The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

I felt a little bad when I abandoned Middlemarch after 120 pages. I don't often abandon books, and there's always some residual guilt that comes along with it. But then I picked up Junot Diaz's The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and I fell head over heels in love on practically the first page. This is why I let myself abandon books - so I have more time to spend with the ones I enjoy.

The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is not just about Oscar Wao. It's about his entire family, going back to the time of his grandfather, who was cursed. The entire family struggles with the curse, coming back again and again to play out the same tragedies, unable to break free. But it's also about the Dominican Republic, the immigrant experience in America and diaspora. About not really being able to go home, but not quite fitting in in your new home either. It's about the toxicity of machismo culture, which Oscar struggles to live up to his entire life and Lola may or may not ultimately break free from (though Yunior certainly doesn't).

All of this is told through the lens of DR history, science fiction and fantasy references. The language is an electric mix of English and Spanish, tending towards the slang of both. It felt liquid at times, the way this story and these characters rushed into my brain. The language facilitates easy of reading, and I'm lucky to remember enough Spanish that I only had to look up a few words.

This book is a tragedy on an epic scale. It's not just Oscar's life, brief and small as it is. It's not even just his family. It's about the entire culture, the damage Trujillo did when he was in power. Old wounds that are still just as fresh today. The history is complicated, and not a subject I'm all that familiar with. But Diaz brings it alive through this personal story and a wealth of footnotes, delivered in the same breezy language as the rest of the book. I loved everything about it, and I'm looking forward to the continuing saga of Yunior and his inability to have a healthy relationship in This Is How You Lose Her.

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