Sandra Cisneros's the House on Mango Street

by Harold Bloom, Sandra Cisneros

Compared to the works of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, "The House on Mango Street" is made up of lyrical passages, interconnected vignettes, and meditations and observations that resemble prose poems. Cisneros' structurally and thematically bold work explores the often-violent coming of age of a young Mexican-American woman. This new title in the "Modern Critical Interpretations" series analyzes the work through full-length critical essays, and features a bibliography, notes on the contributing writers, a chronology of the author's life, an index, and an introductory essay by esteemed critic Harold Bloom.

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Harold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.

Reviews

[Mel Ow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted more from this book. I'm not sure what but more.

[Rute Rodrigues · Rating 3 out of 5]

The character's development really shows from the middle till the end of the story. It reminded me of my childhood with mean careless girl friends and stupid boys trying to be funny.
Nonetheless, very enlightening regarding a latin immigrant's life in America, what it's like to always feel like an outsider and undeserving of such life conditions, not only because she (the narrator) is embarrassed of her red sad house, but also she feels that her life should be more than moving from place to place; her dream is to become someone in life and hopefully come back to get those who, unlike her, can't leave Mango street.
A short story about the cruel truth of life, domestic violence, toxic relationships and the need of a latin woman to become independent.

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book because we can see how hard is life sometimes. I also like this book because it is the base of a real-life story and the author could express what she thinks of the house in mango street.

[Ana Marlatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this collection of short stories. I love reading them and I love sharing these with kids.

[Anson Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not read this book, but I read The House on Mango Street three times for academic Super Bowl. I think that that needs to count for my book count for my goodreads challenge, so here I am :)

[David Menendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good. the girl in this book really struggles a lot. Almost all the women in this book try to get rich and leave mango street with there husbands. It's an interesting read. I recommend it, but first read the summary to see if you think you will enjoy it or not. I know i did

[Duane Bowker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book consists of an autobiographical set of sketches related to the author's experiences as a Hispanic child growing up in Chicago. The writing style is experimental and consistently interesting. It often struck me as some kind of beautiful hybrid between prose and poetry.