The Woman Warrior : Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts

Rating:
Summary: Great Story...Nicely Written
Review: The story seems to appear confusing and complex to lots, causing them to bad mouth the novel. Yet, if one understands the deeper meanings of the story, he/she will probably find the book to be one of the best written books ever. The book describes the harshness one may go through in life as a Chinese in America and also show a little hint of the sexist culture of the native Chinese. The book is fabulous and I would recommend it to all.

Rating:
Summary: Rarely beloved a single star is uttered
Review: Who else would say so much so skillfully, so elliptically? The sweat of her hard work is evident; she lights a thousands points across the blackness.

Rating:
Summary: A Voice in the Darkness
Review: Much to my dissapointment, I find that many people who have read Kingston's "Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Childhood Among Ghosts" do not understand the underlying theme and meaning. If you didn't like the book, that's okay. However, if you just thought that Kingston shouldn't "mess" with your mind, then you shouldn't even be reading "Woman Warrior" in the first place. "The Woman Warrior" attacks the themes of finding a place in American society and being both a Chinese-American and an American-Chinese. Kingston writing is powerful and full of vivid imagery and anecdotes that made me laugh outloud and relate her personal experiences with those of my own. Besides that point, Kingston makes a powerful statement about the empowerment of women and their ability to find a "voice" both gender-wise and culture-wise. I am glad to see that this book has made it to countless institutions of higher learning around the nation and has also made it to the "required reading" lists of many high schools in the country.

Rating:
Summary: Far from interesting
Review: It was boring and I had no clue as to what in the world Kingston was trying to get across to the reader. I found it confusing and I couldn't stand the feminism garb. I don't find this style of writing interesting at all and I don't see how it was entertaining. And I'm one who loves to read, this book was a waist of time. I either want to read a book that is fiction or non-fiction. I don't want my mind messed with. Kingston's confused me by jumping from one story the next. So I just say heck with the book. And reading from other people's responses, it doesn't look like too many people enjoyed it. I'm one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful yet confusing
Review: I had to read Woman Warrior for my college English class. If it wasn't for that reason I would have never picked it up. I must admit that MHK is a wonderful writer, however this book moves between fantasy and reality within a blink of an eye. If she would have taken more time to explain things I believe my entire English class would have appreciated this book.

Rating:
Summary: A girl trying to survive chinese culture
Review: The Woman Warrior tells of a chinese girl who comes to America with her family. Despite being in a new country she must deal with the old traditions from her homeland. Her parents were brought up in a country in which it is better to raise geese than girls. If you enjoy a book with dramatic events and suspense than don't read this book. If you like a book which nicely portrays the depth of its characters than by all means, read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Worth the Read, but not Again
Review: Because of the title I orderd this book. I thought it was to be about War and Immigration, and yet it was half that. I thought M.H.K. covered too much in to little time. I would've liked to have her explain in depth a little more insted of rush right into the next sentence or paragraph. Although it is worth the read, it isn't something you should spend your spare time on.

Rating:
Summary: I hated this book!
Review: I cannot apologize for my review. I had to read this for an English class in college and it made no sense at all. I understand that Chinese people, especially women, have suffered a great deal, but this incoherent account, where you can hardly tell where she's making up a story or telling you a truth, does absolutely nothing to inform you about her childhood except that she had to have been terribly abused and therefore unable to clearly tell anyone what she went through. If you must be grotesque and frightening in a book, either be all the way fiction or all the way autobiography. King switches without telling you and frankly, I was not impressed by that technique.

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable Tale by a Woman of Insight
Review: I was very moved by this account of immigrant Chinese family life and a young girl's internal struggle. Maxine Hong Kingston has established herself as the leading Asian-American woman writer of enduring, serious fiction. The only other writer I find that comes close is a Chinese woman writer living in the U.S. who writes in Chinese. That writer, Geling Yan, recently published an English-language book called "White Snake and Other Stories." I think Maxine Hong Kingston and Geling Yan, coming at similar circumstances from different directions, are the shining lights of Chinese-American women's fiction in our generation.

Rating:
Summary: Original style is overshadowed by bitterness of author
Review: Kingston's book has been hailed for its allegedly original ideas about Chinese-American culture, its feminist message, and its wonderful writing style. It consists of none of these things. For one thing, it is not about Chinese-Americans. It is an individual exercise in self pity pretending to have some greater importance. It is not about feminism, unless you consider any book written by a woman brought up with low self-esteem to be feminist literature. And the writing style, though unique, has little charm because of the content of the writing. So what is the content? In each of the five chapters of the book Kingston narrates the story of a Chinese woman and interpolates her own reactions to the story and her own experiences pertaining to the subject at hand. The first chapter is mediocre, but not offensive. However in subsequent chapters it becomes clear that Kingston is quite resentful and very very bitter. She is similar to the women described in the stories only in that she, like them, is angry. She insists that no one has ever truly loved or valued her, that she would have been better off a slave. (Aside from herself) not one person is portrayed in a good light. This is the work of a self-absorbed, hurt megalomaniac. It is one 209 page complaint.