The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

by Junot Diaz

The most talked about—and praised—first novel of 2007, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize.Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister— dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fuku—a curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love.

• ISBN10: 1429560576
• ISBN13: 9781429560573
• Publish Date: 6 September 2007 (first published 1 January 2007)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Riverhead Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 338
• Language: English

Reviews

[jeannamichel]

Since this is a school book and I am unlikely able to find the time to write a full review on this book, I just want to say that this was fantastic. Not only is it so contemporary with its references and nerdy characters but I loved all of the stories.
When the title says "brief wondrous life," Diaz means it. So "brief" that Oscar will definitely make you cry. Not only did Oscar end up influencing the narrator but I think Oscar has influenced me in a way that makes me want to take a step back and see the world through his eyes.
This was such a wonderful book and I hope you all get a chance to read it because anyone who doesn't is missing out.

[layawaydragon]

My Notes:
-->Loving how it's all intellectual and then drops into modern vulgarity and slang.
POVs: Oscar's told by Jr. with intervening stories about this mom and grandad. It remains in past tense for all of them including Lola's, but Lola tells her own tale in her own way. And once you find out Jr.'s history and involvement, I'm REALLY glad for that change. It felt odd at the time, but I love Lola, easily my favorite character of the bunch.

-->Uses the n-word A LOT. I was put off by this, but I figured it's one of those times where, even though I hate the phrase, I had to lean into my discomfort. I'm supposed to feel that way but I need to be educated and improve as a person, so I told myself to buckle up.

-->You don't know who they're talking about when switching POVs until enough information is unearthed through the narrative. If you don't pay attention, you'll be lost.

-->So much talk about women's bodies, esp. “assets”, pussy, getting ass, cheating, toxic masculinity, men being animals that can't control themselves.

-->Only uses the rape to describe rape in ONE instance.
-->“Men don't cry” bullshit.
-->Don't find out who The Watcher is until halfway through approx.
-->Lots of great nerdy references
-->Double standard with “ugly” and/or fat women.
-->Depressing AF.
-->Disappointing ending.
-->Magical realism throughout, fuku, mongoose, singing, dreams.


FYI/Content Warning:
-->Fatphobic AF.
-->Homophobic
-->Uses “bitch”, “retard”, “skanks”, “putas”, “japs”, “fags”
-->Lots of young girls dating men 2 or 3 times older.
-->Rape
-->Slut shaming,
-->Anti-sex work.
-->Racism against Asians
-->Friendzone bullshit
-->Afro-latinx are abundant but there is clear colorism from within and racism without against blacks
-->Graphic violence,
-->DR vs PR and Haitian hate

After it all, I can't say I enjoyed reading about Oscar's “brief wondrous” life. Even the title now is tainted since it stems from a homophobic nickname. I found nothing brief or wondrous. It felt longer than 335 pages. It was depressing and sad and unsettling with all the problematic stuff. I kept waiting for the upturn but it kept sinking. And sinking. Jr finds solace that O didn't die a virgin, that the statement “No Dominican man has died a virgin” still holds true. But given the trauma and painful journey that ended with him finally thin, finally “being a man” and finally getting “rewarded” with pussy, I'm just put off by the whole damn thing.

I'm glad I listened to the audible version for the proper pronunciation, but it also means I don't know how to spell any of it or Google it. But I got everything I needed from the text itself, I didn't feel lost. Sometimes confused where it was going and what was the point, but still clear on the path paved by Jr.'s narrative.

On the other hand, I'm still glad I read it. I'm glad I made it through. I don't regret reading it at all. I feel instead rewarded for making through it and a better person. Depressed, but more knowledgeable, more understanding, more empathetic, more resolved to be better. Maybe that's a message lots of whites & non-Dominicans are missing here. Maybe that's why this book is so lauded while less problematic works gets ignored….

[rakesandrogues]

I'm giving this one a three out of five for now. Rating may be subject to change. I have to say that it took me forever (well longer than usual) to read this book. It took me a while to get into the book especially because of the different storylines. It took me an even longer time to figure out who the narrator was.

Out of all the different parts, I liked Yunior's story the best. I liked his reflection of Oscar's life during his years at Rutgers. (Even if technically you could say the whole book was a reflection of Oscar's life...).

The book got a little heavy on the politics which was a little drab for me. Not my kind of thing. I haven't taken spanish in over four years so whenever the characters would switch over the Spanish, I had no idea what they were talking about almost all of the time.

I guess my experience wasn't too bad with this book. Does it deserve a Pulitzer Prize? I guess.... I'm not crazy about the book but it was alright.

[Eve1972]

The author won the Pulitzer in 2008 for this novel, his first BTW and I can certainly say it was well deserved. This was a fantastic read from beginning to end and I especially enjoyed the bits of history of the Dominican Republic added in as footnotes. I will definitely be on the look out for more from this very promising author!

[jamiereadthis]

Okay but pummeling... both Diaz's writing and the story itself. I never cared like I felt that I should, and I came out black and blue.