On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Title: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Nationality: Vietnamese American
Original language: English
Trigger Warnings: Domestic abuse, war, loss
Genre(s): Autobiographical, epistolary, coming-of-age novel
Started reading: 26/11/2022
Finished reading: 02/12/2022
Synopsis: A man writes a long letter to her mother, who cannot read, in which he describes moments of their family life and their individual lives
Mood(s): Melancholic, confessional
Themes: Family, war, childhood, loss, LGBTQ+, communication, immigration, race
Time setting(s): 1955 - 1975, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s
Location setting(s): Vietnam, US
Writting style: Poetic prose with beautiful imagery but still accessible to a reader not used to poetry
Pace / Rhythm: Slightly slow at times, but generally well-paced
Review: I went into this novel quite blindly, not knowing anything about the plot. The poetic writing had me a bit confused at first on where this would be going, but I soon managed to follow the story and fall in love with it.
We follow his relationship with his mother, full of ups and downs, with both their childhoods not short of complications and trauma, and yet described beautifully, with understanding and compassion.
The novel is a letter addressed to a mother who can never read it, which makes it possible for the protagonist to tell her his life without censoring anything, like the rawest of confessions, even though no sin was committed.
At the same time, it comments on the Vietnam war and its aftermath, how it affected both countries throughout various generations, even the ones that arrived long after it was over.
On its more coming-of-age side, we find the pain and issues of growing up as a queer POC and loving someone who is not ready to face their own queerness, and who will never be.
It is a letter full of memories, both good and bad, happy and tragic, full of the warmth of autumn and pine trees and sunsets, but also of the starkness of fluorescent lights and needles and cement.
"The eye, alone in its socket, doesn't even know there's another one, just like it, an inch away, just as hungry, as empty."
"It was there, inside the song, that you had permission to lose yourself and not be wrong."
"It is no accident, Ma, that the comma resembles a fetus — that curve of continuation. We were all once inside our mothers, saying, with our entire curved and silent selves, more, more, more. I want to insist that our being alive is beautiful enough to be worthy of replication. And so what? So what if all I ever made of my life was more of it?"
Felt: Quite emotional when the topic of death would come up, and angry at war and how it affected not only those who lived it but also the generations that came after
Learnt: More about the Vietnam war and Vietnamese culture
To research: The influence of French on Vietnamese
What made me read it: A friend recommended the author, and I was curious about how a poet would write prose
Expectations: Beautiful writing
Reality: Outstanding writing, so delicately crafted, and a moving story of love and hate
Reminded me of: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner and The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Notable scenes (not spoiler free): His grandma's last breath. It hit so close to home I almost flung the book against the wall
Notable characters: His grandma
Questions for the author(s): How do you think of such gorgeous titles like wtf man
Recommendable: Definitely
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