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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Díaz
by Junot Díaz
This book was kind of disappointing. It had a lot of pages. I'd have to go check to see how many for sure, but only about 83 of them were actually necessary for the story. The rest of it was just filler swear words and phrases in Spanish that I didn't understand. Oh yeah, also references to nerdy things that I've never heard of, like fantasy movies and famous sci fi books. (Because I of course, am the epitome of not-nerdy.)
The whole book swore and swore and swore like a swearing sailor, and then every other word was "Spanglish". I don't speak Spanglish OR Spanish, so I was lost sometimes. I chose the unfortunate time to read this book to correspond with Dale (my Spanish speaking husband) being out of town. Not that it was worth following him around while I was reading the book, asking every 30 seconds for him to translate something. Plus, probably over half of the Spanglish parts were Spanish curse words anyways. And my husband always tickles me when I swear. (And I tend to pee my pants a little whenever he tickles me.)
It just wasn't that funny. Or compelling. How come the author got a Pulitzer Prize? I have NO IDEA. I think it is like the Emporer's New Clothes, where one smart person said it was good, so everyone else said it was good too, not wanting to seem like they misunderstood it. Then smarter and smarter people kept jumping on the bandwagon, trying to outdo each other in their love of the book, until some ACTUALLY AWARDED HIM A PULITZER PRIZE.
I bet the author is laughing at how dumb everyone is. I am the smart kid watching the parade who points out that the emporer is butt naked. Ha, ha.
I hoped this book would grow on me, but I never came around. I tried. I mean, my cat's name is Oscar, so I wanted to like it. But it was lame. Sorry, author dude.
The whole book swore and swore and swore like a swearing sailor, and then every other word was "Spanglish". I don't speak Spanglish OR Spanish, so I was lost sometimes. I chose the unfortunate time to read this book to correspond with Dale (my Spanish speaking husband) being out of town. Not that it was worth following him around while I was reading the book, asking every 30 seconds for him to translate something. Plus, probably over half of the Spanglish parts were Spanish curse words anyways. And my husband always tickles me when I swear. (And I tend to pee my pants a little whenever he tickles me.)
It just wasn't that funny. Or compelling. How come the author got a Pulitzer Prize? I have NO IDEA. I think it is like the Emporer's New Clothes, where one smart person said it was good, so everyone else said it was good too, not wanting to seem like they misunderstood it. Then smarter and smarter people kept jumping on the bandwagon, trying to outdo each other in their love of the book, until some ACTUALLY AWARDED HIM A PULITZER PRIZE.
I bet the author is laughing at how dumb everyone is. I am the smart kid watching the parade who points out that the emporer is butt naked. Ha, ha.
I hoped this book would grow on me, but I never came around. I tried. I mean, my cat's name is Oscar, so I wanted to like it. But it was lame. Sorry, author dude.
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Bobby
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Feb 07, 2010 06:13pm
i suspect abby would be better off reading ladies home companion or reader's digest rather than fiction that requires thought. it isn't that the review is negative, it is more the feeling that abby is simply not up to the world of literature, but more suited to ligher fare of magazines with big pictures and very little text. were there a single sentence in the review that actually dealt with any ideas in the book i would have held off, but, Abby, please, don't tax yourself any further, you just don't get it (how to read that is).
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lol..I'm only about 20 pages in and I have to agree with Bobby. This sounds more like Abby finds reading challenging than a serious review of the book. After all, she began her review by mentioning that the book had a lot of pages. Lol..I think books are supposed to have those. Can you pick those 83 "necessary" pages out? Somehow, I doubt it. (Unless you've sucessfully published a few 83 page novels in your spare time) And, oh God, here's an odd idea: a book about Dominican culture that uses Spanish and Spanglish. SHAME ON THEM!! (I apologize...there are no keys on my keyboard to convey my sarcastic gasp...lol) Also, Abby, I imagine you read plenty of reviews of this book, before you picked it up. The nerdiness and sci-fi content was probably mentioned...that's where if we're not interested,we experienced readers would put the book down. Try some short stories that you find appealing next time. In English, or some other language you know, and without swear words, so your husband won't make you pee...lol(And on a side note, how many other Pulitzer books have you read, Abby? did you like many of them? Just curious. I'm wondering what you think the proper criteria for such a book should be.)
Okay, fine. You two don't like my review. BUT! How can you pick on my opinion of the book when you have only read 20 pages of the book, Mr. Marcus? Won't you feel silly if you finish the whole thing and then decide you agree with me? Maybe I loved the first 20 pages too, you never know. (Actually neither do I. I don't remember.) And you can't make fun of me for suggesting the book could have been finished in 83 pages, until you've read the WHOLE BOOK and can actually state, as a guy who read the whole book, that every page of it was necessary. Because I swear (not as much as the book though), that it was a waste of paper.
And in my defense as to whether or not I am good at reading, 1. Yes I am!, and 2. When I took my ACT in high school (admittedly, I just turned 29 in June), I got a perfect score (36) on the section where you read stuff and interpret it. I don't actually remember the name of that section. You know, there's the math part, the science part, then a couple other parts... and one of them is where you read stuff then answer questions about it...? Well, that was the part I got my perfect score on. Does that give me any credibility? I couldn't have lost my mind that fast.
Anyway, I like nonfiction a lot more than fiction. And I'm sure you guys are both nice. We probably shouldn't swap book lists though, should we? :-)
Have a great day.
Sincerely,
The Girl Who Hated The Book That You Love.
Reading comprehension! That was the part of the ACT that I got a 36 on. I was just sitting in my bed and suddenly remembered the name of the section of the ACT that I couldn't remember earlier today.I had to add it to my comment.
I have very similar feelings about this book and I'm glad I'm not the only one. And for the record, I have a BA in English Lit. :)
Ha, ha. Thanks for the support Tamara. Years have passed, and this book is still one of the dumbest books I've ever suffered through. I'm assuming you read the comments to this review (of not, do). As far as I can tell the guy who posted above me never finished the book either. I asked on his review awhile back and he never replied. It still looks the same, but feel free to correct me if you did, dude.
