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A review by natalie_and_company
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
5.0
This was my first Ocean Vuong that I picked up. The anticipation was real, but before opening up the book, I truly had no understanding of what I was in for.
Ocean Vuong paints with their words. The imagery and wordplay as delicate as a single brush stroke, when combine with the weight and value of Vuong's words turns into a masterpiece worthy of the Louvre. They manage to evoke understanding that is completely unfamiliar to most readers, but feels as real as any other personal experience.
The juxtaposition of American conceptions of gender, and sexuality overshadowed by a dark history experienced is a physical representation of the duality that exists within Vuong. Their two sides of the same coin. I believe Night Sky With Exit Wounds, shows us one side. The historical, tramatic experiences that Vuong experienced in childhood. Similarly to Kendrick Lamar and his music albums Ocean Vuong's writing should be read in tandem with each other to get the true full picture of this person who lays everything bare.
Ocean Vuong paints with their words. The imagery and wordplay as delicate as a single brush stroke, when combine with the weight and value of Vuong's words turns into a masterpiece worthy of the Louvre. They manage to evoke understanding that is completely unfamiliar to most readers, but feels as real as any other personal experience.
The juxtaposition of American conceptions of gender, and sexuality overshadowed by a dark history experienced is a physical representation of the duality that exists within Vuong. Their two sides of the same coin. I believe Night Sky With Exit Wounds, shows us one side. The historical, tramatic experiences that Vuong experienced in childhood. Similarly to Kendrick Lamar and his music albums Ocean Vuong's writing should be read in tandem with each other to get the true full picture of this person who lays everything bare.