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What Members Thought
There were passages in Ocean Vuong’s debut novel that cut straight to my soul.
That were so poetic in how they turned a phrase and highlighted the social, economic and racial disparities of Little Dog’s, Rose’s and Lan’s experiences they would’ve stopped me in my tracks had I been listening as an audiobook instead of reading it.
Written as a stream-of-consciousness letter of a son to his mother, we learn of the ravages of the Vietnam War, of the struggles in cultural assimilation, of coming out, ...more
That were so poetic in how they turned a phrase and highlighted the social, economic and racial disparities of Little Dog’s, Rose’s and Lan’s experiences they would’ve stopped me in my tracks had I been listening as an audiobook instead of reading it.
Written as a stream-of-consciousness letter of a son to his mother, we learn of the ravages of the Vietnam War, of the struggles in cultural assimilation, of coming out, ...more
Did you know people get rich off sadness? I want to meet the millionaire of American sadness. I want to look him in the eye, shake his hand, and say, "It's been an honor to serve my country."
This book is absolutely beautiful and poetic. Though it almost feels like there's no plot, the beautiful imagery of this novel keeps you turning the pages. I can 100% see how Vuong is a poet, because the prose in this book is beautiful. I honestly don't think I've written down so many quotes in one book for ...more
This book is absolutely beautiful and poetic. Though it almost feels like there's no plot, the beautiful imagery of this novel keeps you turning the pages. I can 100% see how Vuong is a poet, because the prose in this book is beautiful. I honestly don't think I've written down so many quotes in one book for ...more
I really could not stand the audiobook reading of this. Funny enough, once I was telling my roommate about how much I hated this new audiobook I was listening to, and she was like ".... are you talking about On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous?" And she mentioned that she had ALSO started listening to the audiobook but had since stopped listening to it because she just couldn't take it anymore and I was like "What a concept! I can ... just stop listening." Maybe one day I'll return to actually read
...more
Everyone else seemed to really love this. The story is moving and confessional. I think I’m subtracting points because I don’t like presenting the content as a second-person letter. I can’t think of a time “you” has worked better for me than “they” would have.
Apr 28, 2019
Mikaela
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2019
Shannon
marked it as to-read
Sep 23, 2019
Jesse Hershberger
added it
Sep 26, 2019
Channon
marked it as to-read
Nov 23, 2019
Judy Diedrichs
marked it as to-read
Dec 31, 2019
Kyrstin
marked it as did-not-finish
Jan 24, 2020
Kelsey
marked it as to-read
Feb 12, 2020
Morgan
marked it as to-read
Mar 09, 2020
LiteraryJenny
marked it as to-read
Jun 18, 2021
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Mar 04, 2022
Susanne
marked it as to-read
Apr 03, 2022
Joe
marked it as to-read
Jan 25, 2023
Alexandria
marked it as to-read
Apr 19, 2023
Jessica
marked it as to-read
