Book Review – The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

One of my all time favorite book series is the Ender’s Saga by Orson Scot Card. In the second book, the Nebula and Hugo Award winning Speaker for the Dead, we are introduced to the concept of the speaker for the dead – a humanist “priest” of sorts who is called when someone dies. The speaker for the dead has the authority to investigate the life of a person fully. After careful consideration of all possible information about the life of the deceased, the speaker gives a full recounting of the person’s life. The object being to “speak for” the person in a grand eulogy that provides no judgement, just a full understanding of the person in the context of their entire life.

I finished reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao about a week  ago now, and I have spent a great deal of time thinking about it. As I was reading it I had a hard time coming to terms with the book, until one night I had a bit of an insight. Junot Diaz has created a piece of narrative that is essentially “speaking for” Oscar Wao. Diaz has masterfully presented not only the life of Oscar Wao, but has given beautiful context to this complex character – filling in details of not only Oscar’s life, but of all of the people of importance in his life, and the places he lived. Included in the picture he paints of Oscar’s life are significant references to the Dominican Republic, especially under the Trujillo dictatorship – certainly something that I had little significant knowledge of prior to reading the book.

In speaking with a friend about the book the inevitable question came up: was it good? This is something with which I was struggling prior to my speaker of the dead realization, and brings me back to Card’s book. I don’t think Diaz’s intention was to give an opinion – good or bad – about Oscar Wao or any of the other people (or places) mentioned. He simply lays out the story of Oscar’s life, and the lives of those close to him, without judgement. To judge the book as good or bad isn’t really fair. Nor is it really possible, for me at least, to say I liked it or disliked it. When viewed in it’s entirety there is a beauty to the humanity that Diaz lays out, and a masterful writing, considerate of all aspects of the character that he has created. It feels inhumane to judge someone after understanding their life in full – which is, essentially, the intention of the speakers of the dead.