The House on Mango Street
by Sandra Cisneros
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 6058)
Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
extremely bored people who prefer very short novels
Remember those comforting old two-dimensional animated films in which visually simple characters moved around in front of a relatively vivid, richly-painted backdrop that never moved?
Yeah. That would be this book.
My three-star rating is an uneasy averaging of various warring opinions in my head. The overall setting and feel of Mango Street and its surrounding milieu are, as in those old cartoons, a backdrop that is vivid and well-executed, but generally just sits there in the backgroun...more
Yeah. That would be this book.
My three-star rating is an uneasy averaging of various warring opinions in my head. The overall setting and feel of Mango Street and its surrounding milieu are, as in those old cartoons, a backdrop that is vivid and well-executed, but generally just sits there in the backgroun...more
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Read in October, 2006
True working-class literature is still too rare. To be a working-class writer writing about working-class characters seems anathema to publishers. Some suggest this is due to editors and publishers being unlikely to be themselves working-class, and so little appreciate characters who earn wages without ever reaping the financial profits from their labor. Another reason may be that Americans hold a vision of middle or upper class life as our stereotypical "American Dream." Who dreams o...more
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Read in March, 2007
(Original pub date: 1984)
This is another one of those "reading list classics" that I figured I should try. Especially since it's really short! ;) The book consists entirely of vignettes from the author's childhood in a poor section of Chicago. The writing is beautiful and spare - no vignette is longer that 2 or 3 pages (and the font is huge and widely spaced). It reads like poetry, really - the words are potent and evocative rather than exhaustively descriptive.
My reading of ...more
This is another one of those "reading list classics" that I figured I should try. Especially since it's really short! ;) The book consists entirely of vignettes from the author's childhood in a poor section of Chicago. The writing is beautiful and spare - no vignette is longer that 2 or 3 pages (and the font is huge and widely spaced). It reads like poetry, really - the words are potent and evocative rather than exhaustively descriptive.
My reading of ...more
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Read in June, 2007
The House on Mango Street is such an angry and sad memoir that it is essentially beyond criticism. But I'll review it still. First, it should be noted that the perception of this book by the education community in general is a bit off. It physically appears like a novel for sixth graders with its one page chapters and 110-page length and plentiful blank space between chapters. However, it most certainly is an adult novel. Those are not chapters, they are vignettes. And many of them are abou...more
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Read in December, 2006
As I review my list of favorite books, I see that I enjoy reading coming of age novels, like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Secret Life of Bees". "The House on Mango Street" is part of that genre but with a multicultural emphasis. This is the story of Esperanza who is growing up in a place that she doesn't feel she belongs. She talks about her friends, sisters and neighbors. She provides an interesting dialect that indicates her Hispanic culture. She suffers in th...more
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I've read this book twice. The first was by myself a few years ago, around fifth grade. That wasn't the right time to read it, because I couldn't appreciate the beauty and simplicity in Sandra Cisnero's writing.
This year, we read most of "The House on Mango Street" in English with my amazing teacher Mrs. Rudin. Before reading it, however, we read a poem (or incredibly short story - it was a page) by S.C. first, to get a sense of her writing. It was incredibly beautiful, about ...more
This year, we read most of "The House on Mango Street" in English with my amazing teacher Mrs. Rudin. Before reading it, however, we read a poem (or incredibly short story - it was a page) by S.C. first, to get a sense of her writing. It was incredibly beautiful, about ...more
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A series of short vignettes tell this poignant story of Esparanza a young girl whose dream is to have "a house all my own... Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem."
Each "chapter" is poetic, succinct and in each one Sandra Cisneros manages to capture the sadness, confusion, joy, dreams, desperation, hopes and the beauty in growing up, becoming a woman and taking control of your own life. Esparanza tells her own story as wel...more
Each "chapter" is poetic, succinct and in each one Sandra Cisneros manages to capture the sadness, confusion, joy, dreams, desperation, hopes and the beauty in growing up, becoming a woman and taking control of your own life. Esparanza tells her own story as wel...more
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I really expected something more from House on Mango Street, especially after reading such glowing reviews.
It's a creative, inventive, courageous piece of writing, painting the coming of age of a young Latina in an ethnically mixed, lower class Chicago neighborhood. Each 'chapter,' some of which are only a few sentences in length, is a little vignette of a different aspect of Esperanza's life in her home, on the street, with relatives, at school, and in her wider neighborhood.
It's written in...more
It's a creative, inventive, courageous piece of writing, painting the coming of age of a young Latina in an ethnically mixed, lower class Chicago neighborhood. Each 'chapter,' some of which are only a few sentences in length, is a little vignette of a different aspect of Esperanza's life in her home, on the street, with relatives, at school, and in her wider neighborhood.
It's written in...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
people who can think about what they read, even if it takes them two tries (like me)
The first time I read this book, I did not understand what the point was. Every "chapter" seemed random. I was about to give this book a one or two, but when I started to summarize it for school and analyzed each seperate "chapter" I really started to appreciate it.
You can't just read through this book quickly. Even if you have to read it twice its worth reading. To truly appreciate it, think about what each chapter means in Esperanza's life.
I loved how this book show...more
You can't just read through this book quickly. Even if you have to read it twice its worth reading. To truly appreciate it, think about what each chapter means in Esperanza's life.
