Wadana Kakakhel, Grade 12
UWCEA Moshi Campus
This book was a part of my life before I even realized it existed.
Seeing snippets of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous on my Instagram explore page or seeing Ocean Vuong’s name multiple times at libraries made me feel like I had a connection with the novel. I was already obsessed even though I hadn’t read the book in its entirety. In an interview Ocean Vuong said that he wrote the first draft of the book on paper in his closet. That image itself makes me connect to the words he wrote straight from the depths of his heart. Quotes that left me feeling hollow but somehow fulfilled and the intensity of the emotions lacing the words made me realize why I had fallen in love with the art of writing in the first place. This summer I finally started reading it, and I was hooked from the first few words.
“Dear Ma, I am writing to reach you—even if every word I put down is one word further from where you are. I am writing to go back to the time[...]”. The book takes the form of a letter from a Vietnamese American writer to his illiterate mother; this fact makes the reader aware that it isn’t so much about communicating with his mother but rather processing his memories and finding a way to break free. In its essence, the book is raw and vulnerable, it has a lyrical charm to it and there are countless moments where sentences left me awestruck.
These few lines crawled into my heart and have been residing there ever since. “In Vietnamese, the word for missing someone and remembering them is the same: nhớ. Sometimes, when you ask me over the phone, Có nhớ mẹ không? I flinch, thinking you meant, Do you remember me? I miss you more than I remember you.” It reminds me of all the people and places I’ve loved and every bittersweet moment where I had to let go and move on, even though I know we never truly say goodbye for good. Parts of my past live in me and they are reflected in the faces of those I call home. This book reminds me of that home.
Vuong writes in a way that feels almost fragile, yet with such fierce conviction. Every sentence seems to be put together with great thought put behind each word, yet flows so naturally. There is a paradox in the way he writes and in the lives of the characters he writes about. Every sentence has you on the edge and I couldn’t find it in me to put the book down before I had reached the last page. It touches on themes of war, trauma, drug addiction, sexuality, racism, memory, and so much more. The book is one that I intend to return to frequently, cherishing every morsel it has to offer.
Ocean Vuong said, “When you read a book... you’re choosing to privilege a center, a space somebody else made for you. That’s a beautiful thing.” I would strongly recommend entering this space he has made for you.
Bibliography:
Poetry Foundation. “Poetry Foundation.” Poetry Foundation, 2013,
www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ocean-vuong
“Ocean Vuong Shares Stories behind “on Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.”” Los Angeles Times,
28 Jan. 2020,
www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-01-28/ocean-vuong-la-times-book-club-
n-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous
McAlpin, Heller. ““On Earth” Is Gorgeous All the Way Through.” NPR, 5 June 2019,
www.npr.org/2019/06/05/729691730/on-earth-is-gorgeous-all-the-way-through
“A Quote from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.” Goodreads,
www.goodreads.com/quotes/9944382-in-vietnamese-the-word-for-missing-someone-and-remembering-them
Seeing snippets of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous on my Instagram explore page or seeing Ocean Vuong’s name multiple times at libraries made me feel like I had a connection with the novel. I was already obsessed even though I hadn’t read the book in its entirety. In an interview Ocean Vuong said that he wrote the first draft of the book on paper in his closet. That image itself makes me connect to the words he wrote straight from the depths of his heart. Quotes that left me feeling hollow but somehow fulfilled and the intensity of the emotions lacing the words made me realize why I had fallen in love with the art of writing in the first place. This summer I finally started reading it, and I was hooked from the first few words.
“Dear Ma, I am writing to reach you—even if every word I put down is one word further from where you are. I am writing to go back to the time[...]”. The book takes the form of a letter from a Vietnamese American writer to his illiterate mother; this fact makes the reader aware that it isn’t so much about communicating with his mother but rather processing his memories and finding a way to break free. In its essence, the book is raw and vulnerable, it has a lyrical charm to it and there are countless moments where sentences left me awestruck.
These few lines crawled into my heart and have been residing there ever since. “In Vietnamese, the word for missing someone and remembering them is the same: nhớ. Sometimes, when you ask me over the phone, Có nhớ mẹ không? I flinch, thinking you meant, Do you remember me? I miss you more than I remember you.” It reminds me of all the people and places I’ve loved and every bittersweet moment where I had to let go and move on, even though I know we never truly say goodbye for good. Parts of my past live in me and they are reflected in the faces of those I call home. This book reminds me of that home.
Vuong writes in a way that feels almost fragile, yet with such fierce conviction. Every sentence seems to be put together with great thought put behind each word, yet flows so naturally. There is a paradox in the way he writes and in the lives of the characters he writes about. Every sentence has you on the edge and I couldn’t find it in me to put the book down before I had reached the last page. It touches on themes of war, trauma, drug addiction, sexuality, racism, memory, and so much more. The book is one that I intend to return to frequently, cherishing every morsel it has to offer.
Ocean Vuong said, “When you read a book... you’re choosing to privilege a center, a space somebody else made for you. That’s a beautiful thing.” I would strongly recommend entering this space he has made for you.
Bibliography:
Poetry Foundation. “Poetry Foundation.” Poetry Foundation, 2013,
www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ocean-vuong
“Ocean Vuong Shares Stories behind “on Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.”” Los Angeles Times,
28 Jan. 2020,
www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-01-28/ocean-vuong-la-times-book-club-
n-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous
McAlpin, Heller. ““On Earth” Is Gorgeous All the Way Through.” NPR, 5 June 2019,
www.npr.org/2019/06/05/729691730/on-earth-is-gorgeous-all-the-way-through
“A Quote from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.” Goodreads,
www.goodreads.com/quotes/9944382-in-vietnamese-the-word-for-missing-someone-and-remembering-them
www.unitedworldwide.co