Rating: 
Summary: A Fiction Biography
Review: I read _The Woman Warrior_ in my AP English Class and my English teacher was wonderful in explaining the book, as my teacher has a degree in Literary Analysis, and explained that this book is more fictional then it is truthful. Maxine Hong Kingston's writing style and elaborate way of explaining about her memories puts a twist on her memories that turns them into a sort of fictional or fantasy dream. One gets enraptured into her own memories, with some truth about Chinese history, and one feels as if they are in an entirely new world. Though the history seems a bit far fetched in some instances, there is still some accurate history, as she is of a Chinese family that came from China. One should remember that this is a book written based off of her life from childhood, but as every child has, their imaginations change things, which Kingston does in the telling of her life with some fictional things in it.
Rating: 
Summary: Terribly unsubstantiated load of filth
Review: It is true that some of the horrific deeds to have occurred within China was described adequately in Mrs. Kingston's memoirs, however, it presents too stark an image to those who are unknowing of China's history. Thus, these people are likely to associate the occurances in this book with the entirety of China's population. For example, Mrs. Kingston seems to remember her mother buying a slave girl from China, though it is not disclosed where such events actually took place (this is to assert that the selling of girls were rampant everywhere in China), when in reality the practice of selling girls was illegal in places excluding the most outlying of farmlands. Yet another example has her describing the Chinese language as being "ugly", when clearly she is referring exlusively to Cantonese and not Mandarin. This book is the work of a woman who has had no first-hand experience in living in China for prolonged periods of time, and because of this, her book cannot be held as historically accurate or even close to being so. At the time of her writing this novel, Mrs. Kingston was under the heavy influence of the Nationalists, and it is surprising to see the way her writing transitions from part to part (Mandarin Pinyin in the beginning and Taiwanese phonetics (Wades-Giles method) in the last half -- this juxtaposes "civilized" and "uncivilized", whatever that may mean). This is a biased work of pure fiction, and it cannot be ascertained as to why Mrs. Kingston held such deep-rooted hatred for the Mainland Chinese at the time, even though she was never there to experience the cultural revolution.
Rating:
Summary: overrated
Review: Perhaps to those with little to zero first-person experience as a Chinese this is a masterpiece. To them, this is a work that sheds light into the intricacies of a foreign culture--words and tradition and verbal folklore interweaved, an amazing quilt, filled and breathed with life through Hong Kingston's imagination and memory. But to those who are like myself and a few other reviewers here, Hong Kingston stuns us with her use of trite exaggerations already plaguing Chinese stereotypes. This naive exploitation is afforded by her misguided understanding of the cultural roots she is writing about. Even though these stories related to us, came to Hong Kingston first-hand, should we not consider the validity of her retelling, influenced by her own ability to interpret? It reminds me of the overpriced beef and brocolli dish, served at a very fancy "authentic" looking Chinese restaurant. To drive my point home, let me point out that had Hong Kingston written the same stories/books under a different name, and without revealing her ethnicity, more people would dismiss her works as yet another Jerry Lewis minstrel of the mysogonistic, backward, mystical-illogical Chinese. But I did add another star (saving my rating form a mere 1), due to the fact that I am in support of her effort (and apparent success) to make the Chinese (and Asians in general) a bit more visible in the field of American literature. As a postscript, I would suggest Hong Kingston study the writings of Toni Morrison and Jhumpa Lahiri in the art of storytelling.
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps it's personal bias, but I found this book very whiny
Review: As a first generation Chinese in America, I was annoyed by the whininess of this book. Kingston seems to have been an especially naive and empathetic child, but what she experienced is not unique, and certainly not as cruel as she makes it seem. In Chinese, are Caucasians referred to as ghosts? Yes, literally speaking 'ghosts' one of the derogatory terms. But we also call a bad person a bad egg, and a bastard, the egg of a toad and turtle. And I certainly would find a book titled "Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Eggs" more interesting. I think Kingston manipulated cultural shock to gain sympathy. And I am annoyed that stories like this dominate American literature, which creates a misshapen view of a generation of Chinese women. That is, the older women of Kingston's novel all have misogynistic tendencies. Most Chinese women between 50-60 years old went through the Cultural Revolution in China, and many are extremely politically minded, and full of feminist ideals. Many Chinese women older than that, fought in World War II, and the Chinese Civil War. So, perhaps I am just bias, but I personally felt that this novel does a great disservice to older Chinese women.
