The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

Tuesday, July 15, 2025--San Antonio 

I wanted to enjoy The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong more than I did.  The "story" didn't start until too many pages in--pages that I kept thinking, "Why am I reading all of this?"  Overall, the book seems a bit of a hodgepodge.  A review I read suggested it was if an editor never handled it and the company just published it as originally written.  Vuong is talented with words, but I have to agree that there was too much book beyond the story.  The story was fascinating and interesting when it did come around.  Unfortunately, I am a bit tired of the level of drug abuse that characters in modern novels display, though.  And, although the characterization of Sony as a young man dwelling constantly on the Civil War is realistic in terms of what I know about symptoms of autism, I have encountered such characters too often in TV shows and books recently.  It's easier to like spending so much time with them if they are loved family members, I'm sure.  As a casual reader, I got too much of a dose of Sony in this book.  I wonder how much of this book is true to Vuong's own life?  If much of it is, he should write a sequel explaining how he turned his life around--moving on from the person he was at the end of this novel (dependent on drugs, lying to his mother about being in medical school, finding a way to support himself while becoming the author he desired to be to be, etc.  I rate this book at 3 1/2 stars out of 5.