Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

346 reviews

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book is stunningly beautiful and raw. There are really no adequate words strong enough to describe the way Ocean Vuong writes, no way to describe how his writing is so lyrical and poetic that it makes your chest both warm and shiver after you read a particularly astounding line. Every sentence and word in this book felt so intentional and charged with meaning, and it felt so deeply personal in a way that makes you want to cry at how much pain and care is behind every word written to his mother even with the knowledge that she cannot read it. The metaphors, symbolism, incredible imagery, and seamless shifting of the narration between a present moment and a past memory were all masterfully used in this book to craft a story that will definitely stick with me for a long time. There were so many hauntingly gorgeous quotes I read that made me think of things in ways I never did before, and that is a testament to how thoroughly impressive and beautiful this book was and how immeasurably talented Ocean Vuong is.

"You once told me that the human eye is god's loneliest creation. How so much of the world passes through the pupil and still it holds nothing. The eye, alone in its socket, doesn't even know there's another one, just like it, an inch away, just as hungry, as empty. Opening the front door to the first snowfall of my life, you whispered, 'Look.'"

"All this time I told myself we were born from war—but I was wrong, Ma. We were born from beauty. Let no one mistake us for the fruit of violence—but that violence, having passed through the fruit, failed to spoil it."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and War

emilyvhennings's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Racism

yolie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This book needs you to take your time. Although the novel appears slim it is quite dense in terms of the content and Vuong’s prose. Some chapters read more like short stories and long form poetry than a linear account. The book has moments of absolute hopelessness, you’re shattered by Little Dog’s accounts of growing up an Asian immigrant in America, gay and poor. His one-sided and ill-fated relationship with Trevor makes me cautious (and sad) to say he is Little Dog's 'first love'. So much of their relationship is marred by Trevor's homophobia and recklessness. 

I wish less time was spent on that relationship and more weight was given to the other significant relationships in his life and the milestones he achieves in his adulthood. 

But there’s beauty in it too - a nod to the book’s title. Vuong/ Little Dog is able to hold so much compassion for people, he chooses to see them in their gorgeousness - irrespective of the brevity of that moment.  Long after the novel is over you’ll keep coming back to certain phrases, marvelling at how stunning and lyrical Vuong’s writing is.

One of my favourite passages from the book reads:
“Because the sunset, like survival, exists only on the verge of its own disappearing. To be gorgeous, you must first be seen, but to be seen allows you to be hunted.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Abortion, and Abandonment

Minor: Biphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Classism

rayo's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Abortion, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

So beautifully written

sydapel's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

There's a blurb on the back of this book that calls it "raw" and that's really all I've got to say about this story, these people, this writing. Its a book that requires revisiting, despite the heartache and suffering that almost leaks through the page, and it reminded me of the strength in remembering, of drawing beauty out of suffering, and oddly of the complex community of Hartford. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, and Colonisation

aiona's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

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

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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

___puddin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Humbling and harrowing. Utter acceptance at its most impactful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: War

kia_y_k's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Miscarriage, and Abortion

Minor: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, and Excrement