Power in Vulnerability | On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

👋🏾 Hey everyone! In this video I talk about On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Please leave any feedback in the comments!
00:00 - Intro
01:50 - The Book's Form and Structure
04:20 - Limitations of Language in Translation (from one language to another)
06:14 - Cultural Hierarchies
13:30 - Limitations of Language in Communicating Intergenerational Experiences
17:51 - whoops :P
18:34 - Vulnerability as a Cultural Value
22:33 - Language and Power
23:47 - Language and Immigrants
27:54 - Conclusion
#booktube #booktubenewbie #bookish #blackbooktubers #slowreading #books #tech #oceanvuong

[@pocketfullofponder]

This is…elevated booktube. The book you picked and your vulnerability and thoughtfulness. Powerful. Also your voice… I could listen endlessly. Thank you for making this

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you so much!!

[@WanderThisWay]

What a refreshing video - the structure of this video and how you walk us through the book and your thoughts is really appreciated. You mentioned in a previous video how lots of booktube videos focus on the superficial or don't go into depth when discussing recent reads, and I'm thankful I found your channel. Keep it up my friend!

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you!!

[@EricaKing1093]

Couldn't agree more: this is elevated booktube. Would love to hear your thoughts on Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - I recently read it and it was an instant all-time favorite!

[@EricaKing1093]

P.S. re: feedback on format. I found this long form deep dive into one book refreshing and thought provoking, and I appreciated the structure with timestamped chapters in the description :)

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you for the rec and for the feedback!!

[@katexcellence]

Loved this review, and especially loved hearing how it related to your personal experience. IMO this is exactly what great books are all about, being able to learn more about life and yourself by putting yourself in another person's experience

[@wattpadusergeek342]

Hi, fellow engineer here who loves books 👋. I actually used to turn to writing in uni as a way to take a break from the stressful coursework 😅. Just published a story I started writing in my second year of engineering and had to stop because I got too busy with everything. It's now about 10 years later, but I was finally able to complete the manuscript and start uploading videos on my authortube channel as well. I love booktube because you guys are readers who are teaching me a whole lot more about writing than most craft books ever could. Can't wait to watch more of your videos especially as this one video demonstrates just how thoughtful and analytical you are and that's my favourite kind of videos to watch 😄

[@tenaciousoptimistcoaching]

Thank you Dolapo for this lovely video 😊 I find it really powerful that along with the writer you are also vulnerable about your upbringing.And the difficulties we face with how our parents express love versus how we are now expressing love. In the verge of starting my own Positivity channel,and your channel was exactly what i needed to see to get that final motivation🎉 Thank you so much 🙏🏽

[@RoisinsReading]

This was a really interesting discussion of the book. I’ve been meaning to read it for so long but you’ve made me want to pick it up asap

[@yessica5231]

I find this book especially resonates with children of immigrants. Also language is just so beautiful and I didn't know how so until I read this book. I also love your video❤

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Aww thank you so much!

[@YourTrueShelf]

This is one of the best reviews I've ever watched on booktube. Not only your thoughts on the book, but your vulnerability in sharing your feelings about your experiences and how they can be similar to those in this book. I've had this book on my tbr for about 2 years and now I can't wait to read it!! Books are so powerful for showing us new things and experiences. I'd really recommend a book called A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza. It's a beautiful book about an Indian Muslim family moving to the US and raising their children there, and it's one of my favourite books of this year.

[@anaovejero103]

I really enjoyed your video!!!! Thought-provoking! Already subscribed! Love from Argentina

[@RacquelNM]

That line about Little Dog writing to his mother so freely knowing she likely will not understand is indeed powerful. I don’t think it’s sad for Little Dog but sad for his mother that she has not made a safe space for her son to be able to fully express himself to her. That is one thing I will say about growing up in America, here you learn you have the right to express yourself even as a child. Had I spent my whole childhood in Jamaica, I don’t know if I would have ever realized or believed this, which is sad and frustrating because I love my culture so much. For as hard as it was for me to acclimate to this country and the identity it forced on me as a black person and an immigrant, there are freedoms, liberties here I have rooted myself in that I am grateful for.

[@J0zB]

I appreciate this video very much. ONWBG is one of my favorite books, I’ve read it again and again. Your insights are revelatory and when I read it again, it’ll be with fresh eyes. Thank you.

[@LittleLlamaCrochet]

Beautiful insights, thank you for sharing📚

[@_daniela_s]

I so want to read this book now! This year I read Tastes like war by Grace M. Cho which I think you might like, too.

