Reviews with content warning for Racism - Oscar Waos korte, makeløse liv

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Oscar Waos korte, makeløse liv by Hege Hammer, Henning Hagerup, Junot Díaz

24 reviews

rhgrimes's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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singalana's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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.

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lostinthelibrary's review against another edition

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dark funny informative tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. The author has such a unique voice like a friend telling you a story at the end of a party where you gossip and put the world to rights. This was only enhanced by the fantastic narration of Lin Manuel Miranda for the audiobook.

I learned a lot about the Dominican republic and the Latino diaspora without feeling like a history book and the Spanglish throughout gave great atmosphere.

This book is irreverent, and at times quite violent. I winced multiple times at the events that occurred and was constantly frustrated by character choices but it made me all the more absorbed.

Very much deserving of it's status as a modern classic.

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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.

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savreads28's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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andalucia's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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lexi_ag's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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!

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