 2008-11-16 - Not So Brief, But Just As Wondrous
Junot Diaz hammered the nail right on the Dominican head in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. A curse that was born out of love and fear, that follows a family for generations, and ends with tragedy kept me glued to this book (and away from my homework unfortunately). For those who don't like to read subtext (as there are a lot in this book) I'd recommend that you read through it anyways, as the author adds a lot to the background story. Overall, it was well worth the 3 days of reading.
 2008-11-15 - Self-indulgent and throws away its inspirational power
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is an interesting window into the life of the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, its protagonists are anti-heroes who get carried from one tragedy to another without making the smart choices that would inspire us or make us identify with them. I don't mind a story that ends with a downward turn, if it reveals something about life (Angela's Ashes) or has a clever ending we don't see coming (The Sixth Sense). If the point of the story was to knock down people who glorify an ethnic culture (Absurdistan), I suppose it worked, but I don't get that sense of the author's intent.
I was waiting for that kind of end throughout the long passages where the author self-indulgently reflects on Dominican Republic society, in a manner that suggests there is going to be magic, and then ends up being nothing to learn, nothing changed, nothing noble about the story's characters.
To those who've enjoyed this book I would ask, "What change in your life did this book inspire you to?"
Oh, nothing? I guessed it in one try.
So basically this is a book which is loved by people who confuse a happy ending, poetic justice, or something inspirational as "cheap", "too Hollywood", the same way some women say that "all men" are bad, because they've met a few bad men. Professional book reviewers have often lost touch with what it's like to invest time in a novel and expect to be entertained, educated, and transformed. Goodness no, that would be trite.
It's a fine book (3 out of 5), but the Pulitzer-level hype has gone too far, in my opinion, thus a bit of extra push-back in this review.
 2008-11-14 - One of the best bad novels or one of the worst good ones?
Part of the pain of this book is realizing that my life was so similar to Oscar's. Diaz is a brilliant writer, juggling historical nonsense, emotionally deformed characters and dense relationships. But at the same time the book has a super heavy feel. Like Oscar himself. And, like Oscar, there's a fundamental question -- sure, it's challenging to try to get at his core, but is it really worth the challenge?
Oscar is a heavyset loser who seems to be going balls out to try to be the biggest (damn pun!) loser he could possibly be. Diaz piles it on with international conspiracy, a no-luck crazy mama and on and on. The instinct is to love the underdog. But, hell, who wasn't an underdog at that age? Why can't Oscar belittle other people until he feels better about himself like I did?
Having said that, well, you know, it's good. So I gave it 4 stars.
2008-11-12 - Joys, suffering, fears and passions
This is a terrific book. I'm not usually so colloquial in my reviews, but "terrific" suits the complete lack of pretense in this book. Oscar Wao is a wonderful portrait of Dominican life. Junot Dias's language is filled with love for life, in all its joys, suffering, fears and passion. His language is a rich landscape for the reader to traverse. His protagonists experience the world in vivid, at times unbearable technicolor. The story itself becomes almost background music for the vibrant people who inhabit it. In short, you'll feel wonderfully surrounded by Hispanic, and particularly Dominican, life as you read this book.
I listened to Oscar Wao unabridged on audio CD, narrated by Jonathan Davis and Staci Snell. Both do a fine job portraying the emotion and sensitivity of the characters, voiced in Spanish-accented English that adds a musical lilt to the narrative.
This audio CD also included "Drown", Dias' short story collection, narrated by Jonathan Davis. The collection is another highly enjoyable immersion in Dominican story and culture, filled with a library of rich images.
2008-11-11 - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
This book is amazing!! It truly took my breath away, so very vivid with much accurate historical data intertwined, I cannot fully express my pleasure as I read this book. I actually wanted it to continue. I believe Mr. Junot Diaz to be a wonderfully talented author and I can't wait for his next book. I would recommend this book to one and all who truly enjoy fantastic literature.
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