The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao | Review

3.64/5.00

Published: 2007

Genre: Contemporary

Goodreads

“You can’t regret the life you didn’t lead.”

Oscar is a nerd, a fat Dominican nerd nearly obsessed with girls. As the title suggests, this book follows the life of Oscar told by his once roommate Yunior.

I liked how Diaz wrote about Oscar, but I don’t particularly like the character type—the nerd pining after some girl and more often than not doing nothing productive about it. He’s the guy who tries to sound poetic and philosophical. He’s the type of protagonist that appears romanticized in so many stories. He’s the guy who is the poor soul somehow “deserving” of the girl because of his crush, like Ross Geller in Friends or Stiles in Teen Wolf. I’m familiar with guys like him. I am a guy like him, unfortunately, and I know there is nothing noble or wondrous. A romantic, innocence incarnate, devoted, an old soul—all words used to describe people like Oscar, like me when fool would probably be more accurate.

“She was the kind of girlfriend God gives you young, so you’ll know loss the rest of your life.”

I was more interested in Yunior, Lola, and Oscar’s family than Oscar himself. I found myself wrapped up in the history more than the “wondrous” life of Oscar.

I’m not a fan of footnotes in non-academic books, especially not ones that take up half a page.

It seems unnecessary. Considering the form of narration, I also did not see the need for all the parentheses.

This book does incorporate Spanish. If you’re rusty, you might benefit from brushing up on it. If you don’t know Spanish, though, don’t let this deter you from reading it. I consulted Google more than a few times.

Junot Diaz is a Dominican author probably best known for his 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Accordingly, Diaz is currently working on a picture book called “Islandborn.”

“Motherfuckers will read a book that’s one third Elvish, but put two sentences in Spanish and they think we’re taking over.” –Junot Diaz