by J. Forbes

Created on: May 21, 2008   Last Updated: May 22, 2008

Junot Diaz Does It Again

For those of us who are fans of Junot Diaz, author of award winning novel Drown, our salivation in anticipation of his new novel after ten years can finally cease. His 2007 release of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a perfect follow up to its predecessor, complete with Diaz's unique style that hits home with people of all cultures and backgrounds. The novel's hero is an overweight nerd with an addiction to all things sci-fi and Tolkien, who believes his family to be forever cursed by the dreadful fuku.

A bit surprising at first, many of the chapters within the novel are devoted not to Oscar, but to his sister, mother, and grandfather. In doing so, Diaz makes a case for the idea that a person is not truly known unless his family and country is known first. The novel gives a dismal and dreary look on life, while keeping humorous prose not too far out the reader's reach. While constantly switching from Spanish to English, oftentimes in mid sentence, the narrator seems at home with nearly everything from old school anime to sexual escapades at Rutgers University.

Although at times it may feel as though the novel should be entitled "A History of the Dominican Republic," rather than devoted to a geeky, overweight ghetto nerd from New Jersey, Diaz is careful to incorporate enough of Oscar to keep the pulse of the novel alive. The dialogue flows wonderfully, although a bit interrupting at times with the somewhat overuse of the "n-word." Yes, the word is a part of the culture and history of the novel's characters, but it is still a bit jarring to hear, perhaps because of its ancient negative connotations. Although it may be necessary to keep a Spanish Language Dictionary handy at times to translate the unknown, the overall impact of the language is highly effective.

The overall effect that Oscar Wao has on its readers is much more sad and depressing than what is at first expected. Although the pithiness of the title and beginning chapters do indeed notify the reader of this, I still wasn't expecting the book to unfold quite as pitiably as it did. It is because of the compassion thrust into each of the novel's characters that the reader is left wanting Oscar to live just a bit longer. Thanks to Diaz's incorporation of everything sex, the utterly sad tone that the reader is left with is definitely manageable. Diaz's style of writing is so unique and lovable that I would most certainly wait another 10 years to see it again.

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