🍟🍟🍟🍟1/2
The Emperor of Gladness
Ocean Vuong
416 pages
Penguin Press
This novel, a sophomore effort from the author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, will appeal to those readers that enjoy literary fiction that is largely character driven as well as those who like poetry. Ocean Vuong has written many books of poetry before he ventured into fiction. This author, being a poet, has a gift of being able to use imagery, whether it is to create a vision of beauty or one of ugliness, both of which are present here. Readers should also know that this is not a happy and joyful book, which is not to say it is not worth reading. However, one might want to intersperse it with other, more upbeat reads. Vuong uses the keen observation skills of a poet to create atmosphere and character successfully. Where this novel falls a little short is plot but those that love true literary fiction will find everything else here they could ever want.
This author creates a very rich and deep literary world in a town called East Gladness, Connecticut. First off, the name of the town is the work of a poet. This is not a real name for any town but as a reader, I have to marvel at this name. As a writer, I never would have come up with it myself. Aside from the name, the richness of the detail about this relatively poor, industrial town that has a name that indicates everything but what it actually is, is amazing. The author does not do this through mere visual detail, which is the talent of a poet, but through the assortment of people that live there and the stores and other things that there are in this depressed area. Essentially, this is a book that while strikingly different from the work of Edgar Allan Poe, is similar in that the setting is essentially a character, it is that strong and well developed. While I was reading the novel, I felt like I was a resident of East Gladness.
The characters, from Hai, the clear protagonist, to Graziana, not to mention all of the people that Hai worked with at the convenience store, were so clearly and finely drawn. They were exceedingly flawed but portrayed in a way that I wanted to sit down and have a cup of coffee with each and every one of them. And while I have said this is not a happy book, it is not entirely true in the sense that there is an overarching theme of connectedness and choosing one’s family, which is not exactly sad even when sad circumstances and events trigger the choice. The book reminds readers that we can choose to let the good people into our lives and keep the bad ones at a distance.
The question is, why four and a half stars instead of five? There so may good things and so much promise in this young writer that I am convinced will emerge in future works. Plot. I understand that literary fiction tends to be short on plot. This novel had a promising beginning. Hai, a depressed gay young man is about to take his own life in chapter one by jumping off a bridge. He is rescued by Graziana, a widow who suffers from Alzheimer’s. Her caretaker left her alone and she asks him to move in. This beginning had so much potential for the development of a plot. This is a hard thing and this young writer, especially being a poet, seems to bury what could be a good plot in setting, character and theme. More could have been done with this. I also think that at the end of the novel, he tried to tie up loose ends and return to the beginning where he established the promise of a wonderful plot but, as long as the book is, it feels a bit rushed and forced.
That said, this novel is deep and strong and this writer shows great potential and I cannot wait to see where his next book goes. I must say, it will be hard to improve on the setting, which is as good as anything I have ever read.
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