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a_smile 's review for:
The Emperor of Gladness
by Ocean Vuong
Great book, but know what you are getting into. It is not a story that ends with *figuratively speaking* flowers and rainbows. It is a dive into the lives of people living in poverty in a post-industrial town in Connecticut. It is real and its ending is real as well.
The book follows Hai, a 19 year old boy working in a fast food diner who spends the rest of his time living with Grazina, an elderly woman suffering from dementia. The book is about addiction, depression, family, survival. But it is also about kindness, hard work, hope. My hearth broke for the pain of the characters, but became lighter when I read how everybody in their own way tried to lift each other up.
Now about the bit where theykill the pigs . That was one of the most disgusting yet real things I have read in a while. I love how it came back troughout the story, so I applaud Vuong for including it. But, did it really have to be so many pages. Probably, but my vegetarian soul weeps.
The book follows Hai, a 19 year old boy working in a fast food diner who spends the rest of his time living with Grazina, an elderly woman suffering from dementia. The book is about addiction, depression, family, survival. But it is also about kindness, hard work, hope. My hearth broke for the pain of the characters, but became lighter when I read how everybody in their own way tried to lift each other up.
Now about the bit where they