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Blame it on the footnotes
Maybe it was the hype.
I wanted to love “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz (ISBN 978-1-59448-958-7). After all, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2008. I’d read lots of glowing reviews. And a colleague told me it was the best book she’d ever read, prompting her to begin re-reading it as soon as she’d finished.
So it’s possible nothing could have measured up.
But I’m blaming the footnotes.
Diaz is a gifted storyteller, crafting fleshed-out characters that captivate. And then, just when I’m enthralled with the story of Oscar. Stop. A footnote detailing the history of the Dominican Republic. Just as I’m immersed in the travails of his sister Lola. Stop. A footnote explaining the atrocities of Trujillo. Just when I’m moved almost to tears by Diaz’ incredibly powerful usage of the understatement. Stop. A footnote on ... I don’t know what because I stopped reading them.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the book. I appreciate the skill it takes to so seamlessly move from character to character and era to era without jarring the reader. I just wanted to get lost in this fascinating story, not be constantly interrupted.
- Tricia Ambrose
I wanted to love “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz (ISBN 978-1-59448-958-7). After all, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2008. I’d read lots of glowing reviews. And a colleague told me it was the best book she’d ever read, prompting her to begin re-reading it as soon as she’d finished.
So it’s possible nothing could have measured up.
But I’m blaming the footnotes.
Diaz is a gifted storyteller, crafting fleshed-out characters that captivate. And then, just when I’m enthralled with the story of Oscar. Stop. A footnote detailing the history of the Dominican Republic. Just as I’m immersed in the travails of his sister Lola. Stop. A footnote explaining the atrocities of Trujillo. Just when I’m moved almost to tears by Diaz’ incredibly powerful usage of the understatement. Stop. A footnote on ... I don’t know what because I stopped reading them.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the book. I appreciate the skill it takes to so seamlessly move from character to character and era to era without jarring the reader. I just wanted to get lost in this fascinating story, not be constantly interrupted.
- Tricia Ambrose
Labels: book review, Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
posted by News-Herald Blogs at
10:04 AM
1 Comments:
The footnotes killed the flow of the story, but I can understand what he was trying to do. It's similar to how some versions of Lolita have footnotes. Great, but ultimately like a spoiler, it takes the visceral feel out of reading the book straight through without the academic white noise.
An interesting fact, Tricia: I knew some friends who were in Vietnam. I also knew a Marine who was in the Dominican Republic in April '65. And while the 'fuju' may be fact or fiction or a clever plot device, it's not a stretch to say that some of those Marines that went from Santo Domingo occupation to Saigon in '65-66 took a little bit of 'fuju' with them, causing the cluster-foxtrot that was the Vietnam War.
After '66, the war in Vietnam started to snowball and the public became antsy. Tet in Jan '68--that was the avalanche on the mountain. Kent State shooting in '70? Ballgame. Let's get our boys back home, which we did in '72-73. But there's still some 'fuju' about the war even today.
I got the sense of anger in Diaz, but that's who he is. Sometimes, as a writer, you just have to be yourself. Had Diaz edited it and cut some swear words out, a minor example, it wouldn't have read as well...you would've gotten the idea he was trying to make it marketable at the expense of artistry.
take care,
the Asian Sensation.
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