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introvertinterrupted's Reviews (1.08k)
This book was a diverse read. In some ways, it was a traditional Latin American read rife with magical realism and some elements of ethnic storytelling thrown in, but it also gave a nod toward postmodern mechanisms by inserting cliff notes that were a mixture of sci-fi references and Dominican history lesson rolled into one. The characters in this book seem really raw to the point where, you feel as if these individuals actually exist in real life. Yet, you find yourself praying to God that you never have to meet them because you're too afraid that you'll be so saddened by their existence that you'll be sent into shock from the horror of seeing such casualties of human injustices.
I could really see this book becoming a modern classic alongside a Julia Alvarez novel or a Toni Morrison book. Even though the majority of the story is about Oscar Wao, I found that Yunior, who is Oscar's one time college roommate and the boyfriend of his sister, was my favorite character. Yunior's character is very simple in terms of being depicted as the typical oversexed caricature of a "Latin Lover." However, his way of narrating Oscar's story feels so honest and so tempered, that during the parts where it is obvious that he is narrating, I sat up and really took note of where the story was going. I'm really interested in reading [b:Drown|531989|Drown|Junot Díaz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1313700390s/531989.jpg|3230496] and [b:This Is How You Lose Her|13503109|This Is How You Lose Her|Junot Díaz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1342596676s/13503109.jpg|19051762] since, these are the books that Diaz wrote dealing specifically with Yunior's life.
This is another strong contender for my top 10 of 2014 list. I definitely enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anyone who wants a good book that is along the lines of [b:How The García Girls Lost their Accents|11208|How the García Girls Lost Their Accents |Julia Alvarez|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1386922914s/11208.jpg|92888] or [b:The Bluest Eye|11337|The Bluest Eye|Toni Morrison|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388208495s/11337.jpg|1987778] but, I most warn you all that, this book is by no means a quick read nor a book that should be approached if you can't stand cussing, violent episodes from history, bullying, or the random sentence written in Spanish.
I could really see this book becoming a modern classic alongside a Julia Alvarez novel or a Toni Morrison book. Even though the majority of the story is about Oscar Wao, I found that Yunior, who is Oscar's one time college roommate and the boyfriend of his sister, was my favorite character. Yunior's character is very simple in terms of being depicted as the typical oversexed caricature of a "Latin Lover." However, his way of narrating Oscar's story feels so honest and so tempered, that during the parts where it is obvious that he is narrating, I sat up and really took note of where the story was going. I'm really interested in reading [b:Drown|531989|Drown|Junot Díaz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1313700390s/531989.jpg|3230496] and [b:This Is How You Lose Her|13503109|This Is How You Lose Her|Junot Díaz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1342596676s/13503109.jpg|19051762] since, these are the books that Diaz wrote dealing specifically with Yunior's life.
This is another strong contender for my top 10 of 2014 list. I definitely enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anyone who wants a good book that is along the lines of [b:How The García Girls Lost their Accents|11208|How the García Girls Lost Their Accents |Julia Alvarez|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1386922914s/11208.jpg|92888] or [b:The Bluest Eye|11337|The Bluest Eye|Toni Morrison|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388208495s/11337.jpg|1987778] but, I most warn you all that, this book is by no means a quick read nor a book that should be approached if you can't stand cussing, violent episodes from history, bullying, or the random sentence written in Spanish.
Not as good as [b:The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao|297673|The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao|Junot Díaz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1391409748s/297673.jpg|3281466]. This book felt very repetitive in terms of theme. It seemed that every story was an ode to being a man whore (I use that term as kindly as I can) with Yunior and his father being featured throughout the book in different parts of their life and eras of their "mac-ing." After reading the stories, I sort of understand why Yunior is the way he is in BWLOW. Nevertheless, the stories in this book come off as really dry compared to Diaz's full length novel, which had a sense of depth to it. Hopefully, the short stories in [b:This Is How You Lose Her|13503109|This Is How You Lose Her|Junot Díaz|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1342596676s/13503109.jpg|19051762] is better.
I can't really say I'd recommend this book to anyone even though, it is a quick read since the stories aren't that long. All in all, not my favorite Diaz work.
I can't really say I'd recommend this book to anyone even though, it is a quick read since the stories aren't that long. All in all, not my favorite Diaz work.
Initial Thought: Cool this is going to be another African-American graphic novel in the same vein as [b:Incognegro|2331616|Incognegro|Mat Johnson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1309399607s/2331616.jpg|2338190].
This graphic novel is more suited to teaching readers about the important events of John Lewis and the Tennessee student sit ins that entertainment. I found the overall layout of the novel to be dicey. There were times when the text was extremely small and hard to read and the picture would be covering a third of the page. The book itself is a quick read and it is the start of a trilogy. I'm intrigued enough to think about reading the next two, but I may be better off just googling John Lewis and his part in the Civil Rights Movement.
Final Thought: The graphic novel was good, but not great. I can't really recommend it since it left me with neutral feelings however, I would say that readers should totally look into Lewis' work.
This graphic novel is more suited to teaching readers about the important events of John Lewis and the Tennessee student sit ins that entertainment. I found the overall layout of the novel to be dicey. There were times when the text was extremely small and hard to read and the picture would be covering a third of the page. The book itself is a quick read and it is the start of a trilogy. I'm intrigued enough to think about reading the next two, but I may be better off just googling John Lewis and his part in the Civil Rights Movement.
Final Thought: The graphic novel was good, but not great. I can't really recommend it since it left me with neutral feelings however, I would say that readers should totally look into Lewis' work.
This book is phenomenal! I'll be posting a full review later, but WOW! Totally worth reading!
