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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Terrible. Book. Don’t bother.
So I got this book from the library before the news that Díaz was sexually abusing people came out, but I decided to read it anyway. Perhaps my review is colored by that.
I liked the actual writing itself enough. It was flowery and poetic. But the author is not good at writing characters, particularly women. Also, I was confused by where some of the chapters fit in.
I liked the actual writing itself enough. It was flowery and poetic. But the author is not good at writing characters, particularly women. Also, I was confused by where some of the chapters fit in.
After hearing and attending interviews and talks by Junot Diaz around the time this book came out, I knew I had to read this immediately. Junot Diaz is unlike any other public intellectual, academic, or author I have known of. His words were incredibly refreshing, honest, and challenging. But also unsettling and even disturbing. But something about the way his mind works gave voice to so many things I have thought about and experienced. So I read the book. As much as I wanted to insulate myself from the hype, this was an incredible book. Diaz fills such a short space with such immense history and feeling and truth. If you want to know about the immigrant experience, this is one of the most honest voices out there. Diaz's is one of the most honest and significant Latino voices out there. These are not easy stories to read. They touch on aspects of masculinity, sexuality, race, abuse, colonization, relationships, that are painful and not often talked about. Yunior, is a complex, wounded young man who caries in himself the contradictions, transgressions, compulsions, evils, hopes, and aspirations of a colonized people. Of immigrants. Of men of color. Of Third World men in First World ghettos. No author I know articulates these experiences like Diaz. Highly recommended.
interesting view into the Dominican culture. more like short stories strung together than a novel. most are about the same character, but a couple are totally random.
It’s hard to prepare yourself for anything by Junot Díaz. This book isn’t quite a book of short stories, but it isn’t quite a novel; it’s apologetic and defensive at the same time, and it’s pitiable and disgusting all at once. The writing is impeccable, the style is slick, and the story is incredibly seductive. This book is, in short, sexy as hell. And I loved it.
Note: This book is significantly more enjoyable if you have a working knowledge of Spanish.
Note: This book is significantly more enjoyable if you have a working knowledge of Spanish.
I just finished this book, the first I've read by Diaz. This was recommended to me in real life, and through various top ten lists that have been popping up at the end of this year. I'm still processing here-- trying to decide if I liked it, or was just wooed by the words. Reviewers were not lying about the lyricism in his prose. I enjoyed the Spanish phrases mixed in, and the realistic voices that the author crafted. I was slightly jarred by some of the slurs, though. Overall, this was a good read, and I plan on reading more from Junot Diaz.
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wonder how much of this book is autobiographical...