A welcome surprise. It is a sweet, charming, conventional novel whose ambition does not outstrip its ability ... What a pleasure to be given characters and a plot! ... The author finally seems to have accepted that prose, unlike poetry, will wither and die without a reader who can actually understand it: At last, he is talking to us.
Magnificent and melancholy ... Its opening pages are as melodic as a symphony ... This is a novel that percolates and simmers, provoking questions about the reader’s privilege while prompting awe at the writer’s singular empathy—and his subjects’ humility.
There is a terrific ripeness to the pages of The Emperor of Gladness that sometimes edges into bruising ... There are trenchant observations ... The dialogue does a lot for the story—maybe too much.
[A] miraculous lack of sentimentality .... Vuong's s gifts of writerly restraint also keep things real ... There are pages of wry and often compassionate catalogues here describing the routines of Hai and his fellow workers, as well as the drugs they take to get through the pain and exhaustion of those routines ... The Emperor of Gladness is a truly great novel about work—still an under-acknowledged topic in American fiction ... Vuong's achingly austere artistic vision leaves it to his readers to imagine the better world he won't let himself depict on the pages of this wonderful novel.
Marks a point of ambitious expansion in Vuong’s body of work ... At its best, The Emperor of Gladness resonates with the quiet, highly attentive energy of lush, secretive spaces. Marginal voices of numerous kinds seem to occupy its peripheries, offering us stories that could come only from the outskirts.
Takes existentialism to a deeply intimate level, leaving the reader to contemplate what it is to live in a messy, complicated world of wars, addiction, class struggles and good people looking for second chances ... True and gritty, The Emperor of Gladness is almost voyeuristic in how it looks into the most intimate and human moments of people’s lives, reflecting back on the reader and leaving plenty to ponder.
Heartbreaking, heartwarming yet unsentimental, and savagely comic all at the same time, The Emperor of Gladness is about just how wobbly things can become.
A gorgeous testament to love, loss, and an undying hope for a second chance ... Vuong’s immense talent with words means a world tucked away in rural America becomes one that you can touch, taste, and smell. He navigates Hai’s family troubles, addiction, and mental health issues with grace, empathy, and passion. The literary formalities bend to his will; his brilliance dances across the pages. You will tear through this book, craving more of that specific reading experience that only Vuong can give you.
