on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Rating: 4/5
Pages: 256
Started: 3 January 2024
Finished: 3 January 2024
Summary:
In the format of a lyrical, introspective, and candid yet compassionate letter to his mother, Ocean Vuong reflects on his family's history and his childhood as a Vietnamese-American gay boy growing up with a single mother in Hartford, Connecticut.
Thoughts:
This was a beautiful book, though I was expecting a story rather than an introspective and reflective memoir. The prose was stunning, insightful and beautiful, and Vuong's openness and compassion were very impressive. Though plenty of harsh insights and truths were shared, it never felt as though Vuong was passing judgement. The memoir portrayed people struggling with mental health, with addiction, with trauma and abuse, but there never seemed to be any judgement of value or morality on any of the struggling people, just an exploration of how and why. Especially for a book handling heavy and difficult topics, Vuong's perspective felt very gentle.
I was assured this book would make me cry; it did not, likely because memoirs already feel vulnerable enough without my allowing myself to succumb to the emotion of the story. Regardless, this was a very moving book, with so much value in its honest and compassionate insight.