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A review by ci_reads
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
"It's in these moments, next to you, that I envy words for doing what we can never do - how hey can tell all of themselves simply by standing still, simply by being."
I was so touched in a variety of ways by this book that my first reaction couldn't be formed in complete sentences: gorgeous, raw, haunting, shocking. Vuong's writing is very poetic, and may be too flowery for some, but I was extremely impressed by the true mastery of language and I loved how he incorporated the main characters feelings about language too, since as a linguist who studies language acquisition, it is abundantly clear to me that language and language ideologies are so integral to immigrant experiences ("One does not "pass" in America, it seems, without English.")
The book is written as a letter from the main character, nicknamed Little Dog, to his illiterate mother (with the assumption that she'll never be able to read it, which is why some parts are so explicit). It tells his story as a Vietnamese-American growing up in rural America, as well as interweaving the experiences of his immigrant mother and grandmother, and his complicated relationship to both women. The content jumps around a lot, but I didn't ever feel really lost. Rather the the quick movement from one anecdote to another felt like a natural expression of how one story and emotion leads to others in your mind.
At times, the content was very graphic and I had to put the book down and sit with it for a while before continuing. But overall, this just lends to how present the emotion is in the writing. I had to double check that it was a work of fiction and not Vuong's auto-biography because it felt SO real. I do think that people will be divided on liking the writing style, but I do highly recommend this book as a wonderful exposition on immigrant experiences in America and the multi-generational effects of war.
I was so touched in a variety of ways by this book that my first reaction couldn't be formed in complete sentences: gorgeous, raw, haunting, shocking. Vuong's writing is very poetic, and may be too flowery for some, but I was extremely impressed by the true mastery of language and I loved how he incorporated the main characters feelings about language too, since as a linguist who studies language acquisition, it is abundantly clear to me that language and language ideologies are so integral to immigrant experiences ("One does not "pass" in America, it seems, without English.")
The book is written as a letter from the main character, nicknamed Little Dog, to his illiterate mother (with the assumption that she'll never be able to read it, which is why some parts are so explicit). It tells his story as a Vietnamese-American growing up in rural America, as well as interweaving the experiences of his immigrant mother and grandmother, and his complicated relationship to both women. The content jumps around a lot, but I didn't ever feel really lost. Rather the the quick movement from one anecdote to another felt like a natural expression of how one story and emotion leads to others in your mind.
At times, the content was very graphic and I had to put the book down and sit with it for a while before continuing. But overall, this just lends to how present the emotion is in the writing. I had to double check that it was a work of fiction and not Vuong's auto-biography because it felt SO real. I do think that people will be divided on liking the writing style, but I do highly recommend this book as a wonderful exposition on immigrant experiences in America and the multi-generational effects of war.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent