The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
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Web ID: 15624113Not For Me
Eh. It’s a life seen through the eyes of a child. Not really my thing but there are some cute moments.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Beautiful story about a Latina girl in Chicago
This short book is full of vignettes that tells the story of a Latina girl, Esperanzo Cordero, growing up in a poor Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago during the 1960s inspired by the author's own experiences. Here are a few of my favorite ones: 1) The House on Mango Street - Recounting the house they owned on Mango Street (mama, papa, Carlos, Kiki, Nenny, and Esperanzo). 2) Hairs - Describing difference in family's hair (papa's hair is like a broom, Esperanzo's hair is lazy, Carlo's hair is thick and straight, Nenny's hair is slippery, Kiki's hair is like fur, and mama's hair is like candy curls all curly and pretty). 3) Louie, His Cousin, & His Other Cousin - I thought this one was pretty funny. Louie's cousin drives up in a great big yellow Cadillac, and everyone asks where he got it, but he refuses to answers. While giving everyone a ride, the police show up and while attempting to get away, he crashes the car into a lamppost, and the cops take him away in handcuffs. 4) Hips - I enjoyed the rhyming songs that Lucy, Rachel, Nenny, and Esperanzo created while jumproping. 5) A House of My Own - This reminded me of the excitement I experienced with my first house. 6) Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes - Writing about an emotional experience after moving out of a house you love. A beautiful, yet heartbreaking story. I would definitely recommend.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
nice gathering of short stories
this was my first time reading a book like this, a bunch of short stories and poems that come together the way they did. i really enjoyed this short read, the themes were very relatable as a poc woman who didn’t grow up with a lot of money. there’s a part of me that wanted more, but overall i enjoyed my read
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Themes and quotes
These are five major themes of the novel: Childhood: The theme of childhood is prevalent throughout the book, as it focuses on the protagonist, Esperanza's, experiences growing up in Mango Street. Poverty: The poverty that Esperanza and her family face is a major theme in the book. The lack of resources and limited opportunities available to them shape Esperanza's experiences and worldview. Identity: The book explores Esperanza's struggle to define her identity as a Chicana and her search for a sense of self. Community: The theme of community is also explored, with Esperanza and her family being part of a close-knit community of families and neighbors on Mango Street. Dreams and aspirations: Throughout the book, Esperanza dreams of a better life and longs to escape Mango Street. This theme of longing and dreaming highlights the limitations and challenges faced by Esperanza and her community. Notable quotes: "I am the one who leaves behind all that I love, the only one who knows where I am going." "For the times I cannot be with the ones I love, I make a wish for a shoe box house." "I don't really know what a home is." "You learn to be quiet, you learn to be invisible." "We do not always do what we want in this world. We do what we must."
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
good read
This book is about a young girl that goes through many challenges as she’s growing up. She meets new friends and people that guide her through her life as she learns who she wants to be. I think the book is really good, it can be confusing at times because it's set up like a diary but very real and vulnerable. Something I did dislike about the book is that I didn't connect to it at times because I was confused. A quote that stood out to me was “papa said nobody went to public school unless you wanted to turn out bad.”(pg 53). Someone I would recommend this book to is someone struggling in high school with homelife and at school. This book really shows you a side you don't get to see with most people.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Not for everyone, but I loved it!
I read this in class recently, and I really love it. This book may not be the best option if you're into books with elaborate plots or even an obvious direction. I'd say that the book is more of a collection of important realizations, moments of growth, or thoughts that Esperanza had in her childhood. I think it does a great job of evoking different emotions in the reader. I did tear up a few times, but I might just be sensitive. To truly understand everything you are reading, you must like slow paced or more emotional books rather than action-packed ones, and you need to really think about what you're reading and view it as the thoughts of a person going through life day-to-day rather than a plot leading up to a climax. It's almost like a flow of consciousness.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Garbage book do not recommend
This book has to be arguably (not arguably) the worst book I have ever read in my 16 years of living. I was forced to read this book in my English class and I wish I was absent everyday of it. And if I am being totally honest, you will probably have more fun reading this review than you would reading the book itself. This book has no plot whatsoever to speak of, as another review stated, you could read the chapters in the completely wrong order and the book still wouldn't make any sense, as a matter of fact, you wouldn't be able to tell that the chapters are even mixed up. This book has many random irrelevant stories which don't connect whatsoever. Many chapters don't contribute to the story's plot, or any character development whatsoever. For a book about Esperanza's life, Esperanza is hardly mentioned at all, with many random characters showing up once and never being seen for the rest of the story. On top of all of this, the book is incredibly confusing because of the writing style used. The chapters, on top of not being linked together into a REAL story with a beginning, middle, and end, the book instead is written in a confusing sense, with sentences and author's craft being disjointed, and not making any sense whatsoever. There are no quotes for any dialogue in the story either, so it is nearly impossible to tell when Esperanza or another character is thinking, or if they are speaking. The chapters, while confusing, don't stop just with tying your brain in knots, they are also only 2 pages long each, making each story a small snip of what a true chapter should be. Chapters in books don't necessarily have to be very long, but in The House on Mango Street, with the confusing style of writing makes short chapters only contribute to the brain frying story that The House on Mango Street already is. Honestly, maybe it is a good thing that the chapters are shorter, as then you don't have to go through as much suffering when you read them. Really, this story isn't even a story, it mostly appears to just be a recollection of thoughts not fully put together in any logical sense of any kind. The House on Mango Street has no character development, and has literally no plot of any kind. Overall, this book doesn't deserve any kind of literary merit, and honestly you would gain more satisfaction from using this book as fire fuel than actually reading it.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Dumpster fire of a book.
I was forced to read this book during class and I hate it. I would rather rip out my eyes so I cant read it anymore. I don't know why you would want read this dumpster fire of a book. the book has no character development and zero plot, like not even a little. I cant ever tell who is talking (becuase there is no dialogue quotes at all), or if its just more of Esperanza's dumb thoughts. I have no recollection of any of the characters besides Esperanza. each chapter is too short to tell any small story so you cant even tell what is going on before it ends. This book belongs in a paper shredder.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com