[@Piasays]

16:17 this is profound to me because i had to work to understand that my parents express love differently because we come from different cultures and use English differently and at times there was a disconnect

[@xmashamster]

Ever since i read this book, i think "good lord, green apple" about once a week out of nowhere. That flash of poetry was my favorite part. Im just now remembering when his mom massaged a phantom limb. Such a beautiful book that i personally thought was mismarketed as a letter to an immigrant's mother, but your discussion made me rethink that perhaps that impossibility was the heartbreak and the very point.

[@hazel75877]

i absolutely loveddd this review 💗💗 also omg ur voice !!

[@stephanieregaliza]

I loved this!! ❤ this book was beautifully written and you broke things down so beautifully as well. ❤ also props to you for digging deep and thinking of how the book had you thinking about your own life and talking about that publicly.

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you, Stephanie!

[@lindenreads]

Loved your analysis and approach! 💛 This is some gold-tier book content! 🌟

[@alyssacascos8665]

I have never clicked a video so fast! ❤️ this is one of my favorite books of all time and you are such a calming person to watch so the perfect combo! ❤️📚

[@DolapoAdedokun]

So kind! Thank you

[@ToySeeker]

It’s like a modulating storyline! 😅❤ That is interesting!

[@YNK_now]

One of the best book reviews I’ve listened to - I can’t wait for more of your reviews!

[@VeraGolosovaArt]

Have this book for ages at my TBR, and as I am now an immigrant with a child, I think this one will be a must for me in 2024. Thank you!

[@ejiakadelight]

When the Mountains Sing is another gripping story about the Vietnamese experience during the war and it’s aftermath

[@WhitmoreReads]

Thank you for uploading and sharing with us. Truly enjoying your videos.❤

[@thaismartins736]

This book is in my TBR of 2024. Great review!

[@ThatWeirdFinn]

I've stopped being a premium member on yt, so now that I cannot put the screen off I am more of a podcast listener. I found you podcast (The KD Pod) from 2022 on Google podcasts. Would love to be able to listen to these videos as well! Thank you for the awesome video, love your voice! 😊

[@DolapoAdedokun]

OMG cannot believe you managed to find that. Taking these longer analysis vids to podcast is a great idea, thank you!

[@TKTalksBooks]

Beautiful in every aspect. So happy I stumbled upon your lovely channel. Be well.

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you !!

[@emnoel7437]

I can't wait to read this book. I have a few things on my tbr pile at the moment though but I'm hoping to get to it and Ocean Vuongs poetry within the next few months.

[@ColeChartier]

so refreshing to hear someone talk about books other than tiktok popular fluff reads! your voice makes it so soothing to listen to and love hearing your deeper thoughts on this book. Excited for your future videos!

[@aaronhaceves]

Some shade, We the Animals by Justin Torres is the proper execution of what Ocean Vuong was trying to do with On Earth.

[@Piasays]

Say more?

[@thiswave499]

What a wonderful reflection! I had a very similar experience reading this book as an Ethiopian immigrant and completely relate to the section about the limitations of language in sharing love and that cultural divide that happens in immigrant families, most especially the ways they show love through service. “I’ve learned to love in ways my parents never learned to love” is an incredibly potent way to describe that experience ❤

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you!!

[@hannahhancock9044]

Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated! Thank you for bringing more depth to booktube.

[@savannah1394]

This is the best KZbin video I’ve watched in a long time! Thank you for making this channel!

[@cecilialau_]

Beautiful deep-dive. Honestly exquisite reflections. Thank you for the lesson 😉🫶

[@Babiebackbooks]

I looovveeee Ocean Vuong. I went to a poetry reading Night Sky With Exit Wounds, which I feel is a prequel to this book portrays this inability to communicate bodily. (Note: NYU Creative writing has a channel on youtube where Vuong reads this in conversation with Strauss that is to die for) My love of Vuong is this intimacy with language as a whole. Communication is essentially a step forward in evolution. The ability to write and give to another and to take down history and stories is evolutionary. Vuong has this beautiful intimacy playing with the bodily affect that is connection. --This space where as one body ends and another begins is a bleeding space; a wound in need of stitches. Where language is evolutionary, Vuong makes the inability to give that a gash. [raw] No other animal (that we know of) takes down histories and stories in a symbolic format. So where it seems to be something inventional--it created a crutch in our ability to connect. This therefore makes language and communication this debilitating drug almost.

[@ToySeeker]

This is slicing me up ❤

[@CharliGirlMusic]

I've had this book on my shelves for awhile and have not picked it up yet. You've made me remember why I bought it to begin with, and looking forward again to reading it. What a wonderful book review! Very thought provoking!

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Aww thank you!

[@keiichifuruya]

Your videos are so comforting and also incredibly well out together, exactly what we come to KZbin for. I loved your insights on the book (one of my faves) and I'll definitely keep supporting your channel.

