On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel

This beautiful, lyrical novel is structured as a letter from a son to his mother. Little Dog is the son of a Vietnamese mother who traveled with her mother and sister from Vietnam after the war, settling in Connecticut. The son describes his life to his mother as he grows up, farming in a tobacco field, moving to go to college. This novel has received a lot of praise and I can confirm that it is worth every word. The sentences of this book are simply beautiful, strung together in a song that spans 240 pages. We learn of the life of Little Dog. Immigration and assimilation play huge roles in this story. These are immigrants who fade into the background of American life but play crucial roles in the web of society. The effects of the war in Vietnam echo through generations, from service men who father children then leave, to others who caused so much damage and pain. Another theme is sexuality. The narrator explores a relationship with another boy in this book. Their love is tenuous, complicated, and beautiful. There are truths spoken in this book that I’ve never read in another piece of fiction. Addiction plays a crucial role in the life of the narrator and those around him. We see a community ravaged by pills. I thought this book was incredibly moving and evocative. The whole time I read this book I thought of James Baldwin and how Vuong’s words were as poetic and descriptive as Baldwin’s. Reverberations of his work was confirmed when the author thanked Baldwin first in the acknowledgements. This book might not be for everyone. Some chapters are written as pure poetry. The novel is not linear nor plot driven, focusing on themes and emotion rather than a timeline of events, more like an intricate tapestry or abstract painting. Themes and elements and descriptions are woven together so the emotions are amplified and it really works well. I loved this book and hope many others have a chance to fall in love with it as well. ★★★★★ • Hardcover • Fiction - Literary • Purchased online. ◾︎

This was a great and quick read. In total it took me 5 hours to complete this book. This story is a story of an immigrant living and retelling the stories of the immigrants before him such as his mom and grandma. Beautifully written. Loved the portrayal of color. In the beginning of the book, the narrator describes colors to inanimate objects/feelings. As he grows older, other people begin to see him as his own skin color, hence they began to project their understanding of color on to him. Suddenly, color no longer describes an object/feeling but it becomes a weapon that divides people. Color becomes a tool that allows him to be put into a box before ever having the opportunity to give others a chance to know him. Color becomes his identity, as well as the identity of everyone around him. It’s also interesting how trauma affects not only those who lived through traumatic experiences, but also their children who will end up growing up with that trauma. The book has many themes including: • Race • Growing up as an American • Growing up with different cultural identities • Self Identity/Self Discovery • Generational Trauma • Inherited Trauma •Post war affects • Growing up bi racial • Complex parental relationships • Immigrants •Immigrants (due to war) •LGBT Things I disliked: Children having sex: Although the narrator is telling his story, and he is going back in time. I felt highly uncomfortable with the explicit scenes of minors having sex. There was no need to describe certain parts of the body as he did. Simply because of the fact that they were minors when this physical relationship happened. He could have easily mentioned how he felt instead of drawing explicit pictures for his audience. Neutral comment: Parts the story seemed messy, however I personally liked it and I understood it because that’s how my brain works. Making footnotes of footnotes. At the same time, it made sense for the story to be “messy” as he’s writing a letter to his mother. It’s not going to be neat. When you write a letter to your loved ones, many times you’re reminiscing about the old times, and so one memory will turn into another into another into another, and so it gives off the authentic vibes of a letter to someone close to you. You want them to remember the scene that you were at. As many have mentioned, this book isn’t for everyone. Overall, I rate this book 8.0279/10 It’s a great book, easy to read, and it brought me out of my reading hiatus!

Quality of the book looks perfect

An extremely powerful narrative of a Vietnamese boy and his relationship with his mother and grandmother living as expatriates in the USA. Also it portrays a coming of age story set in a rural part of America seen with different lenses and the discovery for his first love for a bitterly sad teenage boy. Writing a letter to his illiterate mother, the narrator reveals all the suffering and complexities that their lives carried away and their struggle for mutual understanding living in a new country. This a debut autobiographical novel by the highly-awarded poet Ocean Vuong who gives us a heartbreaking punch of his experience for being a foreigner in America. The narrative is full of poetry in its poignant fabric of his personal life and reminded me of a great Portuguese writer as well: Valter Hugo Mãe. It was a great pleasure to read such a captivating and intense novel.

Style does not sit with me, but then again I am not a native english speaker.

Such a moving book. Could not put it down.

This book is so gorgeously written, the impressionistic language used and the pictures painted are at once horrific, damaging and tender with deep feeling. A love letter to a cherished mother, it explores beginnings and endings from the explosive consequences of the Vietnam War to the broken underbelly of contemporary America. A book to wallow in, to mourn its sadness and enjoy its pleasures, all at the same time.