Book

Book Review

In the beginning of the book Diaz describes a myth that has to do with Fuku. It is a superstition that has been in Oscars family for centuries. It is applied to Oscars life when dealing with girls. Before puberty oscar was known as a Casanova, being very attractive and having several girlfriends. After he goes through puberty he is later ignored by girls and becomes more of a "book worm". This superstition or curse prevents him from finding true love.

The format of the book is interesting in the fact it is not in one person's point of view. Each chapter tells the story of a different character within Oscar Wao's family. This is important in the novel because it helps me understand the background of each character more in depth. The names are difficult to remember since he has such a large family. The names of the family members are also long and foreign which makes me skip over them. This sometimes gets me confused but since each chapter is broken up I still understand who Diaz is talking about.

Their family is dysfunctional on the surface but underneath they love each other. Oscar's mother has breast cancer which puts tension on the family. This particularly affects Lola, Oscar's sister. She runs away from home, almost getting killed. Oscar stays in his house writing stories that reflect the novels and comic books that he reads. This juxtaposes his family relationships because he is unable to verbally communicate his feelings. Oscar also has communication barriers when going to the U.S.

The communication between my family became more apparent when we moved to the United States because we could relate to each others cultural changes. My current work is based off photographs I have taken when traveling. This book does not necessarily influence my work but I can relate to the story. I was born in Singapore and moved to the U.S. when I was 9. This change was difficult because of the culture shock. My parents were more strict when it came to homework and curfews. We ate different types of food then normal ( less healthy) and did less traveling.

Since Oscar has a dominican family it is difficult for me to understand some of the words Diaz uses in describing some social norms. The characters speak spanish which makes me skim past the words. The english elaborates what was said but I felt like I was missing part of the story. Diaz explains in slang the culture of the teenagers which is used today. This language barrier in the book makes me less interested.

The change in culture helps them learn to adapt and have stronger connections with their family roots. As with my family we learned to look towards each other for guidance when it came to accepting change. This book explains Oscars Woas tribulations of having to move to another country. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao tells the story of a dominican family that lives in both the Dominican Republic and New York. The author Junot Diaz was born in Santo Domingo and raised in New Jersey. Diaz's experience with living in a different country helped him to further explain the tribulations of the characters. The cultural and social norms of the families home become their obstacles.










The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

By: Junot Diaz
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize 

I picked this book because the first page was a poem by Derek Walcott and it caught my attention.  

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/derek_walcott/poems/11253

Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: Chapter Reviews

Oscar was a casanova before puberty, after having his heart broken by girls he stayed to himself and spent time writing. Oscar's sister Lola fights with her mother and runs away from home for a boyfriend. Belicia (Oscar's mother) got a scholarship to a well established school where she did not fit in and became boy crazy. Beli fell in love with a Gangsta who got her pregnant, beat up and broke her heart. After being constantly harassed she moved to New York. Oscar and Lola's grandfather, Abelard gets thrown in jail  for saying bad things about Trujillo and he lied to the police about his daughters. Beli was bought by a family who burned her before La Inca found her and taught her to be civilized. Oscar fell in love with Ybon who's boyfriend was a cop, the cop beat him up and he almost died. Oscar gets Ybon to go away with him for a weekend before her boyfriend finally kills him. Before he dies he writes letters which are sent out after he dies to his family and friends.