wondrous is the word

*MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD*
Wow, this book is masterfully crafted. Which makes a review both difficult and exciting. I've fixated the most on the running motif of fuku as well as the novel's interesting narrator, Yunior, and the few chapters where we see other first person narrators and why. The book begins with what I guess could be called a prologue that educates readers on the idea of fuku, which can be interpreted as a generational kind of curse of the Dominican people directly related to the suffering and terror their people endured under the dictatorship of Trujillo. This figure and his dominance is incredibly important for every character in the novel, and the history associated with him illustrated so well (and humorously at times) in multiple footnotes that really go off. This idea of bad luck following an entire family plays out in the novel in such interesting ways, since the element of magic realism is sustained enough to make it feel like the presence of magic or spirits in the story could be possible, but also might just be superstition or cynicism on the narrator's part. Either way, the history of the Dominican people being one of oppression and rich folklore is taken into consideration. I also admire on the craft level how the stories of each family member were told in the order they were told. It all builds upon itself to execute an emotional impact that I really appreciated. We have to start with an introduction to Oscar Wao, our dorky, girl-crazy, good-hearted protagonist, in order to see how his actions make the ending so impactful. And the second chapter has to get into the head of his sister Lola who shows readers more sides of Oscar as well as a glimpse into the toxic relationship she has with her mother, Beli, who struggles with reemerging cancer for most of the book. We have to transition to an amazingly in-depth chapter about Beli and her childhood growing up in the DR, coming into a woman's body, falling in love, and falling into major trouble related to the powerful connections of her "Gangster." We have to then return to our original narrator, who we learn is named Yunior and knows the family intimately from dating Lola and living with Oscar in college. This narrator is the one we hear from the very beginning, and the final voice that wraps up the events of  Oscar's brief and wondrous life. And even though he's a misogynistic, sleazy guy nearly as geeky as Oscar for all the pop culture and Lord of the Rings references he uses, wanting to know who he was kept me engaged, considering the novel is set up for readers to realize that Yunior's writing an account of Oscar and his family's life for the sake of legacy and processing the possible fuku-related tragedies their family experienced. Which brings me to my next point---we then have to transition to learn about Oscar and Lola's grandfather and his daughters in the DR, about how he wasn't able to protect himself and these daughters from the lust and power of Trujillo as he would've liked. Understanding how Beli is born right after the possible fuku of her family takes hold makes the background we already have about her as a young woman and a mother to Oscar and Lola all the more valuable. It helps me now come to terms with the fact that this book seems to, at its heart, want to be about the complexity of familial relationships, specifically in a Dominican sphere and culture. It can also arguably be about the multiple infatuations that Oscar experiences, lovesick as he constantly is, and chiefly how he ends up dying for what he calls love but could very well just be unreciprocated obsession. It really is the kind of ending that leaves readers with enough to interpret on their own and feel satisfaction. I was a little let down at how quickly it all just ends, but also incredibly impressed by the attention to storytelling detail and intentional work on the narrator's part to flesh out parts of Oscar and his family's story that do them justice.


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Some of my favorite quotes from The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: 

"But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in."

"It's exactly at these moments, when all hope has vanished, that prayer has dominion."

"As expected: she, the daughter of the Fall, recipient of its heaviest radiation, loved atomically."

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