity, of an intense parent-child relationship, of the opioid epidemic through the eyes of someone who's friends keep dying, and of an ever present grief caused by trauma from wars of multiple varieties. Ocean Vuong does these explorations well by reflecting in a way that feels true.
The reason why this book falls just short of a 4 for me is hard to explain except it's probably mostly because of the end. The very end started to feel... looser to me than the rest of the book. The connections not as clear to me, the meaning of the table metaphor (was it a metaphor?) just out of reach, and the ending lines not clicking with me. This might've just been me - maybe if I read this again down the line I'd understand that part better. There were also parts of this that were hard to read. This isn't necessarily what made it not a 4 stars or above because these parts felt necessary, no matter how painful or cringe worthy. It's just worth noting to check triggers if you need to.
Overall this was a well written book that wants to make you think about important aspects of the American experience that many hate to acknowledge exists and Vuong succeeds in this mission.

Content Warnings

kwadi's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

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that01loser's review against another edition

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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

3.75

Content Warnings

anna_whitehead11's review against another edition

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challenging emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

3.75

Beautiful, lyrical prose - at times slipping into poetry - as the narrator, ‘Little Dog’, writes a letter to his illiterate mother, telling his coming-of-age-story as he figures out what it means to grow up as a Vietnamese immigrant in Hartford, Connecticut - and explores his homosexuality. At times difficult to read as it discusses (occasionally quite graphically) the violence and trauma of the Vietnam War, and its lasting intergenerational impact, but overall sensitive and revealing.

An important read to understand the Vietnamese immigrant experience in modern America - which raises interesting points of comparison to Cecile Pin’s Wandering Souls, in turn set in Britain. It very occasionally feels too rhetorical and creative-writing-student-y - perhaps heightened by the one-sided nature of the letter, which we know his mother will not be able to read - but this doesn’t detract from the overall force of the work.

Content Warnings

tellatrix's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

𝐎𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬

𝙾𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚅𝚞𝚘𝚗𝚐

Disclaimer: I’m unable to write reviews without including spoilers, so please read this expecting some.

This is a book I know I’ll need to reread at least two more times to fully grasp all the layers of meaning and messages the author is trying to convey. While I understood the main plot, the metaphors, poetry, and deeper themes often felt elusive. The connections between scenes and ideas required careful attention, and sometimes I got lost in the beautiful, yet intricate, web of words.

Maybe after reading more books, learning new words, or gaining more life experience, I’ll be able to fully understand what Ocean Vuong was trying to say. Right now, I can’t. If someone asked me what this book was about, I don’t think I could give a clear, straightforward answer.

If I said this book was about a Vietnamese family carrying the violence and trauma of war within them—something that shaped them, tormented them, and yet also made them beautiful—would that make sense? Probably not, and even if it did, it wouldn’t come close to capturing the complexity of the story.

This is a book you have to experience for yourself. Even then, you might not find all the answers on your first read—just like me. But I know I’ll revisit it. Each time, I hope to uncover new layers, new words to explain what this book means.

For me, though, this book wasn’t as sad as some might say. I found it more hopeful. Others may disagree, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of hope running through it. Hope for what? I’m not sure. Maybe it wasn’t hope tied to action or outcomes—just hope as a feeling, a quiet presence.

I’ll end this review with a quote that stayed with me the most from my reading:

“I miss you more than I remember you.”

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