On Earth We'Re Briefly Gorgeous

In On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong crafts a deeply moving narrative that explores the intersections of identity, family, and memory. Written as a letter from a son to his illiterate mother, the novel navigates the complexities of the immigrant experience and the lingering shadows of the Vietnam War. Vuong’s prose is both tender and visceral, capturing the raw emotions of his characters with remarkable precision. This novel is a poignant reflection on the power of storytelling and the resilience of the human spirit, leaving a lasting impression long after the final page.

An extremely powerful narrative of a Vietnamese boy and his relationship with his mother and grandmother living as expatriates in the USA. Also it portrays a coming of age story set in a rural part of America seen with different lenses and the discovery for his first love for a bitterly sad teenage boy.Writing a letter to his illiterate mother, the narrator reveals all the suffering and complexities that their lives carried away and their struggle for mutual understanding living in a new country.This a debut autobiographical novel by the highly-awarded poet Ocean Vuong who gives us a heartbreaking punch of his experience for being a foreigner in America. The narrative is full of poetry in its poignant fabric of his personal life and reminded me of a great Portuguese writer as well: Valter Hugo Mãe.It was a great pleasure to read such a captivating and intense novel.

reyes de mi hija

I would say, that there was no missing paper in it and it was in a proper shape because of the hardcover. Hardcover is fully black and the cover with the picture comes only as a paper.

This was a great and quick read. In total it took me 5 hours to complete this book.This story is a story of an immigrant living and retelling the stories of the immigrants before him such as his mom and grandma.Beautifully written. Loved the portrayal of color. In the beginning of the book, the narrator describes colors to inanimate objects/feelings. As he grows older, other people begin to see him as his own skin color, hence they began to project their understanding of color on to him. Suddenly, color no longer describes an object/feeling but it becomes a weapon that divides people. Color becomes a tool that allows him to be put into a box before ever having the opportunity to give others a chance to know him. Color becomes his identity, as well as the identity of everyone around him. It’s also interesting how trauma affects not only those who lived through traumatic experiences, but also their children who will end up growing up with that trauma.The book has many themes including:• Race• Growing up as an American• Growing up with different cultural identities• Self Identity/Self Discovery• Generational Trauma• Inherited Trauma•Post war affects• Growing up bi racial• Complex parental relationships• Immigrants•Immigrants (due to war)•LGBTThings I disliked:Children having sex:Although the narrator is telling his story, and he is going back in time. I felt highly uncomfortable with the explicit scenes of minors having sex. There was no need to describe certain parts of the body as he did. Simply because of the fact that they were minors when this physical relationship happened. He could have easily mentioned how he felt instead of drawing explicit pictures for his audience.Neutral comment:Parts the story seemed messy, however I personally liked it and I understood it because that’s how my brain works. Making footnotes of footnotes. At the same time, it made sense for the story to be “messy” as he’s writing a letter to his mother. It’s not going to be neat. When you write a letter to your loved ones, many times you’re reminiscing about the old times, and so one memory will turn into another into another into another, and so it gives off the authentic vibes of a letter to someone close to you. You want them to remember the scene that you were at.As many have mentioned, this book isn’t for everyone.Overall, I rate this book 8.0279/10It’s a great book, easy to read, and it brought me out of my reading hiatus!