Drown

This is one of the most brilliant works of fiction written in the last 100 years. End of review.

A. Ross and others have provided neat summaries of this collection of short stories; I just want to supplement their accounts. I had read "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" first; that novel's principal charm was the great comic invention of its aniti-hero, a morbidly obese gamer and sci-fi addict, a total misfit in his immigrant community. I was dubious about these stories, which claimed no such disarming central character. But Diaz brought such sensitive skills to this first published work that I favor it even over "Oscar."I have had reasons to be skeptical of Pulitzer winners; and MacArthur "genius" grants have often gone to minority artists with suspicious frequency. Suspicions are irrevelant here; Diaz deserves every accolade. As a writer, he straps one arm behind his back—limits his vocabulary and powers of observation—when he presents all but one of these stories from the point of view of a poor young Dominican-American with no special gifts of description or insight, a kind of ethnic everyman. (Even the odd story of the group, "Negocios," told in the third person about a Dominican's coming to America to establish a foothold for his left-behind family, is narrated in an ostensibly matter-of-fact style) But in all cases Diaz' plainly told tales disguise great art. Desciptions are often unobtrusively poetic. Diaz understands how to make an account vivid with great economy, summoning up the various senses, providing just enough detail. I reflexively recoiled at having to read "Aurora," the narrative of a low-level drug dealer and petty criminal, but in fact that represented Diaz, in spite of the profane dialogue, at his most lyrical and telling. Here is the paragraph of the protagonist starting on a run for burgers for himself and friends:The Pathfinder sits in the next parking lot, crusty with mud but still a slamming ride. I'm in no rush; I take it out behind the apartments, onto the road that leads to the dump. This was our spot when we were younger, where we started fires we sometimes couldn't keep down. Whose areas around the road are still black. Everything that catches in my headlights—the stack of old tires, signs, shacks—has a memory scratched onto it. Here's where I shot my first pistol. Here's where we stashed our porn magazines. Here's where I kissed my first girl.The present-tense account nevertheless reveals the kid's constricted past life, all of it spent in the same terrain, the same depressing area, and brilliantly summarized without getting self-consciously literary or getting out of character. In prose almost Hemingwayesque in its simplicity.I think Diaz set out consciously to be the voice of Dominican immigrants and first-generation Americans, but I suppose he also knew to write what he knew best. In that he has done for them what Ernest P. Jones did for African-Americans In Washington, D.C., Saroyan for Armenian-Americans or Joyce for Dubliners. But like them, he goes far beyond to call forth the humanity in a reader of any ethnicity at all.I had been slightly disappointed by some other authors that I think are Diaz' contemporaries, by Colson Whitehead ("The Intuitionist") and Jennifer Egan ("A Visit from the Goon Squad"), for example, but Junot Diaz is that rarity, a real artist with wide accessibility, a marvelous craftsman in the service of a group with which most of us are not personally familiar, but whose work bears the earmarks of both great affection and great honesty.

junto diaz shows life experienced at its poorest in a barrio of dominican republic mainly through the eyes of yunior, as a young boy coming of age, with no guidance or talent for him to rise above poverty as with the boys around him and the men before them. he and his brother and their friends know no compassion or friendship, not even for the boy with the face eaten by a pig. fathers have abandoned families for life in the united states, their unwavering promise from generation to generation, to return when they make good or to send for the family to join them in the united states, a promise seldom fulfilled. sons become drug dealers before they’re out of school. when opportunities come, the sons turn them down, no, to the u.s. army recruiter, separation from the rare friend who will attend college.the chapters read more like short stories than parts of a novel. yunior ceases to be the narrator for some stories or retells the stories of other dominican men as they leave the island for the traditional dominican routes, leading to florida, new jersey, and the boroughs of new york. but it’s not a route that ends in assimilation or a rise in class within the dominican communities in the united states. there are no dominican beaches, pride in local history. in new york there is no talk of baseball or the rising presence of dominicans in area politics.the events told by diaz, true as they may be, are stereotypical, of men rutted in a pattern that takes them from barrio to barrio. but don’t fault the author, diaz knows what he is doing. a college bound friend of yunior tells him to learn how to walk the world. years before, a young man, yunior’s father left his family in the dominican republic, arrived in florida and walked part of the way from miami to manhattan. yunior is his father’s son. to paraphrase war’s song, world is a ghetto, for these men the world is a barrio, which is the way they walk.

I was very excited to get this book. It seemed like somehting i would be interested in as far as the characters and culture of the book.I was greatly disappointed. After the 1st set of stories told by th 9 year old main character, which were good, it got stupid. It jumped around chronologically, and in other stories i was ok with that. But for osme reason, the time in this story didnt sit well with me.Overall the content of the story was ok. You kinda hafta identify with the culture somehwat to get into it, but there was nothing that made me keep reading. I actually iddnt finish it yet, and i'v e had it for almost a month. The main character and hte story is very confusing. Especially the parts about his father and where he grew up. First he says his faher lives in the US and he misses him, then he says he went to war and he didnt care about him. So which is it? I reread it many times to make sure it wasnt me who was making the mistake. ANd i just culdnt get it together.DIsregard the time concept of this story for a second, the stories by themselves are ok. Some are better than others. My favorites are when the boy is yong and talking about livng in the Dominican Republic with his brother and the boy whose face got bitten off. Other than that they were lacklustre and just OK. It was just something to read to pass the time.The characters are pretty 3D. I could see them as real people.Overall, i dont get what the big deal is about this book. If you have to read it bc your on a plane and youre bored, go ahead! If you were thinking about buying it, no.

A talented writer, conscious of his abilities, and, sometimes, too conscious of what the market expects.The writing is sensual and rich, the characters vivid, even though some choices seem to be made for effectiveness’s sake rather than to offer a truthful point of view.

Junot Diaz is a remarkably entertaining writer. I loved this book, and will probably read some of the stories again.

Junot Diaz is hyped up big style in the literary press, let's face it. One of those 'new voices' they talk about. This time it's the Dominican US immigrant voice they like the sound of.I have to admit that I enjoyed a lot of the stories here in 'Drown'. There's a real vigour and honesty- an authenticity to them. And it is an interesting background and culture that Junot writes about; autobiographically, one suspects.Okay, one or two, like 'Negocios' and 'Edison, New Jersey' sagged a bit for me. Lacked the intensity and crackle of the edgier, emotive ones. All in all though a refreshing buzz.(There's a glossary at the back for the Hispanic terms, by the way. Which I discovered only on completing the book!)

Junot Diaz gives us a top collection of stories here,shifting viewpoints between characters he manages to chronicle the Dominican Republic experience both for natives and those of the diaspora and the challenges and changes that the US brings to their mindset. He employs a variety of perspective changes and differing lexicon instantly allowing us to be distanced from or pushed into the mind of the subjects. A good book for 13+ or maybe more adult readers.

Certain scenes/ chapters I found more readable than others. The atmosphere is vivid. It all made more sense after watching a you-tube interview in which Diaz explains his take on life. Beautifully written and memorable.