Rating: 
Summary: HOW TO GAIN PITY
Review: Kingston, with her novel about misplaced and awkward lives in society, uses the first person narrative to make the reader understand the problems and opinions of herself, and the way she sees the world. A story about a Chinese girl lost and confused in a new culture, The Woman Warrior has very strong and savage views. These opinions are only enhanced by the first person, and give a greater impact to the message. Slightly disturbed and greatly angered by unfain treatment, Kingston's book is a rather hateful one. She uses strong words, blunt remarks, and subliminal messages to give the reader a feeling that she is simply lost in a world full of hallow ghosts. Throughout the entire novel she portrays herself as the victim, in an attempt to gain the reader's pity. A sad reflection of her own life, The Woman Warrior is truly a novel about a lost soul in an unfamiliar place. One would first assume Kingston to be a very bitter person, but her strong opinions are formed by the society she lives in. An old Chinese saying, "Better to raise geese than girls," (pg. 46), angers Kingston as a child. Her entire lifestyle and culture, American and Chinese, revolves around the concept of male dominance. Throughout the book the reader sees the cynical hatred Kingston holds for anyone who who does not sympathize with her race and gender; even by writing this book she asks for the pity of others. Such an example can be found when Brave Orchid (Kingston's mother) and Moon Orchid (Kingston's aunt), set out to avenge the marriage of Moon Orchid's husband and new wife. It is not only the cultural differences which set the awkwardness of the confrontation, but Kingston's mother's rage against the weak, (a trait later found in Kingston), which make this argument concerning divorse troublesome. Moon Orchid is shy and afraid, while Brave Orchid, anger fuled by Moon Orchid's timidness and her own extreamly feminist views, demands that she reclaim her title as wife. By the way Kingston words and retells her mother's expiriances, the reader understands the implied message that it is the husband who divorced who is evil, and the shy female who is right; this makes the first person narrative effective in that the reader sees the very strong emotions felt by Kingston and her mother. THe first person is also used to create bias opinions and exagerated comments, such as with Moon Orchid's "animalistic" children. Seen as lying, rude, vain, and selfish, the harsh words of Kingston try to make the reader think the children really are so selfish and evil, when infact it is only a misunderstood cultural difference. By being in the first person, the reader sees the opinions of Kingston, and must try to formulate what is truth and what is exagerated. Kingston, her own views tainted and twisted by society's treatment, uses the first person point of view very well to try to gain the sympathy of the reader. Well written and very vague, this book leaves the reader searching for the truth rather than Kingston's bias views. Slightly disturbed, she is able to claim the pity of her readers by displaying herself as a victim of racial and cultural differences, and the rest of the world as mindless and uncaring drones. With the first person narrative, she can turn the reader's opinion to fit her own. She very effectivly gain's the readers pity.
Rating: 
Summary: Adventures in Cultural Immersion
Review: Kingston's book may not be the most interesting to a high school junior caucasian male in AP American Language, such as myself, as I cannot relate to the main thrust of the book, whether you take that to be female empowerment, immigration experiences, or chinese culture clashes, however, there is much to be said for the writing. Kingston is a fluid writer, which is apparent in her planned digressions throughout the story. A good book for someone who can sit still long enough!!
Rating:
Summary: Intense
Review: If only this book had been fiction. The stories were so intense and heart wrenching, it was like a near death experience where one sees their entire life flash before their eyes, able to feel and experience every joy and pain that we have caused another to feel. Maxine's characters were described with such detail that I was there with them. It has been said that our lives appear as a chess game seen from above , with all of our life times being lived in unison. The power of each story within the book felt like that, with each position on the chess board representing a different story. A bold artist to have created this intense collection. I am only sorry that I have learned of atrocities that actually happened and are happening right now to my fellow human beings and other living creatures. Such a painful reminder that we are not here to inflict pain upon others. I wanted to scream out to the soldiers as they were brutalizing the pregnant women until they miscarried their babies only to have them be murdered in front of them. I felt like a ghost , watching as I read and unable to help the women. Each turn of the page was like taking another breath that I wanted to give to the women and their babies to help them not to die. ...
Rating:
Summary: Random and boring
Review: I found this deplorable book to be a mesh of random occurences in the life of a young chinese american girl. The book has no uniformity and is confusing and boring. Also, there is absolutely no plot and no suspense. If you want a good and interesting read, do NOT buy this book. On the other hand, if you're looking for something with many "hidden meanings" and "motifs", but no relevance to anything whatsover- buy it.
