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A review by natalie_davies
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This was a beautifully articulate bit of autofiction, one of my favourite niches in literature. It had some moving perspectives on issues and lives I'd not considered before, and read like the best prose poem. That being said, because of a few graphic sex scenes, I'm not sure it was for me.
As a piece of literature it hangs together really well, it's just not always to my taste. There were universal ideas peppered throughout that tied me to the narrative; I loved the about language and art for instance, as well as the intrinsic theme of family, but the explicit nature of some scenes left me a bit cold... I'm not 100% why that is though.
It could be because of my own relative disinterest in sex scenes in literature, or because seeing certain anatomical words rubbing up amongst the rest of Vuong's eloquent and graceful language felt wrong. Either way I found myself losing track of the things I cared about in the middle portion of the book, which is mainly concerned with sexual discovery with a fellow immigrant and Tabacco picker, Trevor. It picked up again after this section, once the letters had become splinters rather than whole paragraphs, but it never quite thrilled me as it did in the first 30 pages.
As a piece of literature it hangs together really well, it's just not always to my taste. There were universal ideas peppered throughout that tied me to the narrative; I loved the about language and art for instance, as well as the intrinsic theme of family, but the explicit nature of some scenes left me a bit cold... I'm not 100% why that is though.
It could be because of my own relative disinterest in sex scenes in literature, or because seeing certain anatomical words rubbing up amongst the rest of Vuong's eloquent and graceful language felt wrong. Either way I found myself losing track of the things I cared about in the middle portion of the book, which is mainly concerned with sexual discovery with a fellow immigrant and Tabacco picker, Trevor. It picked up again after this section, once the letters had become splinters rather than whole paragraphs, but it never quite thrilled me as it did in the first 30 pages.
Quick-ish note... Feel free to stop reading, I just need to ramble.
One thing that has definitely been impactful on my reading has been the gendered critique surrounding the text. I've seen discourse online comparing Vuong's style to that of Rupi Kaur, and taking issue with the idea of style over substance (a debate that's raged for hundreds of years). My question is; why do we consider one to be frivilous and surface level while the other is subversive and holds great beauty?
Is it because Vuong is very much subverting expectations of masculinity, having the courage to express his vulnerability, while Kaur is a of feminine expectations to ONLY dwell in these realms?
I'm not suggesting that the argument is this surface level, but it's a thought I had.... Maybe ignore this bit 🤷
Is it because Vuong is very much subverting expectations of masculinity, having the courage to express his vulnerability, while Kaur is a of feminine expectations to ONLY dwell in these realms?
I'm not suggesting that the argument is this surface level, but it's a thought I had.... Maybe ignore this bit 🤷
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, Child death, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Cancer, Excrement, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse