Judgement: THUMBS UP!
When I started reading this book, I was not too sure about it- but in the end all I can say is "Wow". The book is about the lives of people in Dominican Republic and how their lives change as immigrants in the US (I thought this part was quite subtle).
Oscar de Leon, (or Oscar Wao as his school mates christen him) an overweight, second generation Dominican- American fantasizes about writing science fictions (called himself the dominican JRR) and falling in love with a girl. The story is narrated in parts by Oscar's sister Lola and his friend Yunior (although the way he acts, you would at times doubt if he indeed was Oscar's friend). Trujillo's regime acts as a perfect setting as the novel- it is not just about the life to Oscar's mother Beli and her parents but also about how the family had to escape from the clutches of fuku (a curse probably).
The language was amazing overall, again one of those novels where I feel like I am part of the story.
The only problem I had was understanding the Spanish phrases- some I could sort of contextually understand but long sentences were out of my league. I wrote most of them down in the hope that I would some day translate them.
