Title- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Author-
Junot Díaz
Genre-
Historical Fiction
Pages-
335
Pages
to Date- 335
The
Good: In this book Díaz tells the story
of a Dominican Republic family cursed by bad luck. Their tragic lives manage to captivate the
reader and hold attention throughout the story.
The characters also constantly refer back to Dominican history. This would make the book difficult to follow
but Díaz conveniently includes footnotes commenting on the historical
references, providing insight into their meaning.
The
Bad: The narrator of the stories is
constantly referencing science fiction books, TV shows, movies, and comic
books. If you’re not well versed in
science fiction literature some phrases are confusing. Similar to this problem is the use of Spanish
words and phrases. Being Dominican, the
characters will sometimes speak in Spanish, and unless you know Spanish, good
luck understanding. There are online
annotated notes to assist with all of the references, but it gets old reading a
page then reading all of the explanations online.
Verdict: Overall, this book is a fascinating look into
a culture’s superstitions and history.
It is difficult to understand some of the phrases and references, but
the family’s story captures the reader and will entertain till the very end. I’d definitely recommend checking this book
out, regardless of its hitches.
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