Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

I just finished reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

I started it last week; picked up a copy at the Shakespeare and Co. near school. A former student of mine recommended it! (as did a good friend of mine). I finished it at 'Snice, over a bowl of potato leek soup and a cup of coffee. Crying like a baby at my table.

I loved this book. I loved Oscar. Oscar might be one of my favorite characters in literature. I felt so close to him, so much affection for him.

The novel goes into the lives of several characters, not just Oscar, or even primarily Oscar. But he, for me at least, was the heart of the book.

It is a the saga of a Dominican-American family, woven with history of the Dominican Republic and the melodrama of the main characters. Some very, very intensely upsetting scenes of beatings and violence. And then the less world-historic loneliness of the fat nerd Oscar...

The Brief Wondrous Life touched me deeply...

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