Play Book Tag discussion

I enjoyed this book, but if you feel that ignorance is bliss, you probably don’t want to read it. Lengthy footnotes tell us about some of the more unpleasant details of the Trujillo dictatorship ("for those of you who missed your mandatory two seconds of Dominican history"), and the plot describes the experiences of several generations of a ‘cursed’ Dominican family, including the impacts of the brutal politics of the time. The narrative is peppered with Spanish words and phrases, which (since I don’t speak Spanish) reminded me of the experience of reading A Clockwork Orange for the first time. The Oscar Wao of the title, who grows up in New Jersey, is a huge fan of science fiction & fantasy, and the book contains far more references to this subculture than I was able to pick up on. Every now and then I’d recognize something from The Lord of the Rings or Dune, but many other allusions went over my head, and I did wonder what it would have added to be familiar with some of the comics that are mentioned. I did get a brief taste of what reading this book would been like for a true sci-fi geek though: the line “Sucks to be left out of adolescence, sort of like (view spoiler)[getting locked in the closet on Venus (hide spoiler)]* when the sun appears for the first time in a hundred years” had me squealing in delighted recognition and emailing my father to check that he still has the anthology Tomorrow’s Children that I loved as a child. The playful colloquial voice reminded me a bit of Vernon God Little, although it’s been a while since I read that so I’m not sure whether it’s a valid comparison… There’s certainly plenty of mischief in here though, such as footnotes that cheekily poke holes in the fourth wall by complaining about information “my mother tells me when the manuscript is almost complete”. I found this simultaneously entertaining, shocking, gripping, and informative, which seems like quite an achievement, and I’d be interested in reading more by Junot Díaz.

* Not a spoiler for this book, but does describe the plot of a different short story so I thought I’d hide it to be safe…

I've never been tempted by this book before. But, now you've got me. Thanks for this review.

Lovely review, Nikki. I’ve seen this book around and wasn’t sure if I’d like it, but I may well give it a try

Thank you both! So far one of my favourite things about this group is that it's getting me to try books I wouldn't normally have picked up - this being one of them :-)

And I was decidedly in the opposite camp. My Hispanic Book Club chose it back when it was a new book and only one person liked it enough to give it even 3.5 stars. Everyone else was in a 1-2 star range.

Nikki wrote: "Thank you both! So far one of my favourite things about this group is that it's getting me to try books I wouldn't normally have picked up - this being one of them :-)"

I feel the same Nikki-when I look at the beginning months of 2018 and what I was reading(i just joined in Feb.), and what is on my night stand now-WOW, I have come far out of my comfort zone! I know I will never put down the fantasy and historical fiction that I love so much, but I am so happy to meander off of that trail every now and then!

Book Concierge wrote: "And I was decidedly in the opposite camp. My Hispanic Book Club chose it back when it was a new book and only one person liked it enough to give it even 3.5 stars. Everyone else was in a 1-2 star r..."

Fair enough. I clicked through to your review & can see what you mean on all counts - I personally enjoyed the historical footnotes & at least some of the references, but I can see how they could be very annoying! I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt re. the experiences of the women in the book - my view is that he's illustrating a particular type of toxic masculinity without endorsing it, but I agree that it made for uncomfortable reading at times.

Nikki wrote: "I enjoyed this book, but if you feel that ignorance is bliss, you probably don’t want to read it. Lengthy footnotes tell us about some of the more unpleasant details of the Trujillo dictatorship ("..."

I give you a lot of credit for sticking with it. I couldn't adjust to the Spanish (and the sci-fi didn't help either). Often when I see a word or phrase I don't know, I can figure it out from the context, but I had the feelings that I was missing the emotional tone from an explanation (was it excitement, disgust, anger, sarcasm, etc.)? I wasn't as patient as you were. I want to give it another try some day.

I don't read a lot of sci-fit, but I really loved the Ray Bradbury story you mentioned. I thought about it for years without knowing the title until I came to Goodreads.

Joanne wrote: "Nikki wrote: "Thank you both! So far one of my favourite things about this group is that it's getting me to try books I wouldn't normally have picked up - this being one of them :-)"

I feel the sa..."

I haven't read any historical fiction for ages, although I remember having a phase where it fit my mood perfectly when I was on maternity leave with my daughter (so 8 years ago now!) Do you have any favourites that you'd recommend?

NancyJ wrote: "Nikki wrote: "I enjoyed this book, but if you feel that ignorance is bliss, you probably don’t want to read it. Lengthy footnotes tell us about some of the more unpleasant details of the Trujillo d..."

I'm glad I did persevere. I think I read somewhere that his use of both languages is very deliberate & represents an attempt to convey the immigrant experience (of both feeling excluded from fluency, and retaining multiple, sometimes conflicting, identities) but since I can't find the reference now, I don't know how much of that is based on his actual views & how much my interpretation!

& I also had retained a vivid impression of that story without knowing what it was until this reference to it forced me to search it out. I'm very happy now knowing that my dad has that anthology set aside for my daughter to read the next time we visit him :-)

I've had this on my radar because Lin-Manual Miranda narrates the audiobook, but I can't decide I think I'll actually like it or not. I don't think I'd get the references, and frankly it sounds a little depressing.

Joi, I found it pretty pessimistic. The narrator is not particularly likeable, and objectifies women right and left. A significant portion of the story describes the barbarism of Trujillo and his devastation of the culture of the Dominican Republic. So, it's not for the faint-hearted. On the plus side, I thought the author did a good job of conveying the timeless themes of longing for love and acceptance through the character of Oscar. I ended up liking parts of it and disliking others.

Joy D wrote: "Joi, I found it pretty pessimistic. The narrator is not particularly likeable, and objectifies women right and left. A significant portion of the story describes the barbarism of Trujillo and his d..."

I can't deny that some of the content is bleak (although do I think that these are stories that deserve to be heard) & the narrator's attitudes are dubious - but I felt that one optimistic thing about it was that (eventually) he did seem to be positively influenced by Oscar. I'm probably not a great judge of whether a book's too depressing though - my husband laughs at my taste for misery & once bought me a book as a gift (I think it was On Chesil Beach) on the strength of a review that said it was "devastating".