The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: Difference between revisions
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{{quote| They say it came first from Africa, carried in the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Tainos, uttered just as one world perished and another began; that it was a demon drawn into Creation through the nightmare door that was cracked open in the Antilles. ''Fuká americanus'', or more colloquially, fuká-- generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World.}} |
{{quote| They say it came first from Africa, carried in the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Tainos, uttered just as one world perished and another began; that it was a demon drawn into Creation through the nightmare door that was cracked open in the Antilles. ''Fuká americanus'', or more colloquially, fuká-- generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World.}} |
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a 2007 novel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Junot Díaz. The story is centered around the character Oscar de León, a [[One of Us|consummate scifi and fantasy geek]] with horrendous luck with women who wants to be the Dominican [[ |
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a 2007 novel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Junot Díaz. The story is centered around the character Oscar de León, a [[One of Us|consummate scifi and fantasy geek]] with horrendous luck with women who wants to be the Dominican [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]. The story is told through his former roommate at Rutgers, Yunior, who comes off as a [[Jerkass|bit dickish]] when he is first introduced into the story, but [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|grows into a better person]] by the time he is writing the novel. Yunior tells the story of Oscar's life (and [[Oh, and X Dies|death]]) by tracing Oscar's story through his sister Lola, his mother Hypatá Belicia Cabral (or Beli for short), and his grandfather Abelard Cabral's own tragic tales. |
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Between all of the geek references, untranslated Spanish, slang, and footnotes, you might get lost in the text and believe that Díaz [[Viewers Are Geniuses|assumes too much]] from the reader, or that he is aiming to disorient the reader. However, understanding all of his references [[Genius Bonus|doesn't add much to understanding the text]]. |
Between all of the geek references, untranslated Spanish, slang, and footnotes, you might get lost in the text and believe that Díaz [[Viewers Are Geniuses|assumes too much]] from the reader, or that he is aiming to disorient the reader. However, understanding all of his references [[Genius Bonus|doesn't add much to understanding the text]]. |
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* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]] - Played straight, subverted and deconstructed all in the same book. |
* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]] - Played straight, subverted and deconstructed all in the same book. |
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* [[Cultural Rebel]] - Oscar fit the profile to a T; Lola too, to a lesser degree. |
* [[Cultural Rebel]] - Oscar fit the profile to a T; Lola too, to a lesser degree. |
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* [[Exactly What It Says |
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]] - The word "Brief" being in the title isn't for show. |
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* [[Big Bad]]- You could argue that Trujillo or the fukú curse fulfill this role. |
* [[Big Bad]]- You could argue that Trujillo or the fukú curse fulfill this role. |
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* [[Big Breasts, Big Deal]]: Beli becomes ''extremely'' well-endowed when she [[She Is All Grown Up|hits puberty]]. She's initially ashamed about her breasts, but soon begins flaunting them when she realizes that they make men fall all over her. Her daughter Lola, on the other hand, is [[Pettanko|as flat as a board]] but became just as well-endowed in a different area. |
* [[Big Breasts, Big Deal]]: Beli becomes ''extremely'' well-endowed when she [[She Is All Grown Up|hits puberty]]. She's initially ashamed about her breasts, but soon begins flaunting them when she realizes that they make men fall all over her. Her daughter Lola, on the other hand, is [[Pettanko|as flat as a board]] but became just as well-endowed in a different area. |
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* [[Geek Physiques]] - Oscar weighs over 300 pounds for most of his life. |
* [[Geek Physiques]] - Oscar weighs over 300 pounds for most of his life. |
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* [[Geek Reference Pool]] - Listing all of the references that Yunior includes to various aspects of [[Geek Culture]] would take a page unto itself. But that doesn't mean we are not going to try: |
* [[Geek Reference Pool]] - Listing all of the references that Yunior includes to various aspects of [[Geek Culture]] would take a page unto itself. But that doesn't mean we are not going to try: |
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** [[ |
** [[Akira]] |
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** [[The Dark Knight Returns]] |
** [[The Dark Knight Returns]] |
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** [[Dungeons and Dragons]] |
** [[Dungeons and Dragons]] |
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** [[The Lord of the Rings]] and [[The Silmarillion]] |
** [[The Lord of the Rings]] and [[The Silmarillion]] |
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** [[Dune]] |
** [[Dune]] |
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** [[ |
** [[H.P. Lovecraft]] |
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** [[Love and Rockets]] |
** [[Love and Rockets]] |
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** Daniel Clowes |
** Daniel Clowes |