A review by floki56
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Modern classic.

I was expecting a very specific book when I picked this up but Ocean really delivered in a different way. Internal conflicts and interpersonal dynamics are a main focus, and he weaves so many areas of little dog’s life into a satisfying synthesis. He also loves metaphor, goes on for pages and pages explaining new revelations in little dog, sometimes using extremely explicit descriptions (
quite a lot about feces and it’s relation to the soul and shame, multiple sex scenes
) Extraordinarily written book. Take your time through it; Vuong’s prose unsurprisingly reads a bit like poetry (in the best way possible).
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