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A review by tanyamariereads
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
4.0
I wasn't sure what to expect while reading through this. There are so many mixed reviews of this book due to the controversy surrounding Junot Díaz in recent years. This book had been sitting on my shelf for a while and I was ultimately determined to form my own opinion of the story. I was glad I read through it. I wouldn't say it was a new favorite, but it certainly made me realize and remember the importance of reading other stories by Latinx authors.
The story starts off with a history of the Dominican Republic and its most infamous dictator, Trujillo. From there, the story of Trujillo and the story of the main character, Oscar, interweave into each other. It isn't a straight story line from past to present. It jumps from the past to the present, then back again, quite often and can be confusing at points, especially with the narrative changing from first person to a third person perspective in the first half of the book.
What won me over was the use of Spanglish in the narrative. I come from a biracial home where English was my native language and Spanglish was more commonly used than Spanish so it definitely resonated with me. I also loved the magic realism with the fukú curse that was set upon Oscar’s family, and the narrative shows how large of a role it played in their lives. The reader learns so much about Oscar's family history throughout the story and it's hard not to have high hopes for the family to escape the curse. As I got to the last few pages, I was sad to see it come to an end. Even though this book was long, the ending ties it all together. Not wanting to give spoilers, but the very end isn't an absolute resolution and is a bit of a cliffhanger. However, I think that's the best way to end an epic story of a family whose lineage lives on.
The story starts off with a history of the Dominican Republic and its most infamous dictator, Trujillo. From there, the story of Trujillo and the story of the main character, Oscar, interweave into each other. It isn't a straight story line from past to present. It jumps from the past to the present, then back again, quite often and can be confusing at points, especially with the narrative changing from first person to a third person perspective in the first half of the book.
What won me over was the use of Spanglish in the narrative. I come from a biracial home where English was my native language and Spanglish was more commonly used than Spanish so it definitely resonated with me. I also loved the magic realism with the fukú curse that was set upon Oscar’s family, and the narrative shows how large of a role it played in their lives. The reader learns so much about Oscar's family history throughout the story and it's hard not to have high hopes for the family to escape the curse. As I got to the last few pages, I was sad to see it come to an end. Even though this book was long, the ending ties it all together. Not wanting to give spoilers, but the very end isn't an absolute resolution and is a bit of a cliffhanger. However, I think that's the best way to end an epic story of a family whose lineage lives on.