From the Bookshelf of Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Really awesome. I am of course slightly biased, it being Dominican and all, but I thought the writing was really pretty awesome. Two particular phrases that I really liked: "Imaginate", which in Spanish, with an diacritic on the second 'i', is a common term meaning imagine or picture it, nd in English becomes this fun neologism. The second one was the phrase "colmado superstar", which I thought was great because it created such a vivid image in my mind. The superstar of the colmado, those little
...more
More like four-and-a-half but emotionally, this book speaks volumes to each and every nerd. It's also laugh out loud funny at times! And you do end up with a broken heart. It just feels so right.
...more
Another book that has contributed to my Latin American literature phase. I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about Dominican history in the process, something I absolutely was not expecting. I liked the story although if you are not a native Spanish speaker (like me) I would recommend never reading this book far from a place where you can look up Spanish translations. While most of the time it isn't absolutely necessary I like knowing exactly what the words mean.
Overall I think it's a g ...more
Overall I think it's a g ...more
This had great reviews, and was certainly unlike anything else I've read. This warm, funny story is intercut with educational footnotes about the history of the Dominican Republic under Trujillo (my prior knowledge of DR history was less than zero...) and scifi analogies.....really odd but bizarrely engaging.
However a note of caution. Even with (rusty) O level Spanish, I struggled with the enormous number of Spanish phrases and asides in this book. Might be hard going if you have no espanol.
...more
However a note of caution. Even with (rusty) O level Spanish, I struggled with the enormous number of Spanish phrases and asides in this book. Might be hard going if you have no espanol.
...more
While the basic themes and rich history in this novel are ones that I am most definitely interested in, I could not appreciate the writing style. It reminded me of books I've read by Jonathan Safran Foer and Gary Shtyngart (which others have loved and I have not been able to fall into). So, I chalk this one up to style -- if you start reading and get into the rhythym, I think there is a wonderful story in there with amazing characters. I just couldn't quite find my way into Oscar's world.
...more
Wow, what a ride. Lots of crazy historical fiction slash science fiction elements in this book, made you really think if there is such thing as a Fuku?? The only lame thing is too many Spanish words in this book - without a hint of translation!
Feb 17, 2008
Nidhi
marked it as to-read
Apr 08, 2008
Sonal
marked it as to-read
Apr 10, 2008
Barbara
marked it as to-read
Apr 09, 2009
Paula
marked it as to-read
Jul 07, 2010
Deborah
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2012
Jessi
marked it as to-read
Oct 04, 2012
Mary Stephanos
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2014
Christy
marked it as to-read
Apr 16, 2016
Carrie
marked it as to-read
