Uncategorized

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

By |

Junot Díaz, Cornell MFA, wrote the novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which is a not-so brief, wondrous example of the power of a multi-layered narrative, intricate and nuanced on every one of its levels. At its most personal and limited level, this is a story of Oscar, Dominican fatboy, unlucky-in-love forever-nerd, living his life in New Jersey without great success.
But even Oscar knows that this story is not about him. Surrounding him are the lives of his sister and his mother who are testaments to the strength and beauty of their family’s women, the incredible pain of diaspora, the historical and emotional terror that was the dictator Trujillo, and the almost supernatural cyclical parallelism of pain and redemption.
A minimal knowledge of Spanish and the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkein is desirable for a full experience of this novel, but a pocket dictionary and a DVD of The Lord of the Rings would suffice, possibly to the chagrin of Díaz.

Uncategorized

All Aunt Hagar’s Children

By |

I picked this book up because of its title. I was one day out of Rosh Hashanah services and here was a book called All Aunt Hagar’s Children. For those of you who are less than well-versed in biblical stories, here is a brief summary: Abraham’s wife, Sarah, has borne him no children, so Abraham begets a son with her servant, Hagar. When Sarah finally is granted a son by G-d, she orders Abraham to cast Hagar and her son Ishmael into the wilderness. They are about to starve when G-d hears her prayers and makes a well for them to drink from. When Abraham is worried about the fate of his sons, G-d assures him that great nations will be born from each.

Uncategorized

On Chesil Beach

By |

On Chesil Beach is a treatise in fiction form on the role of sex and communication in a relationship. Meticulously set in a time we are frequently reminded is most definitely not our own, this story of two virgin newlyweds on their first night together could not be more familiar if it was set at the Statler this past summer. In fact it is set in a Georgian hotel on Chesil Beach, England, 1962.