A review by brettpet
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
4.0
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao has been on my to-read list for years after the cover caught my eye at a bookstore, and I would say it mostly delivered. Like many other reviewers (and the obvious Pulitzer Prize) point out, Junot Diaz has an incredibly unique sense of prose. Some readers may find the half-page footnotes, swearing, and constant fantasy/sci-fi metaphors off-putting, but it all tied the reading experience together for me. I had virtually no knowledge of Dominican history before reading Wao, and having Junot break down the lasting legacy of the Trujillo regime into digestible terms made the experience much more enjoyable.
The shifting narration and timeline didn't bother me much, and made for my favorite chapter—Beli's school years and love affair with the Gangster. I do think characters are introduced and then abandoned a little too quickly in some places, such as the buildup with Oscar's love interest in college and most of the characters in Abelard's chapter (but I guess that's the nature of the human experience: you never know when someone is going to enter your life or be taken from you). I also think Lola was a little undercharacterized for how big of an impact she has in the story, but I suppose narration is the reasoning for that.
It sounds selfish but I think this book ends up at a 7/10 rather than an 8 for me is because of the ending. It's simultaneously finalizing and anti-climactic. The title of the book obviously indicates the story's inherent tragedy, but I wanted more development out of Oscar. We get a bit through his, but it feels finite given his main character status. Maybe there's an argument to be made that or Beli are the real main character, but it just let me down. I'm interested to read more of the Pulitzer prize nominees that this book competed with to see how warranted the win was—but this is still one of the most unique stories I've read in a while.
The shifting narration and timeline didn't bother me much, and made for my favorite chapter—Beli's school years and love affair with the Gangster. I do think characters are introduced and then abandoned a little too quickly in some places, such as the buildup with Oscar's love interest in college and most of the characters in Abelard's chapter (but I guess that's the nature of the human experience: you never know when someone is going to enter your life or be taken from you). I also think Lola was a little undercharacterized for how big of an impact she has in the story, but I suppose
Spoiler
Yunior'sIt sounds selfish but I think this book ends up at a 7/10 rather than an 8 for me is because of the ending. It's simultaneously finalizing and anti-climactic. The title of the book obviously indicates the story's inherent tragedy, but I wanted more development out of Oscar. We get a bit through his