Takakansi ja ylistävät arvostelut johtivat minua jälleen kerran harhaan. 

Kirja on oikeastaan perhesaaga Oscar Waon sukua vainoavasta kirouksesta, fukústa. Tosin jää lukijan arvioitavaksi onko kyseessä todellinen kirous vai surkeiden olosuhteiden summa. Kirjassa kerrotaan Oscarin suvun elämästä Dominikaanisessa tasavallassa diktaattori Trujillon valtakaudella ja myöhemmin Yhdysvalloissa. 

Oscar Wao on “nörtti”, joka ei saa naisia, vaikka haluaisi. Hänen sukunsa naiset tuntuvat aina sotkeutuvan vääriin miehiin, jotka aiheuttavat heille hankaluuksia. Kirjassa miehet panevat ja naiset käyttävät seksuaalisuuttaan välineenä tai joutuvat sen uhriksi. 

Mitä itse tekstiin tulee, ei ehkä ollut hyvä merkki käydä lukemassa kirjailijan Wikipediasivulta syytöksiä seksuaalisesta ahdistelusta. Kirjasta välittyy jonkin verran misogyniaa, eikä kirjailijan naiskuvaus ole hääppöinen. Jos tätä ei oteta lukuun, kirjoitustyyli on sujuvaa ja omaperäistä. Kirjan tekstiä on ryyditetty lukuisilla pitkillä alaviitteillä, jotka tarjoavat lisää kontekstia mm. Trujillon diktatuuriin. 

Kirjaa markkinoidaan hauskana. Itse en allekirjoita tätä, mielestäni se on pikemminkin raadollinen ja epätoivoinen. Myös näkökulma naisiin ärsyttää. 

This was neither brief nor wondrous. Truly truly truly I do not give a single fuck if Oscar got laid or not, and yet every time we had to hear about him it was about how he was too fat, nerdy, and ugly to get laid. Womp fucking womp. Oscar is presented as the antithesis of Yunior/Dominican hypermasculinity, and sure on the surface it seems that way - they are physical opposites, and whereas Yunior very easily sleeps around, Oscar can't even talk to a girl; but if you look at Oscar's behavior more deeply, I'd say I disagree. His inability to get a girlfriend doesn't automatically mean he possesses any sort of respectfulness towards women. He still has the inability to leave women alone, is practically a stalker, and in one instance he even gets violent and resorts to misogynistic derogatory names when he catches the girl he likes sleeping with someone. 

This goes along with how much I disliked the level of misogyny in the book. Yeah I understand the narrative of a story doesn't equate to the stance of the author, but I've never seen a book quite as crude as this one, where every female character is regularly described by their ass, tits, and how fuckable they are. Intended or not, I don't believe this book offers any valid criticisms on violent misogyny because the criticisms of machismo itself was weak. Describing bad things that happen to women isn't anything new and doesn't automatically mean criticism. I honestly felt that this story had a very hateful display towards women and I'm not surprised by what I saw after searching up the author. 

The last thing I'll say is that I also found the magical realism in the story to be lacking. I kept hearing about fukú, but I wasn't seeing it. It seemed a rather weak, and unnecessary, explanation for all the tragedies happening to Oscar's family when living under the rule of a dictator is explanation enough. 

The content of the book was not always my fave but I loved the style of writing and the blend of Spanish and English. I read this after hearing it acknowledged in the afterward of Nevada, and totally understand how this book would inspire authors to write their stories unapologetically without being afraid to alienate audiences that don’t share the same identity. 

Learned a lot about the DR and Dominican diaspora!