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

Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

39 reviews

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.”

Content Warnings

archaicrobin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

This is without a doubt one of the most beautiful books I have ever read (or technically listened to). Ocean Vuoung writes beautifully and completely destroyed me at the same time.

Written as a letter to his illiterate mother who fled Vietnam during the war, Little Dog shares his struggles growing up as a gay Vietnamese man in America at a time where tolerance was almost non-existent. You hear about his mother’s story of survival, along with that of his grandmother’s. You hear about the horrific things his family has endured and that he has endured at the hands of his family. So much emotion is in this book, it completely destroyed me.

I highly recommend this novel and if you can, get the audiobook so you can hear Ocean’s narration of it! This is one I’ll be thinking about for awhile….

Content Warnings

hannasandmann's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

Content Warnings

radfordmanor's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

mareike_df's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

2.75

I am sorry, u r supposed to like this book but I simply cannot.
It's written like Goethes himself wrote it and the story is heartbreaking (and way better than Goethes Faust btw). But I just could not stand the long chapters where no sentence connects to the other. It is SO random that it is unnecessarily hard to read. The author has talent, that's obvious, but it's also obvious that this is his first novella.

Content Warnings