Rating:
Summary: In Search of Identity
Review: Maxine Hong-Kingston - The Woman Warrior In the upper left hand corner on the back side of my edition of "The Woman Warrior" there are two words written to help classify this book: "nonfiction" and "literature." In a way, this seeming contradiction is a microcosm of "The Woman Warrior." At times "The Woman Warrior" is an autobiographical work, but at other times things happen in the book that have never occurred in Kingston's life, or anyone's life. Why has Kingston chosen to write her autobiography in the language of literature? The answer, like the book, is compelling. "The Woman Warrior" opens with a graphic, but short, tale of life in rural China in which the narrator's aunt sees her family's estate destroyed because the aunt has had a child out of wedlock. No sooner has that harsh story ended then we are greeted with a thoroughly surreal story of a warrior princess ascending the heights of a fabled mountain to battle evil armies. One of these stories is biographical in the typical sense of the word whereas the other is biographical in a way more typical of "The Woman Warrior." In an altogether novel approach to autobiography, Kingston seems to want to give equal say to those things that she thought, as well as those that she did, often switching from one to the other with little or no warning. Such an odd approach brings to mind two questions: is this an autobiography, and why has Kingston chosen such an odd format in which to tell her life story. The answers to both questions seem to revolve around the slippery concept of identity, a concept which is indeed dear to Kingston's heart. Believe it or not, both of the aforementioned stories are "autobiographical" in their own way, although clearly only the one about Kingston's aunt has to do with the "real" facts of Kingston's life. Just because something does not correspond to actual events does not mean that it cannot be illustrative of a person's personality, however; we all daydream and fantasize, so should it be that these thoughts and ideas have any less say over who we are than things that happen in the real world? Kingston clearly thinks not and the result is that her autobiography that puts both fantasy and reality on equal footing. This makes "The Woman Warrior" a book that, despite its straightforward text, can be difficult to follow. It also makes it a book that is deceptively simple. "The Woman Warrior" appears simple because, although Kingston makes her "facts" equal parts fantasy and reality, she does stick to the facts (such as they are) and is not prone to deviating from her narration for long bouts of reflection. In fact, the most blatant introspection you will see in "The Woman Warrior" consists of ironic words and phrases sparsely sprinkled throughout the text in deadpan manner. The trick is that Kingston is making substantial points by the very method she has chosen to present these seemingly simple stories. By acting as though fantasies and actions are equal parts of a person's life story Kingston is making an implied point: that a person's identity is not stable, is in fact open to all the caprices of an uncertain world and an all too human mind, the workings of which no one understands. True, Kingston never openly says as much, but the way she says what she does say speaks volumes. By so thoroughly mixing thought and action Kingston all but says to the reader, "you are seeing my identity, as confused and impossible to hold as it is." This chosen method of autobiography helps the reader to really "get inside" Kingston's mind; instead of simply telling us what she thinks, Kingston exposes us to her mind, lets us be her while we read her book. Another result of Kingston's approach is that she has created a book that works best with an extremely active mind. In "The Woman Warrior" the line between reality and imagination is often tenuous and because of this it is up to the reader to decide what is really happening and how each piece fits in to the overall picture. "The Woman Warrior" is not a book that lays out everything in discreet, easily digestible lumps; rather it is a jumble, something of an inkblot where it is not only the author's job to create, but the reader's also. And perhaps all this is to the greater point which the author, in her autobiography, seems to lead us toward: that Maxine Hong-Kingston is not who she thinks she is but who we think she is.
Rating:
Summary: A Most Unique Memoir of Growing Up Chinese-American.
Review: Very challenging book to read. The author seamlessly weaves her own experiences in with the fantastic tales passed down by her mother. Sometimes you forget what's real and what's not. By the end, the reader really gets a sense of how alienated the narrator felt, growing up amid the old Chinese traditions in America. Kingston's writing is different from anything I've read. She makes no bones about describing how badly girls were regarded or treated. Her stories are angry and powerful. One of my favorites was the retelling of the legend of Fa Mu Lan (THE woman warrior), but even the stories of the author's mother as a medical student, the sad story of the aunt coming to America to reclaim her husband, were very exciting. The end of the book was a very emotional chapter, and I loved how the author tied the entire book together. I couldn't put this book down.
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