Cover Image: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

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Member Reviews

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

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Beautifully poetic and moving. This story of the young son of Vietnamese immigrants explores his sexuality in gorgeous, precise, verdant prose that melds dark with light. He doesn't shirk from the difficulties of racism, homophobia and drug issues.

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On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous 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 — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation.

Vuong's prose is beautiful - poetic and evocative - but at times this is at the expense of the plot, which meanders and is hard to resolve.

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Little Dog is a Vietnamese American writing a letter to his mum who will never read it. He describes the violence he faced at his mother's hands, the bullying from boys at school when he couldn't speak English, his summers working on a tobacco farm and his descent into drug use. This is a book in 3 parts and I'm not going to lie, this was a strange and complex book that I've struggled to rate.
Part 1 is uncomfortably dark, filled with dark imagery. There are a lot of triggers in this book, child abuse, drug abuse. We learn about the horrors of the Vietnam war. There is a story about a monkey that is truly horrifying and made me want to put the book down.

Part 2 is better. A coming of age tale, we follow Little Dog falling in love with his bosses grandson Trevor. And then part 3 is better still, beautiful and poetic. "Did you know people get rich off of sadness? I want to meet the millionaire of American sadness. I want to look him in the eye, shake his hand and say, it's been an honour to serve my country"

The reason I say it is hard to rate is because, would I read it again? No. Did I enjoy it? Not 100% So why am I giving it a high rating? Because there is something unforgettable about this book. It's hard to put my finger on why I kept reading, but I did and it was satisfying. I'm intrigued and interested to see what Ocean Vuong creates next.

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The Vietnam war might be long gone in the past, but the echoes and haunting memories of it still afloat.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a masterful piece of literary fiction, and Vuong uses the language as a whip to rip up the past. A stunning read.

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So maybe literary fiction is not for me. Praise for On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous has been everywhere since it’s release - it’s difficult to comprehend that it’s a debut novel, since the writing is exquisite. However, even though I can appreciate the writing and the importance of the story, for me it didn’t make up for the lack of structure or plot. It was too jumbled for me to truly immerse myself in the story and enjoy it - but this is an issue I have a lot with literary fiction, which tends to value style over story. And one of the most important parts of books for me is my engagement with the story. So it misses out on a few stars because of that, but it gains one back for being such a brilliant debut

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I simply do not understand how such an overwritten, inconsistent and obsessed on oneself book (or, actually, the author) could deserve such praise. "On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous" is covered with amazing reviews by when you read it you realise that this is such a pretentious prose - it is cringe-worthy! It is disordered, very random (like those passages about Purdue Pharma and Tiger Woods), with bits of the narrative which seems to be completely disconnected from the actual body of this short novel.

It is very laboured and laboured poetic is not a genre I enjoy. Last but not least, it is impossible to tell what Ocean Vuong is trying to write about - his "Ma", his adolescent love (oh those nauseating love scenes) or his native country lost to war (among many other things). Plus, pages and pages of Acknowledgements? Come on!

I did not enjoy and cannot recommend.

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There is very little left to be said about this book at this point. Ocean Vuong represents a new breed of writer, capable of using the English language to entirely new effects. Reminiscent of the genius and deft hand of Yiyun Li, Vuong has a command of language that comes along once in a decade. And that's so say nothing of how affecting and emotionally rending this book is from beginning to end.

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Beautifully written. A great book about immigrants in the US and the issues so many face, as well as looking at Vietnamese culture and the impact of the Vietnam war. So much wrapped up in a story of family and first love.

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I loved listening to Ocean Vuong talking about writing, he's an incredibly articulate speaker and an accomplished poet, his writing sophorific and it is easy to be lulled into it's cadence and rhythm. I'm the kind of reader who prefers a poets prose to their poetry, I'm easily swayed by a poets promise of enrapture in the long form, so I was looking forward to reading this.

I loved the premise of the novel, a letter to an illiterate mother, a lofty intellectual promise, a notion that allows for a lack of self consciousness, a daring fearlessness of judgment, knowing she can never read it.

I am lured into reading it and find it losing sight of itself and its intention, that of the letter to the mother, and that it too often feels like the author looking at himself, reliving certain experiences and I wonder why a mother needs to be witness to all of that.

The parts I enjoyed most were the recounting of aspects of Ma (Rose's) and Lan's lives, comparing the nail salon to the tobacco fields, the sacrifices one generation makes for another, the divide between the educated and the uneducated, families fragmented by an internal cultural divide, a sense of loss, the necessity of letting go.

It is beautifully written, in a lyrical flow, a coming of age incantation, an author to watch.

