From the very beginning of this book, the narration style has a very intriguing element to me. Sometimes it feels rather obvious as to who is telling the story, but then I go and start a new chapter, and just like that, the storyteller changes. Or maybe it just seems to change. It was a bit easier to tell the chapter(s) where Lola was speaking, and then again when Yunior took his turn. As I’m reading, it’s as though I’m listening to an audiotape where the story is told by many different people, each beginning his/her section like an interview, speaking into the recorder, me listening to each perspective after it’s all over, never knowing for sure who is telling which part or which piece my come next. In fact, that’s very much what it feels like; an interview with several different participants or witnesses to the same event that aren’t put in order of chronology, just in whatever order the people happen to fall on the tape to tell what they saw or heard. I feel like each person is given their own voice this way, even if they don’t necessarily reveal exactly who it is speaking in each part. However, I realize that so far, there is one important character that doesn’t seem to be given a chance to tell his side of things, and that’s Oscar. Perhaps this exclusion is related to the insinuation in the title that he dies at some point in the story. If the narrators/interviewees are detailing events leading up to and following Oscar’s death after it has already happened, it makes sense that he wouldn’t have any say in how his story is told. While I’m on the point of his lack of narration thus far, it’s interesting to see that even though he doesn’t directly contribute in this regard, each person’s narration includes references that only Oscar would (or could) make. For example, on page 78, there’s the quote we discussed in class: “…a guardedness so Minas Tirith in la pequeña that you’d need the whole of Mordor to overcome it.” I’ll admit that what I’m about to say gives people the right to think I’m as a big a nerd as Oscar, but these little references to fantasy/sci-fi books are my favorite parts. It makes the whole reading experience feel like maybe he really is the one telling the story, through the memories of the people who witnessed his “brief wondrous life”.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
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Hey Stephanie,
I completely agree with you about how at first it was really weird that Oscar is barely mentioned or talks, but then again he is dead so it makes that kind of difficult. I really did like the narration of the book and how it frequently changed, because at least that made it a little more interesting; especially since the first 200 pages of the book moved really slowly. And even though it did move slowly, I still liked it, because it made sense. You had to learn everyone’s history, and understand why the way they were before the story made since. And even though Oscar was not the big star of the book, I think that it was okay, because if he talked more and was involved more the book would have drove me crazy because all he would be talking about the whole time is his nerdiness, depression and obsessions with every female he ever laid his eyes on. I would have to say my favorite character that had their chapters in the book was the mother, because reading those chapters was the only way I understood why that woman was such a stubborn bitch. I guess as time went one throughout the book I warmed up to her a lot more, because I felt sorry for everything that she went through, which then allowed me to completely understand why she was the way she was. But anyways I hope you ended up liking the book a lot more after finishing the whole thing, because I loved it!!!
-Kate
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