Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

178 reviews

gaypoetree's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

wa wa wa wa waaaaaa. I love poets! I LOVE POETS!!!!! I AM CRYING OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me start by saying: when some people criticize the book as “too lyrical,” I understand and in some sense even agree. There are definitely lines in there that feel like they were inserted just because they sound poetic (though Vuong perhaps mocks this himself at one point, saying “that meant nothing but you have it now”), but that is very few lines in an almost frustratingly tightly-woven work. In some sense, those lines were a relief to me. I could brush something aside.

I don’t seek to rate books by perfection; that’s silly. Five stars, to me, is a work that made me consider the world in new ways, feel big feelings, and that I would– WILL– eagerly return to again and again. Check, check, check. Five-star book. The only book I own that is more dog-eared or underlined than this is the book that I used while writing my undergrad capstone.

To avoid this being too long, let me rest on what truly impressed me about the novel, and what edges it into prose poem territory in my mind: the very basic structure of the story reflects its overwhelmingly myriad and complex themes. I don’t just mean the way the switch between tenses relates to the conflict of switching between languages with different relationships to time, or how the invocation of parataxis as a poetic form also renders the characters as different images somehow modifying one another. I mean the little things, too. Theme: writing as a form of liberation that, yet, was given to the narrator by the oppressive culture. Expression: a repeated callback to beginning sentences with “and” or “because” (a thing he was taught never to do) in moments of resistance or of joy. Theme: navigating multiple languages of care, some of which are at odds with each other, often all at once. Expression: The abandonment of the epistolary form into something more obviously poetic when the narrator begins to speak of a personal trauma which is not familial, which his mother does not necessarily share. 

I need to stop before I get too excited again. Yeah dude. Good book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Drug abuse, Addiction, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Homophobia

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Addiction, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Gore, Abandonment, Abortion, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, War, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

koiolee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

As we know, I'm a sucker for a book that breaks my heart and this book does just that. This story captures the experience of the invisible American. From the Asian-immigrant experience to the opioid crisis, this book covers so many topics in a short few pages. 
This book felt like staring into a mirror and for the first time seeing ourselves in the pages of a work that is almost unrelated to us, yet represents all of us. 
I really loved this book and I hope to read more of Vuong's work in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Child abuse, Biphobia, Drug abuse, Racism, Grief, and Homophobia

amandamuchmoreparker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, War, and Violence

thesoftestcowboy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Drug abuse, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Racism, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Cancer, and Animal death

Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexism, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Drug use, and Addiction

gentlethem's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, War, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Drug use, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Minor: Terminal illness

shayh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Homophobia, War, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Cancer, Bullying, Abortion, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, and Car accident

grcompain's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

Vuong’s story is as deep and captivating as his writing style. This was a beautiful and heartbreaking story that keeps you down allowing you to come up for only brief and humorous pockets of air. This story was real and vivid. The writing was very poetic and the imagery provided, drops the reader right into the scene in the best and worst ways. I personally disliked the amount of the gruesome and gory details (animal abuse and body horror) which of course added emotional value but also distracted from the rest of the page. I found my mind stuck on horrible images long after turning the page. This book is beautiful and fearlessly describes the gorgeous, and the terrible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Blood, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Abortion, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Racism

homoe's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Minor: Child abuse and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

lucyatoz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-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

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is Ocean Vuong's debut novel, however it reads more like poetry or prose albeit one that runs to 242 pages. A long letter from son, Little Dog, to his mother with a really moving account of the family's relocation from war torn Vietnam in the mid 1970's ending up in the  US state of Connecticut.  Little Dog is trying to figure out who he is as a half Vietnamese and half American person, having a difficult childhood, experiencing discrimination and prejudice for the way he looks and discovering and exploring his sexuality as a gay man and grieving the death of his grandmother.  

I appreciated the intertwining of the life stories of grandmother, mother and son and the wonderful writing style of the author although at times it does makes a story harder to follow. It is a beautiful first novel which tackles some difficult themes with grace, that is deeply moving whilst also being incredibly hard hitting.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Excrement

Minor: Cursing