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A review by bookgirllife
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
It is simply impossible to overstate how much I loved this book. Ocean Vuong took my breath away and knocked me clean off my feet with this gorgeous novel. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is an epistolary of sorts, a letter from an immigrant son to his mother who cannot read English. I knew this was a 5 star read within the first few pages. The combination of the themes addressed in this novel with Vuong’s beautiful and brilliant writing makes for an enriching experience.
One of the many, many notes I made whilst reading this novel was “this is what literature should be.” I make no exaggeration when I say that I have underlined more than half the book from cover-to-cover.I have never connected with writing in this way before, which is why I regard Vuong as my favourite writer. He has a way with words that is unparalleled. There were many instances while reading this where I had to put the book down, take a breath and process what I read.
I think the reason why I felt so moved by On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is because Vuong details the experience of being an immigrant Asian child in a way that touches to my own experience. I saw so much of myself in Little Dog, in his way of existing, that I couldn’t not love this. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous depicts family as a complicated and layered dynamic, not devoid of its demons or its beauty. The generational trauma of the Vietnam War, and survival and violence are echoed throughout the lives of the characters.
Little Dog, the narrator, ruminates on life, on his history and his identity, on love and loss in its many forms. In this letter to his mother Rose, written in English, a language she cannot read, he creates a barrier and behind that barrier, he lays his truths bare. As we follow him throughout his life, we see the ways in which being a Vietnamese immigrant shapes his world view and his relationships with the people in his life. Through his coming-of-age, we are exposed to a fragile love, and beyond it, a reckoning with death and grief. Rose is a very complex character, as mothers tend to be to their children. She is compassionate and cruel. She is trying her best to survive, and to ensure her family survives. The relationship Little Dog has with his mother is perhaps the most important one in this novel. It is fractured by their differing life experiences. It is difficult to reconcile that your parents don’t really know you. Rose is tender despite all the tough things she has had to endure in her life. Little Dog sees his mother, not only in relation to what she is to him, but a person. A life. Lan, who has the most devastating story, is Little Dog’s grandmother. She is bold and damaged, her life touched most directly by the Vietnam War. Lan has such a wholesome relationship with Little Dog, very much the protective grandma. Trevor, who has an equally devastating story in an entirely different way, is Little Dog’s first love. He is wild and full of so much life and so many contradictions.
At its root, this is a novel about community and belonging as much as it is about being othered and foreign. A family is a community. A culture is a community. An identity is never singular. This novel is a series of life stories, tied together with vivid, lyrical and emotive prose. There is so much perspective to be gained from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. I highly encourage getting your hands on a copy. Absolutely, without a doubt, the best book I’ve read this year.
One of the many, many notes I made whilst reading this novel was “this is what literature should be.” I make no exaggeration when I say that I have underlined more than half the book from cover-to-cover.I have never connected with writing in this way before, which is why I regard Vuong as my favourite writer. He has a way with words that is unparalleled. There were many instances while reading this where I had to put the book down, take a breath and process what I read.
I think the reason why I felt so moved by On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is because Vuong details the experience of being an immigrant Asian child in a way that touches to my own experience. I saw so much of myself in Little Dog, in his way of existing, that I couldn’t not love this. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous depicts family as a complicated and layered dynamic, not devoid of its demons or its beauty. The generational trauma of the Vietnam War, and survival and violence are echoed throughout the lives of the characters.
Little Dog, the narrator, ruminates on life, on his history and his identity, on love and loss in its many forms. In this letter to his mother Rose, written in English, a language she cannot read, he creates a barrier and behind that barrier, he lays his truths bare. As we follow him throughout his life, we see the ways in which being a Vietnamese immigrant shapes his world view and his relationships with the people in his life. Through his coming-of-age, we are exposed to a fragile love, and beyond it, a reckoning with death and grief. Rose is a very complex character, as mothers tend to be to their children. She is compassionate and cruel. She is trying her best to survive, and to ensure her family survives. The relationship Little Dog has with his mother is perhaps the most important one in this novel. It is fractured by their differing life experiences. It is difficult to reconcile that your parents don’t really know you. Rose is tender despite all the tough things she has had to endure in her life. Little Dog sees his mother, not only in relation to what she is to him, but a person. A life. Lan, who has the most devastating story, is Little Dog’s grandmother. She is bold and damaged, her life touched most directly by the Vietnam War. Lan has such a wholesome relationship with Little Dog, very much the protective grandma. Trevor, who has an equally devastating story in an entirely different way, is Little Dog’s first love. He is wild and full of so much life and so many contradictions.
At its root, this is a novel about community and belonging as much as it is about being othered and foreign. A family is a community. A culture is a community. An identity is never singular. This novel is a series of life stories, tied together with vivid, lyrical and emotive prose. There is so much perspective to be gained from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. I highly encourage getting your hands on a copy. Absolutely, without a doubt, the best book I’ve read this year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: War