Adventures in Reading: "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" By Junot Diaz

I've tried to write this post three or four times now. I'm not sure why it's taking me so long. Anyway...

This book won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. I mean, if that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is. I was also told by several people that I had to read it, and I think I actually boxed out a librarian in order to check it out. And it didn't disappoint. It's vivid and heartbreaking and funny and disturbing. Never boring.

The story of Oscar is told by an unnamed narrator who we eventually learn is a character in the story. The narration is deceptively casual, using slang (a lot of which is in spanish), footnotes and references to science fiction and fantasy literature. However, despite the informal feeling of the narration, the story is tight and rarely dull or dragging.

The book is broken up into several parts which focus on Oscar, his sister or his mother, and how their stories weave together. Their stories are heavily influenced by their Dominican heritage, and their family's belief that they live under a curse. Because of the skipping around between characters, there tend to be gaps in the story, though these are mostly filled in by the end. You have to focus on each individual story as it's told and trust that the narrator will give you the whole story by the end.

There is also quite a bit of Dominican history scattered throughout the story, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It's not always an easy read, both because of content and structure, but it's definitely worth the time and effort.

** I feel like this post is missing something, but I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe that's why it's taken me so long to actually write this post. I probably waited too long between finishing the book and sitting down to type this. If I come up with some sort of epiphany about what else I need to say about it, I'll come back and edit it.