I was sad to read that his own mother passed away in November 2019 at the tender age of 51, he shared this news and a photo of her on his instagram page, honoring her:
"along with all working class mothers who put their heads down through decades of back breaking work so their children can put their heads up"

"What can a son say to the great loss from which he owes his own life? Only that my world has changed forever. it can never be what it was. it is absolutely less—and yet perennially more because of what you have given me, Ma. you taught me that our pain is not our destiny—but our reason. you gave me all the reasons. thank you. i bow to you. i will see you again. every word was always for you. every sentence a life (-giving) sentence."
Ocean Vuong

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If I had known the tone of the book before I got my hands on it, I might not have made an effort. I remember seeing glowing tributes to the writing, and when I began reading it, I had to pause to confirm if this was a work of fiction. The raw emotion in every page, kept me on that scene even after I moved on to the next page. Usually, I shy away from such narrative only because it leaves me feeling unsettled and not in a positive manner. This is a very personal choice, and I had a very visceral reaction to the story. Although it is not a big book and the writing was brilliant for the most part, I had to read it bits and pieces to actually get through it all just because of the power of the content.

The story is of a Vietnamese refugee in a country that had its own take on the crisis in their home country. It is also the story of the women who fed him and nurtured him while at the same time leave their own scars due to either ignorance, habit or illness. It is written as a letter to the mother who cannot read it, and even if she could, she cannot understand or process the information. The timeline ebbs and flows and sometimes doubles back over a story already mentioned. There are little tributary stories hidden within, which highlight darker times and places involving a lot of socio-economic issues. This story can be dissected into numerous 'topics', and the author/narrator does have a hand in suggesting such a mode of reading it because he also tends to do just that. It is not a happy story, but it is starkly real. 

I would only recommend this to the brave of heart or people who have read books dealing with the darker shades of the daily lives of people. 

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but as is obvious, the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

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Ocean Vuong’s „On earth we are briefly gorgeous“is one of these very unusual books that stay in your head for quite a while. I still remember some sentences after 6 weeks! One of the best literary reads for me for quite some time.


Written by a poet in the most beautiful, elegant prose, this debut novel is many things: a heart-wrenching love story of Little Dog, a boy growing up as an outsider with a Vietnamese heritage in America but also discovering his homosexuality at age 15 to Trevor, the son of a tobacco farmer, a love letter written to his mother Rose who cannot read or write and earns their living slaving away in a nail salons, the sometimes funny yet sad portrait of their lives as a family together with his very Vietnamese schizophrenic grandmother Lan, the absence of his biological and substitute father, both white Americans, the flashbacks to his grandmother’s and his mother’s lives during the Vietnam war, this novel is whole mélange of feelings and memories. Unusually frank with the description of homosexual sex scenes; the tenderness of his and Trevor’s feelings for one another and the heart-wrenching unfolding drama brought a lump to my throat.

To read this most unusual novel was an absolute delight.

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A remarkable debut

„Do you ever wonder if sadness and happiness can be combined, to make a deep purple feeling, not good, not bad, but remarkable simply because you didn’t have to live on one side or the other?”

In his debut novel, Vuong assumes the voice of Little Dog, who writes a letter to his illiterate mother. Little Dog grows up in Hartfort as the gay son of a Vietnamese immigrant who comes to America with her mother and sister to make a better life for her family. Half American, half Vietnamese, his mother the daughter of a Vietnamese woman and an American GI, her education is cut short by Napalm raids. She works in a nail salon, giving everything for her family and wanting almost nothing in return. It is also the story of Little Dog’s first love, Trevor, whom he meets during harvest season on a tobacco farm. It is a story of growing up as a gay Immigrant, always different from the rest, a story of finding your place in the world, getting over the destruction of war, of drugs, and a story of love.

The book reads like poetry, with many sentences so beautiful I just wanted to lose myself in them and never come back up for air. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, but it was not an easy read. The prose is so intense, so beautiful, I often had to pause and re-read some parts of this book to understand the storyline, instead of getting lost in the beauty of the words. Vuong jumps around quite a bit with the story, and often it felt like it was more about the prose than about actually telling a congruent story from start to finish. This made it at times hard to follow, and why I am giving it only four out of five starts. A truly beautiful and remarkable debut, which I can fully recommend. I look forward to Vuong’s future works!

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Loved this book and it totally deserves the praise and award nominations it has garnered. Certain sentences made me catch my breath and I know this will be a book that I reread for years to come.

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What a powerful book !

I've just finished reading it and think its truly remarkable.

There is a psychological theory that trauma can be passed down through generations of a family and this seems evident . "Little Dog" comes from a Vietnamese family in which his mum and Grandmother were traumatised by the war in Vietnam. His Mum (who at one point is referred to as having schizioprenia) is beaten by her husband and then beats her son.

Another character, Trevor, also seems to come from an abusive home in that his Dad seems to be suffering from PTSD too (but from the soldier's side of the Vietnam conflict)

As Little Dog comes of age his identity is ever shifting as he learns that to be of an immigrant family is not "acceptable" and he also has to extablish his sexual identity. There are some beautiful passages in which Little Dog and Trevor observe the night sky.

