A review by mackreads324
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

emotional reflective

5.0

Ocean Vuong tells the story of Little Dog through a semi-autobiographical novel in the form a letter to his illiterate mother. The novel itself blends prose with poetry, memory with metaphor, allowing Vuong to shine through as both a historian and an artist. The text reads as stream-of-consciousness-like fragments, including memories, recalled stories from his family, and almost confession-like revelations to a mother who will likely never read them. His imagery highlights his and his immigrant experience and his family’s war-induced trauma in a way that is visceral. His use of language is clever and his use of metaphor is both painful and beautiful. It was the type of book that when you’re finished, you want to pick it back up and do it all over -but this time savor the words as you’re reading them.