This beautiful poetic novel is the debut from Ocean Vuong. This was the chosen book for my book club for April. I was super excited to read it having bought it and just never finding the right time.
Synopsis:
This is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born. It tells of Vietnam, of the lasting impact of war, and of his family's struggle to forge a new future. And it serves as a doorway into parts of Little Dog's life his mother has never known - episodes of bewilderment, fear and passion - all the while moving closer to an unforgettable revelation.
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This is a book which Instagram made me want, everyone was absolutely raving about it. So when I found it in the charity shop I couldn't leave without it. I am very glad that I read this for a book club because I don't know if I would have stuck it out. It is no lie that this novel is beautifully written, Ocean is a master of poetry we wouldn't expect any less of him,
the problem was that I kept finding myself lost (not in a good way) with what was happening.
Just as I would feel like I have gotten it, it changed.
Ocean changes his style throughout the book, I'm not sure if this was on purpose or if it he was trying the find which style he felt more comfortable with. He also seems to jump around throughout the novel first he will be speaking about his grandmother and then all of a sudden without warning he is talking about his friend Trevor. These things annoyed me and I did end up having to have a break just to try and get my head around what was happening.
When I picked the book up again I did feel that I was enjoying it more but I don't know if that was because I had learnt to deal with the messy structure.
On the other hand I feel that all the things which I found annoying may have been how Ocean wanted it to be. The book is written as a letter to his mother, it feels like he writes a sections and stops to remember it with some parts more vivid than others. The book is almost like a train of thought.
They say that a memory is how we remember things so it isn't always accurate to what really happened which is why some memories are more vivid than others.
We embellish our stories when telling a memory of what we think/would have liked to have happened which is why remembering things can be different from one person to the next. You can really see this through the letter in the way certain situations are much more detailed than others.This does make the book feel extremely raw. You can really feel his pain through the writing, he uses numerous beautiful quotes throughout and his descriptions are done so well! You can really see what he wants you to see.
Ocean also covers the topic of identity which i think is extremely relevant right now. Little dog struggles with his identity and seems to want to be invisble which he gets from his mother. Being migrants they feel they are already a target. He tends to just go along with whatever is going on around him and never truly seems to show his own personality.
The book itself I did not love though :(. I do think this is because I wanted so much more, it was so hyped up and I get why people loved it but unfortunately it was not for me. I do intend on revisiting the book again as there was a lot which I missed that I think I will understand or enjoy more a second time around.
I personally rate this 3/5, I do hope that when I reread the book I love it more.
Here is the link for the book if you want to give it a try.
Please let me know what you think if you do decide to pick up a copy.
This is in no way affiliated with amazon, just a link to save the searching.
