Rating: 
Summary: Childhood Memories
Review: I am reading this book in class and the wonders of Maxine's family and her childhood have shaped the way I observe on new life. My favorite chapters are "Shaman" and "The Western Palace". Maxine's mother, Brave Orchid, and aunt Moon Orchid were powerful people describing about the way they lived in both China and U.S.A.
Rating: 
Summary: This is without a doubt the worst book I have ever read.
Review: I read this book because I had to for my AP English 3 class. Within in the first page I knew I was going to hate the book. I was right. This book has absolutely no redeeming qualities, none whatsoever. The author pointlessly rambles on, and changes thought in mid sentence. The book has no plot nor does it follow any real organization pattern. Saying that there is a beginning, middle, and end is even a bit of a strech. If I could give this book 0 stars I would have but the lowest I can give is a 1.The thing that bothered me the most about this book is that it has no point to it. The author is trying to tell people what it is like to grow up as foreigner in America. Unfortunately there is too much pointless dribble and rambling on of emotions--which in itself isn't a bad thing, but the way it is presented is just downright awful. Combined with the poor style of writing in which is written, and the lack of any talent on the author's part, I can't understand why it was even published much less put on a required reading list.
Rating: 
Summary: Back Off, All of You
Review: It's hard to imagine that a book with a serious intent would be trashed by one group of readers and idealized by another. But that's American education today. If you back off from the politically correct nonsense and the right wing attackers, this book tries to explain what it is like to be a Chinese-American woman through mythic input, the realistic stories balanced against the Mul-lan legends. Like all great literature, it tells one part of the story. Do you really think sane, mature readers take this as the only truth of the Chinese diaspora? I learn something from every book, and, unfortunately, never everythng. Take this as part of the subjective truth of Chinese Women in immigration, and you can enjoy and learn from this novel. Or you can make a fuss about an evolution of cultures which will pass you by in any case.
Rating: 
Summary: a book that grows on you
Review: Wow, the negativity of some of these reviews is overwhelming. As a Taiwanese-American teenage girl, I found a lot of value in this book. I can easily relate to Kingston's struggle to come to terms with the duality of her background - she can never expect to belong in Chinese culture, nor can she be fully at ease in American culture. I think anybody whose parents grew up in a completely different environment can relate to these difficulties. A lot of the time when I communicate with my parents we are hear each other but do not understand each other - we come from different worlds. In response to all the readers who complained that the book is diluted and hard to follow, I do agree to some extent. The way the different story lines overlap, with no regard to chronological time, can be confusing. However, that doesn't mean that you should give up on the book altogether; I think Kingston weaves these stories together to add depth to the story. She is trying to stress the common struggles of all women, which span all times and places. This is a book that requires patience. I might re-read it, because I think I'll gain even more from it the second time around. I also empathize with those who say that Kingston's portrayal of mainland China is biased, only shedding light on some of its more negative aspects, namely the harsh treatment of women. But, it's difficult for any one story to completely capture the full richness of a country. No one can deny that crimes against women, such as those presented in this book, DID happen. Kingston is not claiming that ALL women were mistreated and that ALL men were pigs, she's just presenting a few examples of the hardships some of the less fortunate women had to endure. Remember, Kingston also writes about women who do achieve success, like Brave Orchid and Fa Mulan. These women serve as a message of hope for the young Kingston, helping her realize her own strength. But, if the one-sideness of this story truly bothers you, try reading China Boy, another Asian-American coming of age story, but from the persepective of its male author, Gus Lee. It's a truly witty, touching book.
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the worst book I have ever read.
Review: This book doesn't deserve as high a rating as I gave it. I don't see how anyone was willing to publish it, except maybe with an addition to the title of: "How you should not write a book." Don't waste your time with this. Read a classic, with actual meaning, such as "1984." In all fairness, I must admit that it may have been better if I did not have a terrible English teacher. Anyway, the book is a collection of mutated facts. It doesn't distinguish between fact and fiction, and it is almost impossible to tell which is which. The author reveals herself to be mildly psychotic in later chapters. The book has no plot, and no organization. It looks like it was put through a random story generator. Almost none of the book was entertaining. The author does almost nothing but complain. Chinese people I know were deeply offended by this book, as Kingston seems to think of Americans as unreal and barbaric, and portrays the Chinese as accepting this belief. The worst part is, the author didn't even know what she thinks. In the first chapter, she portrays her aunt (who committed adultery) first as a victim of abuse, then as a romantic who was unfortunate enough to be around at the wrong time. She even says that the aunt is of no help unless her aunt's life is somehow like her own. If there is any deeper meaning to the book, it is almost impossible to find, and probably either useless or wrong. I don't think one person of the forty I know that read it liked this book. At the end of the book, she erupts at her mother over a bunch of different things, to which her mother replies: What? The author is probably more confused than her book. As was once said, "the problem with literature is that too many people who have half a mind to write a book do so." (I realize that, due to the disorganization of this review, I may look hypocritical. But I acknowledge that this is disorganized. It's just a review, not a book.)
