The house on Mango Street

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Sandra Cisneros: The house on Mango Street (2009, Vintage Contemporaries)

110 pages

English language

Published Jan. 9, 2009 by Vintage Contemporaries.

ISBN:
978-0-679-73477-2
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(42 reviews)

17 editions

Review of 'The house on Mango Street' on 'Goodreads'

I think that this book is amazing. First of all, it is written in a very, VERY interesting way, omitting quotation marks aside from direct quotes from books and poems, so all dialogue is implied. You have the "they said" stuff still, but what is conversation and what is not can sometimes become blurred, and I do love that aspect. It is also written in such a way that you could pick it up at ANY chapter and still pull something from whatever vignette you happen to land on. It is very, very enthralling in that sense.

spoilers from here on
also tw for discussion of sexual assault and sexual harassment

The book itself is about Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago on Mango Street. Her family moved around a lot prior to the book, but all of it takes place on Mango Street, showing her …

Many Vignettes

I'm not overwhelmingly a fan of using vignettes in this fashion; it's not something I prefer to read, even if it's easy to do so quickly. The majority of my criticism really hangs on the style more than the content.

There were parts where I wished there was more, that I felt there were other things to say, pieces to include; I found I liked the longer 'chapters' because they felt more complete and cohesive and that the only times I liked the shorter ones were when they fell between two longer pieces and connected them in a fashion, even if they were also their own stories.

It was hard for me to start this, even if it was a short book; it felt like it went to too many places and then nowhere in particular for a few pages, and I wasn't sure when it would go somewhere. I …

Review of 'The house on Mango Street' on 'Goodreads'

I struggled. Part of it was the structure: Cisneros is fond of that short-story gimmick where you start a story (or chapter) by throwing the reader off the deep end, making them have to figure out what's going on, usually by having them read 3-4 paragraphs then go back to the beginning. I dig that, but when each chapter is just a few pages long and I have to do that over and over again it gets tiring. The cognitive load is too much.

The other thing: although written from the perspective of a young girl, it doesn't feel like the words or thoughts of one. It feels like an adult reframing memories from a distant perspective. The observations feel like adult ones; and the only way I can describe it is by contrasting against [b:The Bluest Eye|292327|The Bluest Eye|Toni Morrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492591342l/292327.SY75.jpg|1987778] -- which I know is unfair -- …

Review of 'The house on Mango Street' on 'Goodreads'

This book is a quick read, a sequence of short to very short (think 1/3 of a page) stories about the inhabitants of Mango Street. It's the (at times deceptive) simplicity of these stories that makes this book work. I was reminded of Janet Frame's debut short story collection The Lagoon, though Mango Street has fewer of the stranger moments I loved about Frame's book.

Review of 'The house on Mango Street' on 'Goodreads'

Darcy showed up from the other group, as well as some ladies my age who came because of 'Everybody Reads'. It was quite different - almost more a long poem than a novel. I ended up thinking that I'd read it too quickly, and needed to do it again, with spaces between the chapters.

A lot of new people, including a couple of students who were reading it in Spanish, and a subdued discussion. (Carolyn, who was not there, sent word that she actually liked it!)

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Subjects

  • Mexican Americans -- Fiction
  • Girls -- Fiction
  • Chicago (Ill.) -- Fiction

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