Book Review of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

UPDATED: 2/5/2023

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256 pages, published in 2019

YOU MAY ENJOY THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE:

Literary Fiction * Fiction about the immigrant experience * LGBTQ characters * Novels about multi-generational families

TRAVEL INSPIRATION:

The majority of this novel is set in and near Hartford, Connecticut with references to and memories of Vietnam, where the main character was born and where his mother and grandmother lived until their lives were torn asunder during the Vietnam War.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ocean vuong

A published and award-winning poet, this is Ocean Vuong’s first novel. Like the main character of his novel, Vuong was born in Vietnam in 1988. At two years of age, his family fled to the Philippines where they lived in a refugee camp until receiving asylum and emigrating to the United States.

There are many parallels between Ocean’s life and what his main character experiences in this novel, which is probably why its reading feels so real and personal.

Ocean lives in Massachusetts and is a professor of poetry and writing at University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

REVIEW OF on earth we’re briefly gorgeous BY ocean vuong

That On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous was writen by an author who is primarily a poet will not surprise anyone who turns its pages. The love of language, the descriptions, the musings are all tell-tale signs of a poet at heart.

Beautiful and stunning are two words that come to mind after finishing this novel in less than 24-hours. The world it portrays is all-encompassing and fully absorbed me. But this novel is not about sunny beauty but the beauty that can be found in life's darkest recesses, in its losses, in its pain, and and it's determination to keep moving forward in spite of it all.

At its core, this novel is about the immigrant experience and circling that core is the main character’s experience as a gay teenager. Dysfunctional families and various forms of domestic violence ooze out of this novel, creating a tangible outlet for the pain the characters have experienced through both personal and multi-generational trauma.

The novel is essentially written as a letter from the main character, a Vietnamese-American called Little Dog, to his mother but with the honesty and self-reflection that appears more diary-like in nature. Since Little Dog’s mother doesn’t read English, there is little chance of the letter ever getting to her or, if it were to, of her actually being able to read it. His mother and grandmother are both significant characters and his relationships with them are complicated. Unraveling the good memories from those fraught with violence show the confusion and mixed emotion that Little Dog is trying to work through as he writes.

Midway through the book, Little Dog meets the first person outside of his immediate family who will have a strong, lasting impression. Trevor is an all-American white teenager contending with an abusive addict of a father and through this shared pain, Trevor and Little Dog immediately have a connection, which evolves into an intimate relationship that appears to mean different things to each of them. The intermingling of their lives and the unraveling of Trevor’s add another layer of pain to Little Dog’s growing up years. Trevor is an interesting character on his own, though I don’t want to give too much away.

When you pick up this book, prepare yourself to get absorbed in Vuong’s immense language as he contends with some very difficult topics. I look forward to reading more from Vuong in the future!

DISCUSS on earth we’re briefly gorgeous

For those who have read the book, what were some of the lines you found most poignant? For those who haven’t, what are other immigrant-focused novels you have enjoyed?

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