 Title: This is How You Lose Her
Author: Junot Diaz
Published:
Synopsis: On a beach in the
Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In the heat of a
hospital laundry room in New Jersey, a woman does her lover’s washing
and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a man buys his love child, his
only son, a first baseball bat and glove. At the heart of these stories
is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hardhead whose
longing for love is equaled only by his recklessness--and by the
extraordinary women he loves and loses: artistic Alma; the aging Miss
Lora; Magdalena, who thinks all Dominican men are cheaters; and the love
of his life, whose heartbreak ultimately becomes his own. In prose that
is endlessly energetic, inventive, tender, and funny, the stories in
This Is How You Lose Her lay bare the infinite longing and inevitable
weakness of the human heart. They remind us that passion always triumphs
over experience, and that “the half-life of love is forever.
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This book is probably the most perfect anti-love book that I read this month. The title says it all, it is a book about lost love. This is How You Lose Her is a series of short stories that revolve around Yunior, a young Dominican living in New Jersey who, despite his best efforts, cannot stay in a committed relationship for very long. He is not a particularly likeable protagonist. He is constantly committing the same mistake when it comes to relationships despite his claims of love. As the book goes on and you learn more about Yunior's past and you start to learn why he is the way he is, you end up unexpectedly sympathizing with him.
I don't usually like short stories, especially a collection
of short stories, because I find it hard to connect with characters that only
exist for a short period, but this wasn't the case with This is How You Lose
Her. Maybe because the stories were either about or involving a single
character with many characters repeating throughout many stories including
Yunior's family and girlfriends. Or
maybe it was because even though the stories moved around in space and time
they held together as one cohesive story with a specific theme. Or maybe it was
because of the writing style.
If you are unfamiliar with Yunot Diaz and his writing style,
it is unlike anything I have ever read before and since. His writing is so honest
and realistic. The characters being Dominican-American and speaking Spanish he
uses a lot of slang and Spanish words and phrases that help the reader be
immersed in the real lives of these characters. Even though I don't speak
Spanish and often didn't understand what was being communicated the book was
made better with these inclusions. I also experienced the audiobook of This is
How You Lose Her which was narrated by the author himself. If you notice, I do
that a lot. I think it really gives you a pure representation of the book and
what the author intended to communicate. Plus, I liked that between each of the
short stories there was Spanish music which was another great way to feel
connected with the world being created.
That being said I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I
expected. Despite the fact that it is probably the shortest book I read this
month it felt long. I think that maybe I didn't connect enough with the plot
and the story. I didn't feel much of an emotional connection until it was
basically over. Or maybe I just unfairly compared it to the first Diaz book I
read, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao which I loved. Despite no real
reasons to point to I feel like this just wasn't the book for me. It wasn't bad
I just didn't love it.
I give This is How You Lose Her 6 out of 10
If you are looking for an interesting contemporary novel
that isn't sweet and about love then check this book out. I also recommend this
book if you are into short stories or novels where a series of seemingly
unrelated stories end up connecting in the end. Have you read This is How You
Lose Her? Leave me a comment with your thoughts and of course HAPPY READING!
