Allow me to help.

The reason you don't like this book is because it is not very good. The reason it is not very good is because Cisneros does not know what a good book is. She knows only what good writing is; and good writing alone is boring, just as you thought.

So why doesn't your English teacher know this? Because English majors, for the most part, give up their appreciation for story and wonder and character no later than their sophomore year of undergraduate. In the place of story, they've been taught to study theme; in the place of wonder, they've been taught to worship relevance; and in the place of characters, they've been taught to honor writers.

And that is why you had to read this horrible little book.

Cisneros writes to impress other writers whom she admires, or the "Olympians," as she calls them in interviews. She is not interested in the opinion of the general reader because, as she states, readers "don't know bad writing from good."

Yes, that was an insult.

Of course, she might be right. You and I may not know bad writing from good. But then again, who cares? We do know good books from bad, and in which category to put Mango Street.

Like so many of the professionals she admires, Cisneros writes not to entertain, uplift, challenge, or enlighten. It isn't the story or characters she intends us to remember, but she herself, the writer, the little girl who finally got back at everyone she grew up with by tattling on them in print. Even better, she's been adopted by the family of self-admiring elites she so envied, the ones who would never have adopted her parents or siblings or schoolmates because they wouldn't be special enough.

Yes, Cisneros is finally special. And no doubt she takes great satisfaction in writing so well that high school kids don't like it.

The literary sin you've discovered is self-indulgence. This is what happens when a writer, disinterested in the world, chooses to explore herself in front of an audience. When we say yuck, she says we're prude. When we say we don't get it, she says we're dumb.

PS - To read more bad poetry disguised as experimental prose, look in your English teacher's bottom left drawer, behind the box of Wheat Thins.


A Tapestry of Experiences   December 10, 1999
 34 out of 36 found this review helpful

I teach English to speakers of other languages at the high school level. For the past five years I have been reading _The House on Mango Street_ with some of my classes. Not only is it the highlight of the year for me, but for my students as well.

Cisneros's magnificently lyrical prose forces us to see the world through the perspective of an adolescent Latina. Don't let the simple sentences and short chapters fool you. Beneath the surface lies a rich network of themes: poverty, child abuse, rape, spousal abuse, the importance of education, hypocrisy, and a host of others.

If you're looking for a linear story with a clearly defined plot, look elsewhere. Cisneros paints in broad strokes, and her canvas is multi-colored. Seen from up close, each chapter is a self-contained beauty. Seen from a distance, the chapters come together to reveal a masterpiece of Latino literature; it is by turns a feminist novel, a bildungsroman, and a chronicle of the will's triumph. The book has affected me profoundly, and with each new reading I find more to admire about it.


Two Thumbs Up   May 30, 2000
 30 out of 37 found this review helpful

The book that I recently read and recommend, The House on Mango Street, is written by Sandra Cisneros. This book contains 44 short stories called vignettes. These vignettes are narrated by a little girl by the name of Esperanza Cordero, who just moved with her family to Mango Street (in the barrio). She hates this house on Mango Street because it is not a "real" house, like the one she sees on TV. Esperanza is forced to realize that she does not belong to the race or class of people who live in such houses. Sandra Cisneros, recipient of two NEA Fellowships for writing and a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, through Esperanza tells about the ghosts (of poverty, sexism and racism) inside that haunt her. This book takes an honest look at these issues as faced by Mexican-American women. It also talks about the importance of education among women in order to succeed in life and have an equal say in a society dominated by men. House on Mango Street is full of characters that lack power - socially, politically, economically and sexually. This book is not a story of despair, but of hope, which is what Esperanza means in English. In order to see and understand the affects of being the only daughter out of seven kids in a Mexican-American culture and having your family move around a great deal and not be able to keep your friends, one must read this book. Not only is the language of this book simple, but the short stories are so short that they allow a person to read this book in many sittings. This makes the book much more easier to read, understand and enjoy among young readers. One of the main human concerns that is developed by Sandra Cisneros is the sense of belonging somewhere. Esperanza never feels like she belongs anywhere. This is due to the fact that her family is always moving from one place to another. She never gets a chance to interact with the friends that she makes as they move on to another place. In order for the Corderos to achieve their dreams, they must struggle against both poverty and racism. Another reason why she does not have a feeling for belonging somewhere is the fact that the house on Mango Street is in such a bad condition that she is afraid to admit that she lives there. She is afraid to call it her own house because this is not the kind of house that she hoped to live in. She compares her house with the ones that she sees on TV. This attitude of embarrassment tends to pull her back from progressing in life, especially when she was embarrassed by a nun. It was the nun, not someone from the barrio, who teaches Esperanza to be ashamed of her house. This makes Esperanza vow that someday she will have a beautiful house and offer help and shelter in her attic to passing bums because she knows how it is to be without a house. A real house that would give her privacy, space of her own where she could forge her identity, a place that she could be proud of and it would be a physical evidence that she belonged somewhere. This book is highly recommended by me for young readers because it teaches young readers about poverty and its disadvantages. From this lesson they will realize the importance and value of education and equality for all. Another thing that they will learn from this book is how the protagonist discovers that power and peace come from recognizing one's place in and one's duty to the community. The award-winning author makes it a great book to read also.


A poetic story of growing up Latino   January 19, 2004
 29 out of 32 found this review helpful

"The House on Mango Street," by Sandra Cisneros, is told in the first person by Esperanza, a daughter in an urban Latino family. The "About the Author" section at the end of the book notes that Cisneros was born in Chicago, the daughter of a Mexican father and a Mexican-American mother. Cisneros tells Esperanza's story in a series of 44 short vignettes.

Cisneros' writing is really beautiful--full of wonderfully vivid imagery. Many of the short chapters are less than a full page in length and read like prose poems. Along the way we learn of Esperanza's family, neighbors, school, rites of passage, and dreams of the future. Cisneros writes with a moving appreciation of beauty, hope, and tragedy; "Mango Street" is a richly realized world.