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A review by bookishflaneur
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
on earth we’re briefly gorgeous rearranged something in me. it’s a fragmented yet somehow whole narrative: memories and vignettes aren’t sequential thoughts but occurrences, invasive. i felt a penumbra of emotions throughout this read that was discomforting and devastating - but in a way that calls to you. this book says, here we’re trying to define ourselves. to find ourselves. to make sense of the violence from which we were born and see that there was still beauty there.
the short novel is a son’s letter to his mother, who cannot read but wants to know; what is writing? how do we unravel ourselves onto a page? what are these combinations of letters and words that attempt define the complex nature of our existence and history? to be a writer, answers little dog through the structure of this book, is not linear but meandering and both the good and the the devastating are of consequence. reading this book felt like capturing and examining one snowflake at a time - some similar to others, but few and far between - and trying to make sense of the world of white that is slowly enveloping your field of vision.
on earth we’re briefly gorgeous is a wrenching narrative that deals with being a child of the vietnam war, of being a first generation immigrant, of discovering a queer identity. it’s about how our identity and our history simultaneously complete us and wear at us, and how our existence is so vivid for such a small fragment of time that.. on earth we’re briefly gorgeous
i fucking loved this book.
the short novel is a son’s letter to his mother, who cannot read but wants to know; what is writing? how do we unravel ourselves onto a page? what are these combinations of letters and words that attempt define the complex nature of our existence and history? to be a writer, answers little dog through the structure of this book, is not linear but meandering and both the good and the the devastating are of consequence. reading this book felt like capturing and examining one snowflake at a time - some similar to others, but few and far between - and trying to make sense of the world of white that is slowly enveloping your field of vision.
on earth we’re briefly gorgeous is a wrenching narrative that deals with being a child of the vietnam war, of being a first generation immigrant, of discovering a queer identity. it’s about how our identity and our history simultaneously complete us and wear at us, and how our existence is so vivid for such a small fragment of time that.. on earth we’re briefly gorgeous
i fucking loved this book.