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you so much!

[@spreadbookjoy]

Such a great and thoughtful review. I was particularly struck by what you had to say about the power reversal between children of immigrants and their parents. I grew up in London as a child of Irish parents, so the language barrier for my parents wasn’t there but lots of my close friends often had to translate for their parents, even in situations like visiting the doctor which as an adult I can see as a truly difficult thing for a young child to have to do and for a parent to have to rely on their child for. I saw first hand how it could breed that feeling of resentment or power imbalance. My issue was being held to a moral standard by my parents who were raised in 1950s Ireland which to a child in 1990s London their parenting felt extremely restrictive and often at odds with what school was teaching me about the world, particularly regarding gender roles, sex and relationships.

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you for sharing. I’m sure if we sat down and chatted about this we’d find many parallels in experiences

[@IAmWillJR]

👍💯 cannot wait to watch this!

[@bruxism_jenny]

Beautifully expressed and vulnerable book talk!

[@beccaboobabe2]

Great video! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences! I look forward to more of your video analyses. ✨️

[@RovingReader]

Your videos are so soothing and thought provoking ❤ I found your comments on the language of love so fascinating!

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you!

[@ChristineCozyCorner]

I have now added this book to my TBR 💚

[@haley5803]

My library hold for this book just came in. I can't wait to start it!

[@lailakhoshkar126]

Thank you for this. The passion you have for discussing ideas is one I share so deeply, and don’t have much opportunity to engage in (with people in my life or online). Loved hearing your thoughts even though I haven’t read this book.

[@isabelcorrea265]

hoping to read this book soon, loved the video

[@findingashlie]

I enjoyed this a lot! It is very in-depth and the way you connected to the book, makes me want to read the book. Great review!

[@scribblesandscrawls]

I think your laundry is done? xD but this is very enjoyable. I believe I read this book last year and this is making me look back and reflect on it :) I’m about halfway through, I’ll continue this as a podcast when I’m painting later. Thanks for this ❤

[@JosephQuinton]

Wow, this is such an amazing and intelligent review and compels me to put this novel on my TBR. Thank you for this review!

[@alvaroromanoff4267]

one of the most beautiful books I have read in my life. if you like this book, you should read too "solenoid" by Mircea Cãrtãrescu. his letter are very powerful and poetics. hi from mexico city. have a good with your new youtube channel

[@racheljones8235]

I had never heard of this book before, I'm going to be adding this to my list of books to read. This was such a beautiful video, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and parts of your own experience with us!

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you for your comment!

[@creepypapermultipack]

I’m loving this analysis and how you share what in the book stood out to you and you could relate to. I’m new to watching booktube and so far I haven’t found as deep of an analysis for the books being discussed… I think maybe to do with the fact that it feels like a competition about how many books one can read as opposed to the critical analysis of said books. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but I love to see something different and to hear others’ (more in depth) perspectives on the stories they’re reading. I’ve had this book on my tbr for a while and after watching this I really want to bump it up to the short list. Thank you for sharing and for being vulnerable with us about your own life experience. It really enhanced the analysis, in my opinion.

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Thank you for your comment and the feedback! I was worried that I might have been too personal but I’m glad that you enjoyed that part of it.

[@creepypapermultipack]

@@DolapoAdedokun I think the vulnerability is what draws people in. It really helps us relate to and empathize with each other. Keep doing what you’re doing! 😊

[@melissamybubbles6139]

What a thoughtful, earnest video. I never would have heard of this book without this video. I don't normally read novels but this one sounds really good.

[@janetcruz4610]

I need advice! I tried reading this book but really struggled with the harshness of the relationship between the main character and his mother. It brought up memories and feelings for me that were uncomfortable and it might have been because I was trying to read it in the summer, but I finally put it down and didn't pick it back up. Will this review help me reconnect with the book?

[@jpearce956]

This looks like it's going to be a great in depth discussion of the book. If I'm planning on reading it soon should I skip this until I'm done?

[@chinmaonline]

I think you could watch the video and then read the book so no problem. It doesn’t really “spoil” anything-it’s a nice discussion about themes and ideas to look out for. And I gather that (like with most Ocean Vuong works) the interesting things are less plot and more structure, language and execution.

[@jpearce956]

@@chinmaonline Thank you!

[@DolapoAdedokun]

Totally agree with what Chinma said! Thank you both for your comments!

[@Mala_DN]

I did not enjoy this book at all. I am so surprised so many people liked it. There is truly something for everyone lol😂

[@DolapoAdedokun]

What things did you find less enjoyable about it?

[@lcdesigns6145]

I haven’t read this book so I’m curious. What was your expectations prior to reading this book and what did you not enjoy? Thanks for sharing.