Book Review for SBC Beautiful Words Book Review

The book I chose to read for my SBC is called “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong. The genre is domestic fiction written in the form of multiple letters from Little Dog to his mother Rose. Many emotional and raw themes are covered in this book such as race, parent-child relationship, drug addiction, and sexuality. This NYT bestselling book has won the 2020 American Book Award in Fiction. Vuong also has a book of his poems called “Night Sky With Exit Wounds” and another poetry collection called “Time Is a Mother”. Vuong was a refuge from Vietnam and came to the United States at the age of two, and the novel itself parallels a lot of other drastically similar events from his life. The book starts off covering Little Dog explaining his life in the United States and the abuse he experiences from his mother. He describes multiple moments in his relationship with his mother, one being “the time you threw the box of Legos at my head. The hardwood dotted with blood”. This made me dwell on when the line from abuse to love gets crossed, especially when Little Dog said “You’re a mother, Ma. You’re also a monster”. I always felt a sense of tension between going back on forth on “oh my gosh, the mother is a horrible person” to “but oh she just loves him and wants the best”. Tough love is something that I know many Asians (and children in general) including myself have experienced on multiple occasions growing up, especially emotional abuse. I found how Little Dog writes to his mother knowing that she is illiterate interesting, but also very real. Confronting parents is a challenging thing, so for him to be able to reflect on what has happened to him while directing it at his mother is very brave, whether she can read them or not.

Little Dog then goes on revealing his exploration of his sexuality when he meets a guy named Trevor who he gets romantically involved with. Unfortunately, Trevor becomes a drug addict after being given opioids to recover from a surgery, introducing yet again another reality for a lot of teens. This part had a lot of tension because it was clearly one that was important for Little Dog, and crucial to his self growth. I found it unique how Little Dog was able to describe so many sentimental moments that were part of his maturing while remaining very vulnerable and open about every bit. He was pouring out all his emotions seamlessly and I felt like I knew so much about him, regardless of the obvious that I’ve never met him. This type of life was a reality for Little Dog, Ocean Vuong, and still is for many other immigrants in the United States. I am fortunate to not experience a lot of trauma that Little Dog had to (abuse, war, loss of a loved one, etc.), but I am happy that I was still able to feel touched because of how he shared his experiences with such an exposed voice.

I would highly highly recommend this book, especially if you’ve enjoyed TV series like Jane the Virgin (explores immigration and sexuality), and All American (explores drug abuse). Books that relate to this are The Vanishing Half (explores identity and maturity) and even The Alchemist (explores personal journey). I will warn that this book covers a lot of mature topics, and may be triggering to read. However, I promise this book will have you doing a lot of reflecting on your own identity and journey of growing up, and potentially shedding a few or many tears. A wonderful and memorable read:)