However poverty changes the lives of all ethnic groups and the pernicious influence of both prescription and other drugs means that many lives are blighted.

The time line switches as Little Dog tries to piece together fragments of his life and his family, through the framework of letters to his mother.

One metaphor used is that of the migratory Monarch butterflies who travel huge distances but have such transitory lives. There are themes of freedom and identity (ethnic, sexual and personal)

The prose is poetic and many sentences stop you in your tracks. The author has such dazzling depth and courage in going beyond what a novel and language can be.

This is an extraordinarily original book and deserves all the lavish praise heaped on it. Why wasn't it nominated for the Booker?
Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC

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'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' illustrates the legacy of violence, poverty and lack of opportunities faced by one small family, living in the US, following their escape from the horrors of the Vietnam War. Little Dog's life is coloured by violence and cruelty both at home and at school, yet love can still flourish. One of the most challenging but beautifully-written passages juxtaposes the declining health and death of his grandmother with the excitement of Little Dog's first gay relationship: a triumph of finely nuanced emotional and physical description.

Ocean Vuong has written a profoundly moving and poetic evocation of the relationship between a Vietnamese boy and his mother and grandmother. This book resonated with me long after I'd finished it.

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It is not only the title and the cover that is sheer beauty but it is also the book/story itself.
It is beautifully written- raw and grabs your attention from the start.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Random House UK for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

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This book was absolutely beautiful. While i've read a few epistolary novels, this one really struck out to me in how is captures the desire to bear all while clinging on to a need to restrain ones thoughts as a defence mechanism. In bearing all to someone we love, the rejection we face when this isn't reciprocated can be just as heart wrenching. In writing a letter to his mother in a language she cannot comprehend, Little Dog captures not only the immigrant experience of straddling two worlds but trying to find your own voice and narrate your own story in a voice that is comfortable and familiar. In framing the novel in this way, not expecting a response from the addressee,
I found myself reading half the novel in one sitting as the prose read as incredibly urgent, almost like a confession.

Admittedly, the few works I had read centred around Vietnam had focused on the Western contribution to the war and so I found the distinction of the trauma within one family and it's lingering affects upon multiple generations as opposed to the military violence really fascinating. Moreover, the book centres heavily on the theme of sexuality and masculinity in the form of Little Dog's relationship with Trevor. Some of the most poignant descriptions of sex as an act of submission, done to the body and opposed to with a human being make for some the most honest and affecting reading i've had the pleasure of reading all year.

Overall, I loved this novel. While the subject matter is incredibly sensitive, it's carried with such grace it reads almost like a diary. I can't quite put into words just how tender and honest some passages are and i'll probably be reading it again by the end of the year to enjoy it again.

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Ocean Vuong’s novel is so hard to explain as it seems to do so many things. Firstly, it’s an epistolary novel, a letter to his mother, about his life and hers, from her childhood in Vietnam to her life in Hartford, CT. it deals with the Vietnam war, the impact of American soldiers, moving from one country to another. But the novel does more than this. It is also about Vuong’s life as a gay man; of his encounter with Trevor, a tobacco farm worker, of their intimacy, set against a rural backdrop of a [potentially] bigoted and troubled land.

I love Vuong’s prose - it’s beautiful, so poetic, and the structure of the novel, from his direct points to his mother, then about her family, to the intimate details of sex with Trevor, show an almost stream of consciousness - but also, not. It’s too focused for that. Later in the novel, there are details about OxyContin and its impact on the life of Americans - something we hear so much about nowadays.

This is partly autobiographical but also embellished - not through dishonesty but through Vuong’s stunning use of language. It’ll stay with me for a good while, I suspect.

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This is a beautiful book. The way this book is written is just incredible. The lines bring this story to life with so much colour and texture you can imagine just what every scene looks like and what every character seems to be. Lines such as ‘He was only nine but he already had mastered the dialect of damaged American fathers’ is one of those lines that when you read it, you’re just like, yes, I know exactly at this moment what you mean.

This book reads like poetry, the use of metaphor is powerful in this book and how they tie the story to what happened in those years, and the stories they shares throughout the book about heritage (the Tiger Wood’s story comes to mind) makes this book so unique. We have so much revealed to us throughout this book about the narrator, about sexuality, about abuse and about their mother’s life and her decisions, it’s hard to decipher what exactly is the reveal, but the ending feels like these things being cast off through this book(?).

Vuong is an incredible storyteller and I want to read the poetry from this author now as I feel like if it’s anything like the gorgeous writing in this book, it’s going to be such an incredible read. The way they write is honest and raw and just seeps pain through the pages and if that’s your thing (for example, I feel Heart Berries is the nearest comparison I can make) then this book is the one for you.

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