Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Woman Warrior : Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston ISBN: 0-679-72188-6 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 23 April, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.52 (150 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: definately....intersting
Comment: I'm an 11th grader from City High School, in Iowa City, Iowa. I was assigned to read this book, by my US Lit teacher, for our minority lit unit. When I started reading this book, I didn't think I'd like it that much. The book starts right away with the talk stories, and constantly jumps from story to story. Although these stories are intersting, and give you a lot of background on the actient Chinese traditions, and ways of life, the way the stories are told, and the gruesomenss of the some of the stories, makes the book very hard to follow at times. Despite that, it is very interesting to read about the difference between the American and Chinese cultures,and the ways that they clash. Once you get through all of the talk stories, to the stories that actually have a plot, you see how the talk stories tie into their everyday life, even when they are trying to fit into our lifestyle, and the book becomes much more interesting, not to mention easier to read. This book is full of culture, and is a wonderful way to learn about how different ehtnic groups interact together. It's definately worth reading.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Excellent Book but Very much Misunderstood
Comment: I must say that I am absolutely appalled by some of the reviews I have read on this page. Some of these reviews are obviously from the voices of ignorance. Maxine Hong Kingston's book is excellent. I read of my own free will as a college student majoring in Asian Studies. As a White reader I was not given a negative image of Chinese people or their culture by this book. I have the profoundest respect for Chinese people and their culture and that is why I want to live in China and to study Chinese culture as my life's work. Kingston utilizes a common literary device of many western writers. She takes a well known legend and adapts it and retells it in a new and creative way, a way that has not been explored or told before. Her point is not to tell the story of Fa Mulan verbatim. She is adapting the story to her own life, which I must say is probably much more interesting than the life of the reviewer from Oak Park, Michigan. If she was a white male writer her use of this literary device would probably be hailed as inovative and daring but her position as a female minority writer using this technique gets her criticized. I personally recommend this book to any one interested in reading the experience of ONE Chinese American woman. It is not the definitve story of the experience of Chinese American women, nor does it try to be, but it is a very vivid, disturbing, and well written account of one woman's life.
Rating: 2
Summary: ------------------------------------------------------------
Comment: This book is excellent as a literary work, but I wouldn't raise it to any position higher than that. The language used is magnificent, and as an autobiography, the whole metaphoric Fa Mu Lan epic is appropriate.
However, as a 1st generation Chinese American, I absolutely do not approve of the cultural misrepresentations permeating every aspect of this book. I understand that Kingston was not trying in any way to paint a portrayal of Chinese culture, but that is what the autobiography becomes when thrown to the hands of non-Chinese. By "non-Chinese", I am not referring to skin, but rather cultural essence. More specifically, when thrown to my predominantly non-Chinese sophomore English class, this book serves only to fuel the aura of mystique surrounding Chinese culture and perpetuate rumors of misogyny. Discussions on this book are accompanied with a sort of pseudo-sacred air and such fantastic speculations of the "Yellow Man" are made that I simply don't know whether to cry or laugh. Oftentimes, I am on the brink of hurling the book at some ignorant classmate and berating the teacher for her terrible interpretations of Chinese culture. All the wonderful metaphoric language and the horribly mangled Fa Mu Lan legend don't help the situation either. I recommend the book for what it is, but not as a cultural representation. I therefore leave with this caution: read this for its language and message, but don't take the latter to heart.
Looking beyond Kingston's personal interpretation of Chinese culture, the book admittedly has its plusses. ...this was my only solace when reading the book. It is "impressionistic", if you will.
 |
Title: China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston ISBN: 0679723285 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 23 April, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: Differences That Work: Organizational Excellence Through Diversity by Mary C. Gentile ISBN: 1577661176 Publisher: Waveland Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: Voices of Diversity: Real People Talk About Problems and Solutions in a Workplace Where Everyone Is Not Alike by Renee Blank, Sandra Slipp ISBN: 0814402178 Publisher: AMACOM Pub. Date: September, 1994 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Intercultural Business Communication (2nd Edition) by Lillian H. Chaney, Jeanette S. Martin ISBN: 0130137006 Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 21 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $63.33 |
 |
Title: No-No Boy by John Okada, Lawson Fusao Inada, Frank Chin ISBN: 0295955252 Publisher: University of Washington Press Pub. Date: December, 1980 List Price(USD): $12.89 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
