What I’m Reading

I’m about one third of the way through Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.

Aside from the great reviews, it was the title that drew me in – its exquisite melancholic beauty is a foreshadowing of what’s to come in the book.

A semi-autobiographical story of Vuong and his family, it is written in the form of a letter to Vuong’s mother. It’s a love letter and like love it’s complicated and extraordinary, like getting lost in a beautiful unfamiliar city.

A book I’m chipping away at is Vincent O’Sullivan’s biography of Ralph Hotere, The Dark is Light Enough. Intimate and rich in context but never intrusive, O’Sullivan’s portrait of Hotere is a treasure – a loving and careful exploration of an artist, son, brother, husband, father and friend.

Notably absent from the book are images of Hotere’s work. They are missed, but O’Sullivan’s words carry the weight of this beloved figure beautifully.

One of my favourite reads of the past few years is The Vegetarian by Han Kang. At 160 pages this short, perfectly formed book blew my socks off as it follows the story of Yeong-hye who, after a disturbing dream involving animal slaughter, decides to stop eating meat.

The ensuing fallout of this decision (which goes in unimaginable directions) is told in three sections, each either narrated by or told from the perspective of a different figure in Yeong-hye’s life. It’s visceral, bizarre and beautiful.

A recent local purchase is Mohamed Hassan’s National Anthem, a beautiful and important musing on memory, identity and belonging.

Hassan’s words are highly personal, many stories held within are drawn from his own life, yet like all good poetry they also unearth universal human truths and present questions for all to ponder.

Another poem that has worked its way into my soul is Antidotes to Fear of Death by the late astrophysicist and poet Rebecca Elson. Elson died at 39 of nonHodgkin lymphoma – this poem is a sublime meditation on life, death, the cosmos and our place within it.