The Emperor of Gladness
I suppose the main thing I took away from The Emperor of Gladness — Ocean Vuong’s second novel, the one that Oprah selected for her book club — is that sometimes the people we are meant to be the closest to are actually the farthest from us. And that you and I, or you and whoever else, could be physically proximate but thwarted by some sort of invisible chasm that prevents nearness. Physical closeness makes up for a lot, but it matters little when one revokes respect toward another. So do with that what you will. (Btw, look at any “band of misfits” plot, from The Breakfast Club to, um, basically any reality show competition, and this is how it goes, right?)
(The big thematic nugget [**] in this one is food … and specifically the act of sharing food with others. We engage in Big Talk about #sharedmeals and #gathering but how often does it happen for you, really? Vuong plays with this idea [a bit too much IMO] using ubiquitous fast casual joints akin to Boston Market and Panera as well as Stouffer’s microwave meals as the main foils, pointing to the perhaps obvious fact that we don’t need to get fancy to be near. But be forewarned that reading The Emperor of Gladness may prompt you to become vegan and/or start growing all your own food… [** just had to throw in a bit of fast food verbiage there…])
originally published on instagram