Have you read "Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz

Just started...........amazing mix of academically oriented (for the most part!) historical footnotes and in your face novel text which is a window on the Dominican psyche and/or a shovel into the Dominican heart - not sure which yet. I've never seen anyone pull off this mix before but Diaz has. More later............

Just received my shipment of this book last week....cant wait to finish up what I am currently reading and get stuck into it...sounds most interesting...and thanks Lambada for reinforcing that!

The book was really good! Had me laughing, thinking, all sorts of good stuff in it.....kept me engaged throughout! A good tragi-comedy of sorts.....

The book is being adapted into a screenplay by Miramax Pictures so look out for the movie in the future, probably an independent film of sorts.....

It doesn't matter if the reader has any knowledge about Washington Heights, since the book is based in New Jersey and Bani, with other places interwoven in its lines. The details are descriptive enough to not warrant a look in Wikipedia for "Dominican Republic" or anything like that, lol

I read it and totally LOVED it. I learned more about DR in those pages than I did in world history classes. Fabulous read !

Lambada said:

Just started...........amazing mix of academically oriented (for the most part!) historical footnotes and in your face novel text which is a window on the Dominican psyche and/or a shovel into the Dominican heart - not sure which yet. I've never seen anyone pull off this mix before but Diaz has. More later............

Click to expand...

Couldn't have said it better... 75% thru the book now. A great read. Should be finished today.

One of the best I've read in a while. Its just a fun read and really makes you want to keep turning the next page. Plus as a young Dominican American it really brings back memories of growing up "hood." Some of the stuff he writes about was like a mirror into what I grew up around. Good Stuff.

The book was very good. I thought he carried on too long with some of the characters (i.e. the story of the mother). I wanted to finish that part so I could get back to Oscar's story, but it just seemed to keep going and going. Some of the stuff was very funny, but other very dark which was very good contrast of back and forth. The book is best suited for Dominicans who have lived in both The DR and The US, otherwise you'll miss a lot of what he's trying to say (I think).

I had some issues with certain terms he used which are not Dominican (i.e. in a certain paragraph he talks about "Colonias", referring to a Barrio). Dominicans don't use that term (only Mexicans) so it was a little disconcerting. At least is not as bad as "La Fiesta del Chivo" which I didn't finish because it just rubbed me the wrong way trying to read something which is supposedly Dominican with all these terms which are obviously South American. Now I know who wrote it is not Dominican, but I would have expected that he would have done research and used Dominican terminology whenever the characters were speaking. It is almost as bad as watching a movie set in The DR with characters being played by Mexicans. Americans don't know the difference, but since I do I find it very annoying.


I also felt the use of the Dominican slang word for Vagina was a little bit too overused and too gratuitous at times.

All in all I would recommend this book, though and I'm now looking forward to reading his other book "Drown".

For me the writing was outstanding and engaging although the narrative jumped a bit. Poor Oscar, a puta precipitated his demise but I'd rather blame a fuku. Makes me feel better.The authors' emotions when describing Trujillo were most revealing. Overall, not the most positive take on Dominican culture but not lacking authenticity, I concur. But a damned good story.

Sollie

Just finished the book over 4 plane rides in the past week... I was looking for the thread Junot said he posted on DR1 about a FUKU. Did he really? cause I did a search and did not find it...

Book was great. I agree with Suaren - sometimes he went on too long about one character and not enough about the others. I wanted to hear more about Lola, she was cool. The mother was DARK and so depressing. I was telling my mom about the story and she can relate to Beli's life altogether. I loved the part about the grandfather.

I also agree that many of the points of the book will be missed by someone who doesnt know much of our history or our ways. Thats my opinion.

A page turner indeed...