The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
by Maxine Hong Kingston
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Tina by:
Lan DongThis review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Probably most intriguing about the structure of Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman Warrior, beginning with "No Name Woman” and ending in A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe,” is that it characterizes Maxine Hong Kingston’s memoir, told in the interesting format of non-sequential episodes, as one that begins in oppressed silence but ends in universal song.
When looking at the three woman warrior figures in the book – her aunt, the No Name Woman; the rewritten legendary warrior in “Whi...more
When looking at the three woman warrior figures in the book – her aunt, the No Name Woman; the rewritten legendary warrior in “Whi...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone
I was kind of confused at the beginning because I didn’t know whether this book is an autobiography or a fiction. There are five chapters in this book but they don’t really connect to each other. What I found interesting is these five chapters are more like stories of five different women—Kingston's long-dead aunt, "No-Name Woman"; a mythical female warrior, Fa Mu Lan; Kingston's mother, Brave Orchid; Kingston's aunt, Moon Orchid; and finally Kingston herself.
In the first cha...more
In the first cha...more
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Read in July, 2008
I hate that I had all these pre-conceptions about how I wasn't supposed to like book. I've heard it was "mean" or something, offensive to Chinese Americans, presenting a warped and bitter view of their culture which is mostly made up. Or else it's too "nice," making the suffering of people in China and immigrants look too picturesque, etc. etc. Well, maybe I'm kind of like this book - kind of a grouch and also kind of a people pleaser? too ethnic and not ethnic enough? - b...more
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Read in February, 2008
One essay in and I'm wondering how something that is 95% conjecture and imagining of what people she never even met were thinking and feeling can possibly be a memoir.
Second essay finished and I no longer think this resembles anything but a list of imaginations "backed up" by cultural markers.
So far, undertones are sexism (ie girls' lack of worth and boys' utter worshiped-ness), blood, violence, the color red, ancestors, a connection with nature and backbreaking hard work...
...more
Second essay finished and I no longer think this resembles anything but a list of imaginations "backed up" by cultural markers.
So far, undertones are sexism (ie girls' lack of worth and boys' utter worshiped-ness), blood, violence, the color red, ancestors, a connection with nature and backbreaking hard work...
...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Jennie Rothschild
I love it that I found this book in the "metaphysical" section at the bookshop in the basement of the public library.
An evocative memoir about a Chinese-American lady born to parents who emmigrated from China and ran a laundry service. This is one of those books that somehow manages to be about 18 different things at once, and folds into itself perfectly like an oragami swan. The "ghosts" are the spirits of the chinese village, who blend into "ghostly" Americans...more
An evocative memoir about a Chinese-American lady born to parents who emmigrated from China and ran a laundry service. This is one of those books that somehow manages to be about 18 different things at once, and folds into itself perfectly like an oragami swan. The "ghosts" are the spirits of the chinese village, who blend into "ghostly" Americans...more
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Read in November, 2007
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts was all about the narrator's struggle to find her her identity. Being a Chinese-American, the author is trying to figure out who she is and what made her that person. What confused me about the book was that the title calls it a memoir, but parts of it are fiction. This made me think more about genre and how much imagination can go into a memoir, and how much of the author's real-life experience goes into fiction. How much of l...more
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Mmm, not a huge fan. Ought to write up a thinky review, with lots of discussion of representation and acknowledgment that it's unfair to expect every Chinese-American writer to describe the entire Chinese(-American) experience, but I am too lazy to do that right now. I think most of my issues with this book would've been solved if Hong Kingston stopped saying "Chinese blah blah blah", as if all Chinese people were one great homogeneous block and did the same thing, all the time and eve...more
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I couldn't tell, and I don't think the publisher could either, whether this book was fiction or not. It is called a memoir, but on the back of my copy, it says fiction, yet it won an award for nonfiction. I know an author has creative license, especially with a memoir, but the realistic chapters placed next to fantasy ones made the book too disjointed for me and I couldn't get into it. It didn't challenge my thoughts of what a memoir is, I liked the fact that she incorporated dreams from her ...more
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Read in November, 2007
This was a challenging book for me, primarily because I don't tend to read a lot of post-modernist works. I read it for a class on the Western, and this from a unit on Other Voices. Our professor has highlighted the many crossings of boundaries as a hallmark of frontier literature, and Kingston herself says the book should be read as a Western.
I am especially fond of reading a girl's coming of age story, and especially fond of girls who challenge cultural "norms" and "ideals....more
I am especially fond of reading a girl's coming of age story, and especially fond of girls who challenge cultural "norms" and "ideals....more
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I feel conflicted about this book. It is the first book by an Asian American writer accepted into the American canon (the first to be taught in universities etc.). And it has kind of an empowering message I guess. But her depiction of Asianness is so damn annoying. I had a prof who excuses it with this passage where Kingston has her grandma say something like, "do you really believe all these stories I tell you about China? they're just stories." how does that little paragraph excuse a...more
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Read in March, 2007
This tops as one of my favorite books. It is a classic read within Asian American literature.
