Diary To Cloud

I’d been recommended this book about a thousand times before I finally picked up a copy from Barnes and Nobles. I was drawn to the title of the book, “On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong, but even after reading the book three times already, I couldn’t tell you what it means. I got around to reading it after months of putting it off, and immediately started to annotate it, which is something I don’t do often when I’m reading. There were so many quotes within the book that I constantly thought about, even after I put the book down. So, it felt right to underline it in my copy so the person after me could understand just how important it was to me.

In theory, there’s little that I can relate to in the book. The narrator is a young, gay man who’s an immigrant from Vietnam, and the son of a single mother. I am none of those things.

This book is one of my favorite books not just because of what he writes about but also how he wrote it. That isn’t to say that the book doesn’t delve into complex and intriguing topics. The novel is about a young man writing a series of letters to his mother, a single mom from Vietnam, and his struggles in America as the son of an immigrant as well as a gay man who loses many of his loved ones due to a variety of problems like drugs and addiction. All in all, the story is beautiful, a story of resilience, acceptance of past mistakes and growth. However, my appreciation for “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” goes beyond the storyline. 

Vuong is a poet. His primary form of writing is poetry and he’s most popularly known for his poetry. His transition from poetry to novels was a stark change, something that I can relate to myself. To go from writing with no structure in mind to following a plot line was something I never really enjoyed as a writer, so seeing Vuong make that transition while staying true to his nature as a poet was something I was drawn to the most. He incorporates poetic language into a traditional novel seamlessly and never loses the focus of the audience. It’s a skill even the best novelists tend to forget. 

Vuong  showed me that it is possible to be a poet and write a novel. For a long time, I used to restrict myself into a box of being just a poet. Someone who never liked novel writing, wasn’t good at it. After reading this book, it made me realize that it is possible to include aspects of my poetic skills in order to write a good novel that people can relate to and appreciate.