Wednesday, September 01, 2010

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

This month's Book Club pick: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.  I picked this one for two reasons: it was a Rave & Fave, so I knew there'd be loads of copies at the Public Library; a non-reader friend had actually read, finished AND liked it.  Curiosity. 

So, the title tells you that Oscar is not destined to live for long.  For me, I spent the entire book thinking "...and how?"  Will it be the train tracks? an irritated girl? his unhealthy lifestyle? a freak accident?  How will it all happen.  And when it does... oooh, boy.

Things I liked:
- the prose (poetic and guttural at the same time);
- the footnotes (contentious, I know, as they could be very long, but awesome because I learned all sorts of neat history and they were written in an almost comedic fashion);
- the characters were deep (unlike The Mists of Avalon, which I didn't even bother reviewing) and had unique voices which you could tell apart distinctly.  When a new narrator began talking, you knew who was without talking any explicit mention
- the nerdiness: jebus, there were Sci-Fi references on almost every page, leaning heavily on Tolkien, Star Wars and Star Trek, with a good chunk of comic books thrown in.  This is the kind capital-L Literature that a fanboy would just eat up.  Honestly, it kinda made me want to read the LOTR trilogy, but then I snapped myself out of it.

Things I could have done without:
- the Spanish phrases which had no English translation.  I like the Spanish!  Why no English for us non-Latino types? perhaps in a footnote?
- Beli.  I know, I know, she's essential to the story, so you can't not have her.  She's awful though.  I guess the story needs her, but the world doesn't. 

Should you read it?  If you are at all into post-colonial or sci-fi or latino lit or magic realism or easy dialogue, I think you'd like it.  I'm recommending it for my Mom.  Do with that info what you will.

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