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

This book was difficult for me to get into and I felt dumb quite a few times for not being able to follow the writing style. I didn’t always understand what was happening, when, where, and with whom. I wonder if reading the physical copy would have been better for my brain.

Little Dog’s narration jumps around through the years and generations of his family, sharing the hardships of their survival. Parts of the story are upsetting. Even though I am an emotional person I did not shed a single tear while listening to this book. Probably because I didn’t get into the story or characters.

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lia_mills's review against another edition

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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

3.5

Method: audiobook

To be honest, I found Part I of this book to be difficult to get through, in a "this feels like homework" kind of way (and this is coming from someone who usually enjoyed doing English homework).

I suspected choosing the audiobook may have been a mistake - this book uses a lot of poetic language in a way that often works on the page but can be a little exhausting to listen to, and the way the story moves back and forth across memories over years or decades, although effective in helping us understand the narrator, can be a little confusing in audiobook form.

But from Part II onwards it picked up for me - maybe I just got used to it. It's certainly an evocative story, with a lot of insights into the life of a shy, thoughtful, working-class, queer, Vietnamese-American young man, and a level of emotional depth that makes me understand why it's been so highly regarded.

Some quotes I found particularly interesting:

• "The thing is, I don't want my sadness to be othered from me, just as I don't want my happiness to be othered. They're both mine. I made them, damn it."
• "Too much joy, I swear, is lost in the desperation to keep it."
• "You asked me what it's like to be a writer, and I'm giving you a mess, I know. But it's a mess, Ma. I'm not making this up. I made it down."

Works (2) this made me think of:

• My Sister's Keeper (2004 family/medical/legal drama novel by Jodie Picoult): has a similar aspect of moving through time (although from a variety of different narrators rather than the one here), and a similar reliance on (and, to my mind, borderline overuse of) explanatory metaphor and symbolism.
• Call Me By Your Name (2007 coming-of-age novel by Andre Aciman): has a similar exploration of a secret MM relationship, from the first-person perspective of the more (comparatively) introverted partner.

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