The House on Mango Street
by Sandra Cisneros
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Book Summary Information
Author: Sandra CisnerosEdition: Paperback
Published: 1991-04-03
ISBN: 0679734775
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The House on Mango Street
Book Review: Disorganized and uncomfortable
Summary: 2 Stars
I remember reading this book in seventh grade with my entire class. Perhaps I should have enjoyed it; it appears to be directed towards that age group exactly. Instead, I, an avid reader, struggled with this odd, rather poor book.
"The House on Mango Street" is recommended for girls in middle school, and point in fact, that's exactly when this teen read it, just a few years ago. Yet as I look back on those two months in English class, it occurs to me that perhaps the fault in this book lies there. It's written as though for young readers - simplistic, short, and pale - and yet the comments about the quality and importance are all things that even the smartest and brightest pre-teen readers would be entirely unable to appreciate and enjoy.
To me, these stories symbolized what was wrong with literature. This book is entirely disorganized, chaotic, and very difficult to follow. The writing style is stupid, simplistic, and simply confusing, providing no room for thought or even interesting analysis. Looking back on it, the stories probably have another level of meaning aside from the story themselves - symbolism or even just hard, cold facts. Yet this book, directed towards this specific age group (Amazon itself recommends this for pre-teens), simply fails to impress. The writing is the kind some might love and others hate. Most young readers will most likely hate it, as I did, failing to see how this could possibly mean something more.
I can see myself returning to this collection of random stories and appreciating it, understanding its literary worth and simplistic importance. And yet it is still a children's book masquerading as an adult book, or an adult book masquerading as a teen book. Either way, it fails to capture either audience.
I'd say absolutely NOT recommended to middle-school age kids, and for anyone else, do some extensive research before reading this loosely written, confusing collection of vignettes.
Summary of The House on Mango Street
Told in a series of vignettes stunning for their eloquence, The House on Mango Street is Sandra Cisneros's greatly admired novel of a young girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Acclaimed by critics, beloved by children, their parents and grandparents, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, it has entered the canon of coming-of-age classics.Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, 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 belong--not to her rundown neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become.
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