The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Title: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Author: Junot Diaz
Published: September 2007 by Riverhead
Pages: 340
ISBN: 9781594489587

Description: 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 Fuku - the curse that has haunted 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.

I Give This Book 3.5 Stars

I'm still not sure what makes this book a literary genius.  First off I dislike fiction stories that include footnotes.  Although, I know they are there to state facts, I still found myself not reading them.  There is an interesting history trapped in these pages.  And that I did enjoy.  I liked the story involving Oscar's heritage and the history of the Dominican.  He's mother's story was particularly harrowing.  But, the story of Oscar himself bordered on vulgar at times.  I felt like it was 340 pages of a man's desire to have sex for the first time.  I finished it (and it took me longer than most books this size do), but I don't feel I learned anything from it.

Pulitzer Prize Challenge

One of my challenges this year was to read 5 Pulitzer Prize winners.  For me this was easier said than done.  I don't read a lot of books that qualify, let alone win!  So here is what I did read this year...

• 
  
  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee


• 
  
  The Color Purple by Alice Walker


• 
  
  The Hours by Michael Cunningham


• 
  
  The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields


• 
  
  The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Of these, I liked To Kill A Mockingbird best.  I can't believe I have never read it!  The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao  would probably be next, but I don't think it's book everybody would enjoy.  The Stone Diaries and  The Hours were just okay in my opinion.  I did not like  The Color Purple at all.  I had to make myself finish it.

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shield

Title: The Stone Diaries
Author: Carol Shields
Publication: April 1995 by Penguin
Pages: 400
ISBN: 9780140233131

Description: This fictionalized autobiography of Daisy Goodwill Flett, captured in Daisy's vivacious yet reflective voice, has been winning over readers since its publication in 1995, when it won the Pulitzer Prize. After a youth marked by sudden death and loss, Daisy escapes into conventionality as a middle-class wife and mother. Years later she becomes a successful garden columnist and experiences the kind of awakening that thousands of her contemporaries in mid-century yearned for but missed in alcoholism, marital infidelity and bridge clubs. The events of Daisy's life, however, are less compelling than her rich, vividly described inner life--from her memories of her adoptive mother to her awareness of impending death.

I Give This Book 3 Stars!

I'm not sure really what to think of this book.  The description makes it sound like it is told from Daisy's point of view, but really it is not.  It almost like an outsider wrote it that knew everything about Daisy.  While I liked the book, I felt next to nothing for Daisy herself.  I found those surrounding her to be far more interesting.  They gave the story life.  Thankfully you get a few clips of the story told from varying viewpoints.  I got the most from the letters, etc that are throughout the story.   I kept hoping the Daisy would eventually find something to tie her to this world.  Most people I think go through life trying to make their mark, something that says they were here long after they're gone.  With Daisy it was like she knew she would never been remembered, so why try.  She even felt her children and grandchildren would eventually forget about her.  She was content to just exist for the moment.  It was not depressing, I just felt sorry for her.  Still, not a bad story.  And it was much more enjoyable than the 2 of the 3 books I've read for my Pulitzer Prize winners challenge.