Review: The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Oscar Wao is a novel centered on the life and history of Oscar de Leon, a young overweight, and often depressed, Dominican boy growing up in New Jersey, whose love of all things science fiction does not endear him to anyone outside his family, especially girls. Only about a third of the book is devoted to Oscar, while the rest is centered on Oscar’s family members. Each character’s story is depicted under the shadow of both Rafael Trujillo, the sadistic dictator who ruled over the Dominican Republic for over 30 years, and the fuku, a curse that has surrounded Oscar’s family since colonization and slavery hit the DR.

 

The story jumps through time, following Oscar from childhood to early adulthood, as well as his sister Lola, and his mother and grandfather. The story moves with them as they live within the DR and the Dominican diaspora, and their infrequent, but often grounding, trips to their home country.

 

While the most prominent features of this story are the history of the DR under Trujillo and the lonely, despondent life of our awkward anti-hero, the story masterfully depicts ideas of identity and gender roles within Dominican families, the Dominican diaspora, and US involvement in Latin America. These topics, which are often ignored in mainstream literature, are explored in a very realistic and truthful manner. It would appear that while this is a work of fiction, Diaz pulled heavily from his own experience as a Dominican growing up in New Jersey.

 

The most unique and intriguing part of Diaz’s writing is the narration of the story. For most of the novel, the narrator is referred to as “your humble Watcher,” who the reader does not learn the identity of until close to the end of the story. However, the narration switches point of view a number of times in the novel to a female family member never quite identified, and at times, it would seem, to Diaz himself. Each narrator speaks in such a personal and colloquial manner the audience tends to feel more like they are having a conversation than reading a book.

 

Diaz has woven together his own knowledge of the lives of Dominicans in the DR and in the United States to create a powerful work of fiction that leaves the audience simultaneously crying and laughing. The indescribable quality of realism that the story evokes allows the reader to completely lose themselves in the lives of each character. While I have fully used up my stock of compliments for this writer, which I am sure has left a distinct feeling of over glorification to this review, I do believe people would be remiss not to indulge in this intelligent and moving piece of literature.