Meet Oscar: fat kid extraordinaire who, despite his Dominican heritage, has no game.
It was about a year and a half ago when I read Diaz's Drown, a collection of short stories that are gritty and make me want to never live in New Jersey. I expected similar subject matter when I picked up Oscar Wao, and man oh man did I get it. Sex? You got it. Drugs? You got it. Violence? Replete. No wonder it was a bestseller.
Spoiler alert, ahoy!
Diaz is not exactly treading on delicate grounds here. Like in the stories of Drown, we meet characters who got the sh(or)t end of the stick. His writing is raw, but it is beautiful. And just as in Drown, we have a mixture of Spanish and English, so much so that it could be a primer in the former. But I loved that about Oscar Wao, because it gave the narrator an authentic voice. There isn't a glossary, but there truckloads of footnotes. Surprised? So was I. Although lengthy, they are worth reading.
So what is the story actually about? Oscar is a passionate nerd who does not fit in the Dominican social circles. He attempts to kill himself, but fails. He falls in love with every woman he meets, and in the end dies for love, or at least what he believes is love. He also speaks Elvish. Hot!
You see, Oscar's family is supposedly cursed. The curse itself is difficult to explain, mainly because I don't speak Spanish, but it roots itself in the idea of curse (fuku) and counter-curse (zafa). Oscar and his family classify each event or moment of temporary importance in their lives under one of these two categories. The narrator constantly admits his givings in to Dominican stereotypes, and superstition is apparently one of them. This serves as an interesting undertone that carries throughout Diaz's novel.
Oscar Wao was nothing short of a fantastic read. Is it because I read most of this novel at the laundromat? Maybe. Is it because Diaz is so good looking? Perhaps. Is it partially because a woman I cannot stand told me how much she hated the novel, and so I will essentially disagree with everything she says? Likely.
Next up: people are still naming their children Abraham! Verghese's Cutting for Stone has big shoes to fill.
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