The House on Mango Street
THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET (Sandra Cisneros) - Three Stars
Esperanza, we hardly knew ye.
Unlike many stories, which drag on far too long and lose novelty and freshness by the time the final page comes around, The House on Mango Street is one of those rare books that is exactly opposite: just when the book feels like it's hitting its stride and you have formed a rapport with the main character, the book is over.
The House on Mango Street details the trials and tribulations of Esperanza Cordero, a young pre-teen (and then teenage) latina girl growing up in an ethnic Chicago neighborhood. The novel is kind of a hodge-podge of angsty childhood and teenage themes: alienation, dissatisfaction with the present, "coming-of-age", etc. It's told in a truly original style, a series of twenty or thirty vignettes, some only a hundred words long, that read almost like diary entries. However, considering the book is barely a hundred pages to begin with, this stylistic device means there's really only 75-80 "true" pages of material (making it a very fast read; I wasn't really keeping track, but I'm sure it only took me 60-90 minutes from start to finish).
Some of the writing is very striking, and Cisneros has a good voice. She does tend to harp on two points in particular ("poverty sucks" and "men suck"; I agree—and?) a little too frequently for a book of such brevity, and some of her other vignettes practically beg for more elaboration and depth. The House on Mango Street is a literary dégustation that leaves the reader wanting more, which, I suppose, is the sign of a good book.
Esperanza, we hardly knew ye.
Unlike many stories, which drag on far too long and lose novelty and freshness by the time the final page comes around, The House on Mango Street is one of those rare books that is exactly opposite: just when the book feels like it's hitting its stride and you have formed a rapport with the main character, the book is over.
The House on Mango Street details the trials and tribulations of Esperanza Cordero, a young pre-teen (and then teenage) latina girl growing up in an ethnic Chicago neighborhood. The novel is kind of a hodge-podge of angsty childhood and teenage themes: alienation, dissatisfaction with the present, "coming-of-age", etc. It's told in a truly original style, a series of twenty or thirty vignettes, some only a hundred words long, that read almost like diary entries. However, considering the book is barely a hundred pages to begin with, this stylistic device means there's really only 75-80 "true" pages of material (making it a very fast read; I wasn't really keeping track, but I'm sure it only took me 60-90 minutes from start to finish).
Some of the writing is very striking, and Cisneros has a good voice. She does tend to harp on two points in particular ("poverty sucks" and "men suck"; I agree—and?) a little too frequently for a book of such brevity, and some of her other vignettes practically beg for more elaboration and depth. The House on Mango Street is a literary dégustation that leaves the reader wanting more, which, I suppose, is the sign of a good book.
posted by Kevin at 6:11 PM
1 Comments:
I remember reading that in high school, although the only thing I really remember was getting into trouble for writing a short essay that suggested that the slutty girl should be stabbed in the crotch. I may have had issues in high school.
Post a Comment
<< Home