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Memoir
Review: In the novel, The Woman Warrior, Kingston addresses several themes including the relationship of boys vs. girls in the Chinese culture, the process of naming, a warrior spirit within women, ghosts as representative of people, the symbolism of talk-stories, and the significance of a voice for speaking as well as writing. While Kingston explores these various themes, she also incorporates her own memoir and testimony. As a Chinese-American, she reveals the complex duality of an identity shaped by two cultures. As a woman, she reveals her fears and struggle to maintain her freedom, along with her desire to earn love from her Mother. As a writer, she reveals a voice she constantly silenced during her youth -- a voice which empowers not only her own identity through writing, but also acknowledges the identity and existence of an aunt who dared to be an individual. Language provides Kingston an avenue into rebellion and strength and yet at the same time, through her language, she inevitably separates herself from her traditions and heritage. Throughout her memoir, Kingston struggles to assert her own identity and liberate her voice. "I shut my mouth, but I felt something alive tearing at my throat, bite by bite, from the inside" (200). This soreness within her throat grows with time along with the need to not only release her identity, but furthermore, to share this identity with her mother. "Maybe because I was the one with the tongue cut loose, I had grown inside me a list of over two hundred things that I had to tell my mother so that she would know the true things about me and to stop the pain in my throat" (197). Kingston needs her mother to help release the language inside her. By giving voice and language to these confessions she inevitably separates herself from her family and actualizes her individuality. To be released and to be separated from traditions become one and the same. Indeed, she learns to finds a place where ghosts cease to exist and where reality becomes a multitude of modern paraphernalia. "Be careful what you say. It comes true. It comes true. I had to leave home in order to see the world logically, logic the new way of seeing" (204). Kingston reminds readers of the power within language and the need to understand this same power. Within this understanding is the necessity to understand what we say and be careful with our words, lest they come true unintentionally. She urges women to fulfill the role of a woman warrior particularly through writing or speech, because if women do not search for strength within language then this language will most certainly be used against them.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring book don't read it unless you have to!!!!
Review: This book is boring and bad. It is about a girls daydreaming and one has trouble trying not to daydream with this book. I had enough by page 10 but because of school kept reading. This book is not worth my two cents.
Rating:
Summary: A collection of pointless, politically-correct dribble
Review: In this book, Maxine Hong Kingston first attacks her Chinese culture: Chinese women are oppressed by men, mothers who have children out of wedlock are killed, and girls are hated simply for their gender. Yet she goes on to attack Western culture as well, displaying some of the racism she so despises by referring to whites as "ghosts" or "barbarians," and insinuates that Americans do all they can to submerge other cultures (remember the boss where the narrator worked)? True or not, all Kingston does in this angry, rambling, completely unorganized set of narratives is complain. She offers no solutions to the problem of discrimination in all cultures; she merely whines about her "poor-me, I-don't-fit-in, why-don't-you-feel-sorry-for-me" status. Instead of coloring her pictures all-black, a great analogy for the entire book, perhaps Kingston should dedicate her energy to something more constructive; prospective readers should do something more constructive--and entertaining--than wandering through this book!
Rating:
Summary: Sensationalist's view of Chinese culture frozen in the past
Review: If you are satisfied only with a tabloid, exotic or a sensationalist's view of Chinese culture, then go ahead and read this book. Otherwise, you do yourself a favor by passing it up. I am not denying that Chinese Americans are struggling with identity problems, but the "old" China she depicts doesn't capture the kaleidoscopic complexity of the China that is fast changing and emerging. The Woman Warrior plays into the same Orientalist prejudice shared by such recent journalistic works as The Coming Conflict with China: anything that demonizes China or presents China as the exotic Other (thereby justifying the cultural superiority of the West) will have eager following. Frankly, the author has done a disservice to the Chinese American community because she fails to provide a balanced understanding of the Chinese culture with all its complexity. To those who are misled to believe that what she presents in The Woman Warrior is representative of Chinese culture, I can only suggest that you disabuse of these (mis)impressions by reading more indepth works on Chinese culture rather than regaling in such surrealistic kisch. This is postmodernism without responsibility in one of its worst incarnations. A good critical study on Maxine Hong Kingston and also Amy Tan would be Immigrant Subjectivities in Asian American and Asian Diaspora Literatures, by Sheng-mei Ma (New York: SUNY Press, 1998). Make sure you check Ma's work out if you decide to read Kingston or Tan. (I don't know Ma personally. Nor do I have anything to gain by recommending Ma's book.)
Rating:
Summary: Identity Art at its worst
Review: There are many reasons for hating this book, but one of the main reasons is that my least favorite professor said that this book exemplified everything that he had been trying to say about "race, class and gender" throughout the class. After 5 weeks of this class, I wanted to place sharp spikes into my ears whenever I heard the words "race, class and gender". The only reason why I give this book an extra star is because it might not be the book's fault that stupid politically correct classes teach it, and it might have been passable if read by itself. I doubt it. The book is about how the author is Chinese and a woman. It's about how the author is Chinese and a woman and OPPRESSED. Bad Chinese men killing women who get pregnant out of wedlock combine with bad white people who hate Asians and you got 300 pages of the "dominant patriarchy oppressing non-Western cultures who oppress their women" Oppression sure pays the bills for Kingston, but it doesn't make for an interesting read. I got the point, I used to preach the point. If Kingston wants to write a sermon on bad Asian men oppressing Asian women and getting oppressed by white people she should do it. If she wants to write fiction, maybe she should try characterization or plotting over sermons.
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