“It’s never the changes we want that change everything.”

Genre: Fiction
Pages: 335
Published: September 6th, 2007
Rate: 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Synopsis
Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fukœ—the curse that has haunted the Oscar’s family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.

Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot Diaz as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time.

My Take
I loved this book. I think that’s all I can say. I absolutely loved it. I read The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao in April of 2018 and 3 years later I still remember the book like I read it yesterday.
This book explores loneliness and solitude in such a profound way that you can’t help but take a step back and think on it. I love Junot Diaz’s use of language is brilliant. You can’t help but be in awe. Junot Diaz also touches on superstition and how the different characters take on it is and it’s really interesting to read.

“Nothing more exhilarating than saving yourself by the simple act of waking.”

The book has a lot of fantasy and science fiction references so if that is your thing, you’ll enjoy it even more.

The one problem I had with the book is I did find it a little hard to get in to but when I did, I couldn’t put it down. I’m glad I pushed through though, because I ended up loving it. Highly recommend.

Have you read this book? What did you think about it?