For the novice reader and other Kingston haters, they read the book and conclude Kingston is a Chinese hater because she criticizes Chinese patriarchy and pokes fun of some of the Cantonese cultural idiosyncracies. It is obvious this "memoir" talks about the real issues of her inability as a youth to reconcile two seemingly polar cultures but they aren't told without irony!
If you read c...more
For the novice reader and other Kingston haters, they read the book and conclude Kingston is a Chinese hater because she criticizes Chinese patriarchy and pokes fun of some of the Cantonese cultural idiosyncracies. It is obvious this "memoir" talks about the real issues of her inability as a youth to reconcile two seemingly polar cultures but they aren't told without irony!
If you read c...more
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Read in March, 2008
A really powerful memoir about Kingston's childhood, the difference between her Chinese heritage and traditions and the American world where she had to learn to function. Kingston describes the lives of her mother and aunts, which were drastically different from her own experience and completely incomprehensible to her as a child and young woman. The book has a very dreamlike quality that's uncommon in memoir, but somehow really appropriate. Kingston paints a picture of a home where she was expe...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who's bored and wants to think about obvious themes in a fairly entertaining way
i read this for school. obviously. i do not read books with titles like this in my own time. i hear that in the 90's this was the book most taught in universities.
the poor 90's.
the themes are obvious: mother/daughter relations are difficult. merging cultures is difficult. trying to find your voice is difficult.
i do, however, commend the merging of genres, because the whole fiction/non-fiction thing is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. (is it not all fiction?) the narrative gives way...more
the poor 90's.
the themes are obvious: mother/daughter relations are difficult. merging cultures is difficult. trying to find your voice is difficult.
i do, however, commend the merging of genres, because the whole fiction/non-fiction thing is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. (is it not all fiction?) the narrative gives way...more
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Read in April, 2007
Following review is for my personal use:
The book (The Woman Warrior) from which this selection came from won the National Book Critics Circle Award for non-fiction.
I felt the cultural insights the author gave were relatable; most of the traditions were similar to Indian ones. I read the first paragraph late night yesterday while browsing through the book, and I couldn't keep my hands off. I had to finish reading the whole story because it was so interesting. The unnamed Aunt's character ...more
The book (The Woman Warrior) from which this selection came from won the National Book Critics Circle Award for non-fiction.
I felt the cultural insights the author gave were relatable; most of the traditions were similar to Indian ones. I read the first paragraph late night yesterday while browsing through the book, and I couldn't keep my hands off. I had to finish reading the whole story because it was so interesting. The unnamed Aunt's character ...more
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Read in April, 2007
following review is for my personal use: the book (the woman warrior) from which this selection came from won the national book critics circle award for non-fiction. i felt the cultural insights the author gave were relatable; most of the traditions were similar to indian ones. i read the first paragraph late night yesterday while browsing through the book and i couldn't keep my hands off. i had to finish reading the whole story because it was so interesting. the unnamed aunt's character w...more
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Read in February, 2008
I've had this book on my shelves for over fifteen years. I remember starting to read it but thinking it was too dense, too difficult, and putting it aside. This time around it seemed a very quick read. It's a memoir told as a poetic fable. Much funnier than I thought it would be and much more tragic too. I had just watched China: A Cultural Revolution on DVD prior to starting this book and one Chinese woman had talked about how women prior to the Revolution thought so little of thems...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommended to lee lee by:
i think i happened upon itrecommends it for: students of memor; mothers; daughters
a great many of you will NOT like this book. hong kingston is, how shall we put it, somewhat of an acquired taste, i believe. even if you really want to read this book (as i did), you still have to convince yourself to keep going at points. she's extremely wordy (not my style, as you know...) and quite fantastic. BUT--in my humble opinion--this style is completely appropriate given the story she's telling. in other words, form and meaning are in sync. big time. which is why i use for my t...more
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This book isn't something that I would usually read but it was rather eye catching the title. Its about a Chinese American in California who struggles among society. What I liked about is how this young woman grew enough courage and was able to make a difference among her people. It sometimes reminds me of myself of how I am a Hispanic coming from two backgrounds but raised as an American. i adapt to American culture and somehow I still feel I haven't learned entirely about myself because I feel...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Maria by:
Christine
I give up on this one. It was so hard for me to get through, and I can't figure out why. There are several short stories, which may be something I am not used to, or the fact that there is some fantastical writing in it and some hilarious things, too (old Chinese women following young kids around and talking out loud in description "and now she puts the spiders in the bowl and turns them on. Her eyes light up!") It's pretty good writing, but I just couldn't get into it and basically dr...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.79 (2247 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.81 (2060 ratings) number of reviews: 196popular shelves
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