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adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, War
Moderate: Ableism, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Racism, Murder
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Vuong’s highly anticipated sophomore novel ended up leaving me with mixed feelings about it. I will preface this review by saying that I neither loved nor hated On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and I read The Emperor of Gladness with that indifference in mind. My reason for having mixed opinions is because, while I thought The Emperor of Gladness was a significant improvement compared to his debut novel, I didn’t find it especially gripping in any way. I think it’s a trite argument that it’s because Vuong is overhyped or something, but I hesitate a bit to shower this novel with the same level of praise and adoration that a vast majority of other readers gave it.
To start with the positive, though, what I really enjoyed about this book (especially compared to On Earth) was that themes and characters were fleshed out in ways that gave the reader a lot to think about. For one, I’m especially glad that Vuong pushed back with more force against the pristine and elite image of New England—particularly Connecticut—with close attention being given to the socially marginalized who are often left behind and (nearly) forgotten. The Emperor of Gladness is very much a found family novel, featuring a colorful cast of characters bound to make you sentimental, but it focuses particularly on the relationship between the Vietnamese American protagonist Hai, and Grazina, an elderly woman from Lithuania with dementia. Hai eventually becomes Grazina’s caretaker after she stops him from jumping into a river, which then leads to a revealing of the intricacies of history and memory impacting their relationship in more ways than one.
Hai’s relationships with his coworkers at HomeMarket are also worth highlighting, which continues the found family trope, but also served as an opportunity for Vuong to probe the question of what “hardworking” means for those who are not part of the elite, and if it actually leads to the achievement of the so-called American Dream. This inquiry goes hand-in-hand with Vuong’s rejection of the model minority myth, specifically that Hai is a college dropout working in the service industry, but he lies to his immigrant mother and tells her that he’s attending medical school in Boston. Vuong doesn’t offer the reader a satisfying reward for any of these characters’ hard work and struggles, though, and that’s perhaps what makes this novel so devastating, is the ruthless nature and vicious cycle that is capitalism.
I had mixed opinions about the pacing of the novel, as well as the deliberate choice to focus on a quotidian routine of sorts. On the one hand, I thought this slow meandering worked rather well to point out the damage of structural inequality: it’s not always immediately apparent in your day-to-day life, but once you do notice, it’s virtually inescapable. However, I ultimately found myself very bored on one too many occasions, and I wanted something more than constant purple prose about the mundane (though it was nowhere near as dense and overindulgent like it was in On Earth, to be fair to Vuong). There’s only so much lingering I can deal with before it becomes more frustrating than illuminating to me, even if there is a point to it all.
Lastly, I think the reason this novel didn’t entirely work for me is simply because my tastes have changed over the years. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’ve “outgrown” Vuong’s writing—and this isn’t to say he’s a bad writer or anything either—but it doesn’t have the same appeal to me as it did in the past. Again, I really do think there was far more depth in the themes and characters presented in The Emperor of Gladness, yet at the same time, I felt something essential was missing, though I’m struggling to place my finger on what exactly that might be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief
Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide attempt
Minor: War
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicide, Dementia, Suicide attempt, War
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Xenophobia
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
Looking forward to reading everything Ocean Vuong has yet to write
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, War
Moderate: Child death, Racism, Death of parent
Minor: Cancer
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:
Yes
this is such a kind book. Lots of laughing, crying, anxiety just ahhhh so many emotions in this beautiful book. Thank u Ocean !!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, War
dark
emotional
funny
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
Vuong is a great writer, a poet really. He has moments of wisdom in the mundane and poignant prose about life as a poor, directionless nineteen year old.
This narrative focuses on an opioid addict, Hai, trying to get through life in suburban Connecticut. Hai is lost and adrift in his grief and shame and all the lying he does to his mother. He's a live-in caretaker for a Lithuanian woman with dementia, Grazina, of whom reminds him of his own late grandmother. He works at an off-brand Boston Market/fast food chain restaurant called HomeMarket with his younger autistic cousin, Sony; they work with a host of characters, all of whom pass on some love and care for both Hai and Sony.
The pacing is slow—to emphasize how difficult it is to get through each day as an addict, how dull it feels to live in a world that could truly not care less if you lived or died, especially when you are as invisible as these characters: the fast food workers, disabled people, the elderly, immigrants.
Vuong writes with a lot of love and care for marginalized people in small towns; there were also lots of joy and funny moments in this. I really enjoyed the language jokes. Grazina calls Hai a "liggibit," of which she pronounces "LGBT" as a word; this immigrant humor of pronouncing an acronym as a word.
I will read anything Vuong writes. Loved this new book.
This narrative focuses on an opioid addict, Hai, trying to get through life in suburban Connecticut. Hai is lost and adrift in his grief and shame and all the lying he does to his mother. He's a live-in caretaker for a Lithuanian woman with dementia, Grazina, of whom reminds him of his own late grandmother. He works at an off-brand Boston Market/fast food chain restaurant called HomeMarket with his younger autistic cousin, Sony; they work with a host of characters, all of whom pass on some love and care for both Hai and Sony.
The pacing is slow—to emphasize how difficult it is to get through each day as an addict, how dull it feels to live in a world that could truly not care less if you lived or died, especially when you are as invisible as these characters: the fast food workers, disabled people, the elderly, immigrants.
Vuong writes with a lot of love and care for marginalized people in small towns; there were also lots of joy and funny moments in this. I really enjoyed the language jokes. Grazina calls Hai a "liggibit," of which she pronounces "LGBT" as a word; this immigrant humor of pronouncing an acronym as a word.
I will read anything Vuong writes. Loved this new book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Drug use, Xenophobia, War
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
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
More Stunning writing from the author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. Vuong's prose grows stronger with each book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Racism, Suicide attempt