Sunday, April 18, 2010

Oscar Wao


I recently finished "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz. Two of my friends suggested this book and I am so glad they did. From the very first page I knew this was going to be a great experience in literature. Diaz's writing style is so refreshing from the generic fiction writers and he actually had me laughing out loud, which I rarely do when I read. Diaz really paints the picture of life in the Dominican Republic in the 40s to the present day and evokes sympathy for his main character. One of the things that impressed me was the way he captured the female experience of his characters living in the "DR". Another great thing is Diaz's use of footnotes throughout the novel. Not only are they helpful for those of us who do not know the history and politics of the DR (which is the majority of us), but they provide comic relief, as well. Diaz tells a great story about love and the sacrifices people will endure for that love.

I watched "An Education" a while ago and forgot to write about it. This film was great and had me really into it the entire time. Peter Sarsgaard puts on a fantastic performance. You never know if his character is a good guy or bad guy. I spent the entire film waiting for him to be bad, but I'm not sure if that is my prior experience with the male species of humans or if the script was written this way. I enjoyed it.

"Sherlock Holmes" is also a great film with wonderful acting by Robert Downing, Jr. and Jude Law. I also love Rachel McAdams and she never fails to deliver a great performance. I'm thinking about buying this one at Blockbuster when they sell their previously viewed DVDs for cheap.

I also read "The Last Child" by John Hart, but it's not worth blogging about. It was depressing.

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