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A review by dlberglund
Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos
3.0
This a book about a kid who doesn't feel like he fits in, no matter where he goes. Rico's parents are Cuban and he lives in a Latino neighborhood in New York. He, however, inherited blond hair and light eyes, and is mistaken (and hassled) for being white at his neighborhood school. He's hassled for being a sissy. He doesn't speak Spanish well enough to communicate fully with his parents. He doesn't want to join the junkies in the alleys. He doesn't want to go to school. He wants to write comic books with his artistic friend, Jimmy. Circumstances send him running out to Wisconsin to crash with his older friend from the neighborhood.
The parts about his disconnect are sometimes poignant. He's an The plot devices, however, seem sometimes trite or seem forced. I expected more from a Pulitzer Prize winner, and it sometimes read to me as a first or second novel. (The description of his childhood illness that led to being in a hospital for two years, resulting in disconnect from his parents and culture, seemed odd and out of place. I tried to not obsess about what the illness would have been or why it was handled the way it was. I then read in Hijuelos' biography that he was ill when he was three, and sent to a sanitorium in another state, just as his character was. I had wondered if that were the case, and was disappointed that it didn't feel like it rang true in this novel. I finally had to tell myself to just accept and move on. Accept the effects of it and move on.) I was also surprised that the novel took place in the early 70's, rather than in present-day, which was (for some reason) what I was expecting. Maybe I've been reading too many Walter Dean Myers' books, but I expected a modern look at association and dis-association in urban culture, not a look back at counter-culture movements in the 70s. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention to the marketing, but that expectation colored my reading of the book.
Even with all of these negative things I've said, I did enjoy the book. Rico is a sympathetic character. I want him to succeed. I want his dad to sober up and I want his mom to say something nice to him. I worry about where he can find success. I am on Rico's side.
The parts about his disconnect are sometimes poignant. He's an The plot devices, however, seem sometimes trite or seem forced. I expected more from a Pulitzer Prize winner, and it sometimes read to me as a first or second novel. (The description of his childhood illness that led to being in a hospital for two years, resulting in disconnect from his parents and culture, seemed odd and out of place. I tried to not obsess about what the illness would have been or why it was handled the way it was. I then read in Hijuelos' biography that he was ill when he was three, and sent to a sanitorium in another state, just as his character was. I had wondered if that were the case, and was disappointed that it didn't feel like it rang true in this novel. I finally had to tell myself to just accept and move on. Accept the effects of it and move on.) I was also surprised that the novel took place in the early 70's, rather than in present-day, which was (for some reason) what I was expecting. Maybe I've been reading too many Walter Dean Myers' books, but I expected a modern look at association and dis-association in urban culture, not a look back at counter-culture movements in the 70s. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention to the marketing, but that expectation colored my reading of the book.
Even with all of these negative things I've said, I did enjoy the book. Rico is a sympathetic character. I want him to succeed. I want his dad to sober up and I want his mom to say something nice to him. I worry about where he can find success. I am on Rico's side.