Books : The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Rating: - Dear Junot Diaz
I hope you are the type of author who reads his reviews on Amazon because I have something to say to you personally. Recently after reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao for a bookclub, I was going back though the book to review it for discussion when suddenly I had an epiphany. Junot Diaz, you were playing me, putting me on something fierce. A mongoose as guardian angel! I had to laugh even more than I had been laughing before. I 'll never be able to read Isabelle Allende again with a straight face after your absurdist satire! You tiptoe along a fine line between postmodern irony and real sympathy for your larger than life characters. Of course, my bookclub thought I was all wet and wanted to discuss the symbolism of the mongoose totally seriously. In my opinion, in this age when the world is upside down from the way it should be, a book lacking irony seems old-fashioned and not very savvy. Oscar, Belicia, and Lola really came alive and I felt for them at the same time I realized the ironic pathos of the stories.

By the way, one person in our group refused to read the book because she was offended by the language. The language --its energy, its edginess, its humor, its flavor, its creative obscenity--was a major pleasure of reading the book..

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Rating: - Uneven
This book is really a mixed bag. Some sections are well-written and interesting. i liked the historical parts--about the effects of Trujillio as well as the author's travels back and forth through time. But other sections, particularly some of the gratuitous violence and urban lingo where he's trying to be ultra hip are annoying. Overall it can't hold a candle to other epic family tales, like A Free Life, etc. where the author is clearly much more talented and is likely to have a much longer literary career.

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Rating: - Dirty Book
Extremely disappointing use of the English language from a Pulitzer Prize winning author. His loose and unpretentious voice was inhibited by constant vulgarity and dirty images. This novel, in no way, compares with the greatness of To Kill a Mockingbird or The Grapes of Wrath. It is a good novel that misses greatness.

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Rating: - Wanted to Love it...
I wanted to love this book and I did in some parts. I enjoyed reading about life in the Dominican. The writing at some points was gorgeous. Didn't mind the Spanish phrases. It just sort of didn't go anywhere at the end, for me. It was a little long and not much of a payoff.

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Rating: - Bittersweet but at times frustrating
This funny/sad narrative of the family and friends of Dominican Oscar, an overweight sci-fi nerd, is a mixed bag of treasure. Each chapter is narrated by a different person in his life -- his sister, his mother, his college room mate, and of course himself -- and laced with Dominican history, to give insight into his "cursed" life. Parts are very touching, and other parts laugh out loud funny. Be warned though: if you are not bilingual or at least well-versed in Spanish, the book is heavily laced with spanish phrases that go unexplained (there is no glossary of terms -- maybe there should be). It is also filled with references to sci-fi and fantasy novels and role-playing games which may also be frustrating if you are unfamiliar with that genre. Still the characters are compelling and the stroy interesting. There is pleanty to enjoy -- just grab a contemporary Spanish-English dictionary and a Google the sci-fi references. :-)