The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

De: Junot Diaz

Narrado por: Karen Olivo, Various

Things have never been easy for Oscar. A ghetto nerd living with his Dominican family in New Jersey, he's sweet but disastrously overweight. He dreams of becoming the next J R R Tolkien and he keeps falling hopelessly in love. Poor Oscar may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuku - the curse that has haunted his family for generations.

With dazzling energy and insight Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous lives of Oscar; his runaway sister Lola; their beautiful mother Belicia; and in the family's uproarious journey from the Dominican Republic to the US and back.

Rendered with uncommon warmth and humour, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a literary triumph that confirms Junot Diaz as one of the most exciting writers of our time.

©2007 Junot Diaz (P)2008 Recorded Books LLC

Excellent blend of story and history

When I started reading about Oscar Wao, I did not expect a lesson in Dominican history. I don't love history, but it is pivotal to the stories of Oscar's family members (and indirectly Oscar himself), and the author does a great job at keeping it compelling throughout.

A couple of notes:
-Oscar is the least interesting character, which is unfortunate. I think he even gets less "screen time" than other characters. This is to the book's detriment, as when you start reading about the others, it feels like you are going on a long detour, when that is the meat of the novel.
-Regarding the Spanish content: it is slightly frustrating at times that there is no English translation for words and phrases, especially because you can't copy/paste it into Google Translate. However, you can get the gist from the context, and it is never all that much of a problem. Don't let that deter you from listening.

One of the best

This has been by far one of the best stories I have had the pleasure of listening to. The reader was beyond fantastic, which took this already great book to a whole new level. Bravo.

didn't want it to end!

A fantastic story - both hilarious and tragic at the same time. Had me laughing out loud and choked up too. The narrator was amazing and made the story for me. 100% recommend!

Helps if you speak Spanish!

The narrators were of a high standard, but there is a fair amount of spanish used throughout the book. I'm told the print version translates the spanish in footnotes and I certainly would have got more from the audiobook had those footnotes been incorporated. Nonetheless it was a good, though depressing, listen.

No, no, no

I have no idea how this story was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. To me it feels more aimed at young adults - certainly this reading makes it feel this way & the main narrator of the story feels better suited to a younger audience.

I couldn't buy in to the story at all. Some of the characters, yes, especially the female ones. But Oscar - the main character - felt completely inaccessible to me. I didn't see any development in him throughout the storyline & his "achievements" seemed to be more down to luck than personal growth. As a character he was very limited.

Little about Oscar's own life seemed "Wonderous" to me. His family history certainly had some interest in it, but his own life held little.

Oscar's friend "Junior" the narrator seemed a strange choice to tell the story of Oscar's family as it seemed unlikely he'd have had access to as much information as the story contained.

I persisted to the end with this one but it felt like wasted effort.