Our relationship wasn’t the sun, the moon and the stars, but it wasn’t bullshit either.
Yunior is a character who stays curled up in the back of your mind when you’re taking a break from reading, and he lingers there for awhile when you’re finished his book. His voice is hard and jagged and experienced, and you just can’t quite shake him. This story isn’t unique; it’s the story of so many boys raised in cultures dominated by machismo. Of so many people who just can’t seem to stop themselves. But somehow his voice is all his own. I haven’t yet read anything else by Junot Díaz, but I understand that he has written about Yunior before and I cannot blame him one bit for returning to the character for This is How You Lose Her.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is freaking amazing. Yunior narrates it, but is not the protagonist. I’d say that one of the things Diaz does wonderfully there is examine the many ways in which people get trapped by machismo and sexism and colonialism and racism, and how all those things interconnect and affect each-other. It’s not an altogether pleasant book, but it is really good. I had my doubts going in (another Angry Young Man novel with touches of magical realism? how novel) but I’m so glad I read it anyway.
Definitely going on my list for next year.