The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

I got as far as page 106 and couldn't waste any more time on this book. Too many random words in Spanish-just enough to wonder what the author is talking about. There were also a lot of footnotes-tiny footnotes-that made this feel like a boring school book. I tried, but couldn't finish this book. We read it for a book club and others had the same opinion.

This story of a Dominican family, from the 1930s to the present, as they face a curse because one of its ancestors once displeased the all powerful Dictator Rafael Trujillo. Each chapter is about a particular member of the family. Some of them are memorable - the Oscar of the title, a black teen living in a New Jersey ghetto, a virgin weighing over 300 pounds, obsessed with videogames, Tolkien and genre literature and with zero game on women, is a memorable literary creation. Also compelling is the character of his grandfather, a respected doctor in the Dominican Republic who grew foul on dictator Trujillo by refusing to give her young daughters to him to deflower (the Dominican ruler apparently enjoyed Droit de Seigneur on his republic). Other characters (Oscar's sister, Oscar's mother) are less interesting, so this is a case of a book that has great moments and less great ones. Still, it is a recommended read, even if the Pulitzer prize it won was probably a bit too generous.

I read this book for a book club I am in and would say that I enjoyed the read. It's a look into a culture and a history (Dominican-American) that I was unfamiliar with and found interesting and often entertaining. Diaz's writing is very good, sometimes lyrical. However I found it hard work to get through the book and probably would have dropped it if I hadn't felt obligated to finish it. In discussing the book with others I stated that I would not read it again, it just didn't feel substantial enough. Diaz is a good but not great storyteller.

A compelling look at how torturous it is to live under a dictatorship and how strong and defiant the human spirit is. A history lesson in the Dominican Republic which unfolds in a very interesting and personal way as Trujillo's curse effects 3 generations. If you dont know any Spanish, have a Spanish-English dictionary or someone who does speak Spanish (I had a Cuban born husband on hand to ask the words they dont teach in school. He said Oh, you're speaking Dominican?) A great book.

Oscar is the outcast of outcasts. The tragedy of tragedies. A Dominican boy growing up in New York in a cursed family (a particular Dominican curse, called a fukú). He is into all things nerdly: Dungeons & Dragons, sci-fi/fantasy. He is a hopeless romantic, falling in love with women he passes on the street. Oh, and he is 300+ pounds. Not your typical hero.

Oscar's story is told through the eyes of people around him: mainly his drop-dead gorgeous sister, Lola, and his reluctant friend and college roommate, Yunior. We also get a fair amount of family history, Oscar's family's unfortunate relationship to the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic, and his mother's tortured relationship with his grandmother.

The history and culture of the Dominican Republic are woven into the story with the Marques-esque skill, but the voice of the narration is wholly modern and original. It's straddles conversational and literary and bounces from person to person and time to time with ease, slowly building a story that feels immediate, yet firmly placed in a long history.

I really enjoyed this book. It drags at parts, but about halfway through, it really takes off. I've never read anything quite like it, stylistically, and Oscar is a very memorable character. That said, I was hoping for a little more out of Oscar. Not as a character; he is who he is--a rather pathetic, dorky guy with a quixotic heart and a head full of fantasy. He is sympathetic, but he is also a frustrating character to love. He walks headlong into tragedy with stubborn determination, and all we can do is cover our eyes, helpless, and wait for the inevitable.