Just finished reading “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong, and it was amazing

Submitted by Stanley910 t3_10g4duj in books

this was the first book I’d read outside of a school curriculum in many years (and I’d often BS my way through those books too). It was also the first book I’d ever annotated (underlined + writing my own thoughts) and I seriously understand why people do it now. To me the process is therapeutic, especially writing down my thoughts immediately after the book makes me reflect on something, instead of losing those feelings. The book itself was beautiful, its writing so picturesque and lyrical. I loved the nuanced relationships developed within as well. I’m so glad it was this book that got me back into reading.

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KatyaDelRey t1_j51yc34 wrote

I can see why some people think it‘s corny but I think that’s part of the earnestness of the tone, and it’s supposed to be earnest because it’s supposed to be a shameless confessional letter written to his Ma, who is unable to read. I loved this book, especially the last half. One of my fave quotes:

“Let no one mistake us for the fruit of violence - but that violence, having passed through the fruit, failed to spoil it.”

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el0011101000101001 t1_j50q3hb wrote

I thought it was way too schmaltzy. Maybe I'm too cynical but it was not my taste and thought it was very "im14andthisisdeep".

Actual quotes from the book:

>!"I know, it's not fair that the word laughter is trapped inside slaughter"!<

>!"The day was a purple day - neither good or bad"!<

>!He also whispers to a jolly rancher "tell me what you know."!<

>!"To be or not to be. That is the question. A question, yes, but not a choice."!<

>!"Our hands empty except for our hands."!<

>!"Isn’t that the saddest thing in the world, Ma? A comma forced to be a period?"!<

>!"The truth is we don't have to die if we don't feel like it. Just kidding."!<

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Stanley910 OP t1_j50sxfy wrote

while I can see where some of the introspection can get ‘tacky’ or faux at times, i think on the other hand theres great work taken by the author to make his points line up correctly and serve to deepen our understanding of the characters and the way they behave and act toward one another. for ex. >! i love the ending passages about his father and the table (i drew comparisons of him being given a table in lieu of a home, and an abusive father in lieu of a caring dad) both also seemingly all his mother and grandma could give at the time. i think this also lends itself to the passages where he describes how he learned to appreciate things for what they were, and too see the ‘good’ in the littlest of things, because everything else was so shit in hartford. i also love the metaphor of cows, meateating, and veals being used to describe the nuance of internalized homophobia and closeted homosexuality, and how it then extends to the relationship of the main characters mother!<

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el0011101000101001 t1_j5109kk wrote

I think you can accomplish the same thing without writing it the way Vuong did. His style felt like he was trying so hard to be profound and instead it came off like Tumblr quotes.

Just my personal opinion, it just wasn't for me.

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Myshkin1981 t1_j51c2wd wrote

I agree with this. I still thought the book was worthwhile, especially in its blunt honesty about the burgeoning sexuality of a young gay man. But Vuong is a poet, and you could tell that this book was written by a poet. That’s not a good thing. One shouldn’t approach the writing of a novel as if it were a long prose poem. Every other aspect of this novel suffered for Vuong’s focus on the prose, and as you pointed out, some of the lines he came up with are immature and cringeworthy. Some of those lines might work in a poem, but are glaringly misplaced in a work of narrative prose

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just_a_wolf t1_j52j2rn wrote

I hard disagree. I really loved this book. People are way too worried about being "cringe" lately, and it's making their creative work soulless and derivative as shit. Taking risks is a good thing in art.

There have been books that are or read like poetry as long as literature has been around, saying that it's a bad thing for a book to read like poetry is a really bizarre take. This was a book about the nature and structure of language and self discovery so telling the story in this meditative way, like a dreamy deconstructed journal entry to himself, felt super authentic to me.

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knobbodiwork t1_j545o0b wrote

yeah that comment is so strange to me, because i did feel like it was very clear that he was a poet, but exclusively that came across to me as a good thing.

i'm not sure why poetic language in an autobiographical novel is a bad thing, especially given how emotionally fraught the narrative was

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el0011101000101001 t1_j55ep0g wrote

I think Myshkin1981's criticism is valid. Vuong focuses too much on trying to create "profound" prose and not enough on a cohesive narrative so the end result is a fragmented collected of meandering phrases. I think this is the poet in him not translating for long form well.

To me, it comes off as a shallow person trying write intellectual & deep prose but it's immature, tedious, and yes, cringe. There were just too many obvious and bad metaphors.

I am really surprised so many people like this book, one of the worst books I've read in recent years.

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iHammmy t1_j50sklz wrote

I really couldn't get into this book. It felt like something you would read on Tumblr or wattpad.

The audiobook was even worse. The fake almost-about-to-burst-into-tears-wobbly-morning-voice narration was like fingers on a chalk board

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alienmoxie t1_j50hypm wrote

I absolutely loved this book. The author is a poet, and his writing is so lovely. I’m glad you enjoyed it too!

