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A review by bisexualwentworth
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Ocean Vuong uses the English language in a more lyrical way that pretty much any other writer I can think of. His prose in this book is just as gorgeous as his poetry that I've read, and the way he connects concepts and images is breathtaking and heartbreaking by turns.
The use of the second person was striking and affecting. The novel is written as a letter from Little Dog to his mother, Rose, but the overall effect is basically a dual narrator situation. It works beautifully.
The content is difficult. I knew it would be. It's very much a mommy issues book, which is what I expected from Vuong based on his poetry collections.
It would be wrong to say that I enjoyed this. I didn't. I appreciate Vuong's craft. I was deeply moved by many aspects of the story. I was triggered and brought to tears. I thought a lot about family and identity. But it's not an enjoyable book. It's deeply harrowing.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is also autobiographical enough that I would feel weird about giving it a star rating, so I'm simply not going to at this time.
NOTE: This book does contain sexual scenes between teenagers. These scenes are not written for the titillation of readers and are instead in service to the characters' development, but I still think it's wise to warn readers of this going in.
The use of the second person was striking and affecting. The novel is written as a letter from Little Dog to his mother, Rose, but the overall effect is basically a dual narrator situation. It works beautifully.
The content is difficult. I knew it would be. It's very much a mommy issues book, which is what I expected from Vuong based on his poetry collections.
It would be wrong to say that I enjoyed this. I didn't. I appreciate Vuong's craft. I was deeply moved by many aspects of the story. I was triggered and brought to tears. I thought a lot about family and identity. But it's not an enjoyable book. It's deeply harrowing.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is also autobiographical enough that I would feel weird about giving it a star rating, so I'm simply not going to at this time.
NOTE: This book does contain sexual scenes between teenagers. These scenes are not written for the titillation of readers and are instead in service to the characters' development, but I still think it's wise to warn readers of this going in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and War
I'm sure there are a lot of other content warnings that I'm missing, so please proceed with caution and care.