I loved how this book show...more
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Previously I had given this book 3 stars - a measly "liked it" - for lack of remembering the content residing therein this book of vignettes. My 14-year-old mind was unable to measure any significant depth of Sandra Cisneros’s novel. Perhaps the former notions of my mind satisfied the first level of reading and understanding Mango Street; I was only able to grasp it at a child's learning, which inevitably summed this book into another, boring, summer-reading-book-for-honors-English.
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The House on Mango Street was a honest and passionate piece of work with Sandra Cisneros using metaphors and images. The childhood of Esperanza, the young and imaginative narrator is told. She was part of an impoverished Latino family in Chicago. Basically, this novel highlights her life from her childish pleasures of a used bicycle and the companionship of neighborhood trees to the disappointment of having to move to mango street and the guilt of losing a relative. We see how Esperanza grows ...more
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Read in January, 1996
recommended to Dorkus by:
my seventh grade english teacher.recommends it for: young latin women. creepy old mexican guys.
i had to read this over the summer for school. it was an easy read, but was troubled by some of the material. since it is written from the viewpoint of a young woman going through puberty and how her life unfolds in the slums of mango street, i found myself attaching close to the character. but then she meets crooks, and adulters, and child molesters, and expiriences normal girl stuff, it was just weird... wasn't what i was expecting anyway.
i wish there could be a book written from an asian ...more
i wish there could be a book written from an asian ...more
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Read in February, 2008
What a beautiful book! I think the voice is really crucial to this book-- the main character is a 12/13 year old girl who sees and processes things through such young, innocent eyes that it makes scenes like child abuse easier to handle, though still completely heartbreaking. I feel like everyone woman, regardless of socio-economic status or race can relate to this girl because we've all been through that age, and once you relate with her you realize she has some really profound obvservations ab...more
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Read in January, 2002
recommends it for:
Everyone
I read this book in the 9th grade. The House on Mango Street was an amazing book. It is best to read it with someone or with cliff notes because on the surface it seems to be filled with pointless stories. But if you think through each story and spend time on it, you will understand what is truly going on. It is best for mature audiences, less mature people would probably not even know what is going. It deals deeply with heritage, stereotypes, and relationships. One thing that may make this book...more
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recommends it for:
13 or older
This book is witten in poem form. Unlike most of the books I read at the time of reading this, I didn't get it, and didn't like it very much. But then this year (about 2 years after reading it the first time) I read a little bit of the book again in class, and it made me want to read it again.
This book is not one you can just read. The meanings are not just floating on the surface. You have to be willing to dig into the story to recieve true life lessons.
The book is about a girl with a big f...more
This book is not one you can just read. The meanings are not just floating on the surface. You have to be willing to dig into the story to recieve true life lessons.
The book is about a girl with a big f...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
people who like fictional vignettes about other cultures or being an outsider
Just finished reading this book again in preparation for teaching it to my 7th graders next spring. Comprised of short vignettes, this slim novella packs a powerful poetical punch. Esperanza describes growing up in a red house she hates on Mango Street where she dreams of breaking away, being free, and having a "real" house of her own. "Four Skinny Trees" and "Beautiful & Cruel" are favorite chapters. Cisneros is also a poet; the novel is full of playful rhythms...more
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Read in January, 1994
I read this my senior year of High School and I really liked it. I am not sure if I liked it because it was a lot about my cultural back ground and I felt pride in it, or if it was just a great book. For years after I read it though, I wanted to name my first daughter Esperanza. But it just seemed like too much name for tiny Isabel.
The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belo...more
The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belo...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
freshmen at my school
Ok, maybe no book that I read immediately following Middlesex could've gotten any more than three stars. But I still think this book just isn't that great. I was happy that it was short, but obviously that's because I didn't love it and was happy to have it over with.
It was a good perspective, and it had some good themes. Nothing that new though.
Maybe it just did some work at erasing that fine line between school and home that seems to be getting finer and finer, way too fine....
I was goi...more
It was a good perspective, and it had some good themes. Nothing that new though.
Maybe it just did some work at erasing that fine line between school and home that seems to be getting finer and finer, way too fine....
I was goi...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Susan! by:
Peeblesrecommends it for: young girls, writers, fans of prose poetry
I'm not really even sure what to say about this wonderful book. What can you say really?
The novel reads like an incredibly beautiful collection of prose poems that I think few people in the world could touch with such tender preteen-like honesty. I definitely want to read more Cisneros when I have the chance.
I think the title is a bit off-putting when at first you don't know its significance. I always heard about this book and was like, "Mango Street...?" Obviously the examp...more
The novel reads like an incredibly beautiful collection of prose poems that I think few people in the world could touch with such tender preteen-like honesty. I definitely want to read more Cisneros when I have the chance.
I think the title is a bit off-putting when at first you don't know its significance. I always heard about this book and was like, "Mango Street...?" Obviously the examp...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
7th/8th graders
This book inspired an amazing assignment from my English teacher. Micro-Fiction Portfolio. This book is so different from other books, filled with short-short stories of Sandra Cisneros (some are false). In class we had to do dramatic reading and I had to read the chapter, "Sire." I really had to relate to Sandra in this story, which was hard, because I never really experienced a guy looking at me every time, sitting w/ his guys, with a girlfriend. It was hard, but it was worth getting...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.72 (5430 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 2.50 (4 ratings) number of reviews: 395popular shelves
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"Marin, under the streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. I know. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life."
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