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knobbodiwork t1_j545ag3 wrote

yeah it was very clear to me that he was a poet based on how, well... poetic his prose was

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TheWriteSpot t1_j50lk3a wrote

This book is wonderful. I’d suggest finding some interviews where he talks about it as well — he’s so eloquent and I love hearing how he thinks about the world.

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Whut4 t1_j51zqe0 wrote

One of the best books I read last year. None of the things that bother other people here bothered me. My friend hated it because of the description of the >!monkey brains thing!<

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boysen_bean t1_j52rqls wrote

I’ve heard a lot of people say they stopped reading at that part. It was rough, i didn’t like reading about it, but i understand why it’s there.

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Whut4 t1_j5odi8t wrote

Same here. Life is horrifying sometimes. Sometimes you can't sugar-coat things. I do not like or enjoy knowing that people do that, but it is out there at the edge of strange disturbing things people do. Many strange disturbing things are commonplace but not considered. My friend who was upset by the >!monkey brains thing !<had visited a slaughterhouse and still has no problem eating meat. There are different levels of what we are sensitive to or shocked by. What is commonplace or accepted in one culture could be shocking in another - strange stuff. The book makes poetry of it all, yet it is readable like prose or a story - even in the form of a letter to his mom who can't read at all.

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boysen_bean t1_j5peuoj wrote

Right. The juxtaposition of American audiences (i know plenty of people from around the world have read this book, but im thinking about my book club which consisted of people from the United States) being horrified by that scene, yet had little to say about the treatment of the Vietnamese humans whose country and lives were torn apart so thoroughly that many had to flee the country as refugees. It also spoke to the lengths men will go to in order to be more masculine- the eating of live monkey brains, toxic masculinity at its finest.

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marigold_five t1_j528ikg wrote

I like ocean’s poems, but I found this book to be over the top cheese-fest. I really tried to like it but it seems like he was trying too hard

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belongtotherain t1_j534c4u wrote

His poetry is incredible too! He’s teaching a class at NYU this year and his syllabus has been posted. I’m excited to check out some of his suggestions.

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hohoho95 t1_j53a6e3 wrote

I really tried with this novel but I personally found the writing style unbearable. It was like bad poetry written by a school kid trying to be deep and it often made the narrative feel really fake.

There was some really interesting stuff in the novel and the characters seemed interesting but the writing style got the better of me and I gave up.

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olliepots t1_j52xn0j wrote

I loved it. The part about his mother and the woman with the missing leg has stuck with me.

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stillsiked t1_j50ndp7 wrote

gonna put it on my list thanks

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poostainsunlimited t1_j52gw6o wrote

This has been on my reading list and well. I really need to pick it up!

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boysen_bean t1_j52rta9 wrote

One of my favorite books! Very excited that he’s working on another novel.

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Geeklove27 t1_j532tkr wrote

That one scene. I can’t unread it. I cannot recall anything else about the book though I did finish it.

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Stanley910 OP t1_j53i8jp wrote

heavy spoilers & topic matter >!the one where he shits himself trying anal for the first time?!<

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forestdenizen22 t1_j53jl5l wrote

I thought it was a wonderful book. Some of his sentences are just breathtaking. I felt like English being his second language was a help to him in exploring how to express himself in English. Also, I’m really interested in the experiences of refugees and immigrants to the U.S. and I found his story fascinating, the mentally ill grandmother, the violent father, the socially isolated child.

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reeo_hamasaki t1_j51d4sf wrote

I wish the title wasn't so unbelievably bad, I've avoided it out of spite

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Stanley910 OP t1_j51nl5y wrote

the title is fye asf

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reeo_hamasaki t1_j51owcg wrote

are you being sarcastic or? it's hot garbage

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Stanley910 OP t1_j53i58f wrote

i mean give the book a chance, i found the way Ocean ties the title of the book into the last parts of the story to be awesome

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reeo_hamasaki t1_j53mdvb wrote

I can't go into a book with no agenda if I think the author is so pretentious I already hate them, it would have no chance. it's not fair to them but it is what it is.

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hohoho95 t1_j54kfu1 wrote

If you think the title is pretentious it's nothing compared to his pros style.

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HalSwastak t1_j5tskr7 wrote

tbf the title of the Italian translation work "Briefly we shine upon the earth" not only sounds way more natural but is also more relatable to the story (the sun part).

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toasterbath__ t1_j53cm5z wrote

i rlly liked it when i read it. but u can tell a poet wrote it. not a bad thing, just different in terms of how the book was structured. still a good read though. i loved the writing, heartbreaking but u cant look away

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urania_argus t1_j5dtexd wrote

His poetry is even better: check out Night Sky with Exit Wounds.

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