The House on Mango Street

by Sandra Cisneros

Through a series of brief vignettes, Cisneros tells the story of a young Latino girl growing up in a poor city neighborhood. She mentions her siblings, how she hates her shabby little house, all the various characters in the neighborhood- those she\’s afraid of, admires, thinks are crazy, whatever. How women are oppressed, men often abusive, love and security something everyone searches for in their own way. She talks about how she doesn\’t want to belong there, wants to leave and find something more. The short book is like a collective snapshot of her neighborhood and some thoughts, all slapped together like a collage. One you wouldn\’t get much from unless you already knew the stories behind the pictures. Because, even though so many readers have loved this book (and apparently it\’s taught in schools across the country!)

While I did sometimes like the imagery Cisneros used (other times it just made no sense) it all ran through my head like water through a sieve. Most of the characters in the book are mentioned once and hardly again, so it\’s difficult to get a sense of any of them as people. Even when some of them showed up again, I hardly recognized them. Each little chapter is so short- barely more than a single page- I never felt like I got much meat out of them. The story doesn\’t really progress, it\’s just a collection of moments- which works okay sometimes, but didn\’t here for me. I got to the end and wondered what I\’d just read. Nothing stuck. I didn\’t even get a sense of place at all. Turned back through the pages and not once did I see it mentioned that the neighborhood was in Chicago, like the back cover says. Where does it say that?

I feel like a dissenter here, but I just don\’t get what\’s so great about this book. Maybe I read it too fast. Maybe it\’s better in the original Spanish- although my copy doesn\’t mention a translator, so I wonder if the author wrote this version into English herself? Anyhow, my disappointment with The House on Mango Street certainly doesn\’t encourage me to try anything else by this author.

Rating: 2/5 …….. 110 pages, 1984

more opinions at:
The Zen Leaf
Aelia Reads
Kyusi Reader 

4 Responses

  1. Oh I am so glad to hear someone agree on this one! I always feel so bad when this book comes up. Between the vagueness of the book and the fantastic amount of arrogance from the author's voice, I just bristled the whole time I read it.I believe this was originally written in English. I had thought it was in Spanish first when I read it, but later was told it was original English by a commenter. Cisneros is either from San Antonio or lives here or lived here for a long time, something like that, and so there's a lot of stuff about her here. Like I believe her house is now considered a monument of some sort? Plus she wrote a short story about Woman Hollering Creek which is an actual creek just east of SA that I've passed over many times. I always think I SHOULD like her, but she just rubs me wrong.Anyway, thanks for the review.

  2. School curriculums went mad in a big way for Cisneros and I think it's because she filled some neccessary spaces — she's female and she's Hispanic. I don't really care for The House on Mango Street but I'm fond of Woman Hollering Creek.

  3. This was part of my 7th grade English curriculum. I hated every moment of it.The main problem with The House on Mango Street is that it's not really anything. Vignette collections still need a lasting cohesiveness which I definitely did not get. Then the question: is this a kids book or an adult book? Does the concept make up for the execution? Are a few startling, wonderful images enough to hold up the whole book?Like I said, I hated this book. I understand your disappointment (and then some…), understand your complaints (I felt absolutely no connection to any character at any point in the book) and understand also why you feel like a dissenter. I think a lot of times books end up in the curriculum for the wrong reasons. That's not what makes them good books.

  4. Amanda- I didn't really get a sense of arrogance, but the vagueness was definitely a problem for me. I just happened to think the book was first published in spanish, because I saw that on another review. I wonder which it really was?Bybee- I had no idea how many people had to read this in school until I started reading other reviews and commentaries. Maybe I'll trying Woman Hollering Creek- it's been mentioned to me a few times- but not anytime soon!Biblibio- Well, I'm glad to know all my points for not liking this book make sense to some! Also glad I didn't have to read it in school. I felt like the book was aimed at young adults, but mostly just because of its brevity. It does have a lot of serious subjects, but you kind of have to read between the lines to get them at all.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

DISCLAIMER:

All books reviewed on this site are owned by me, or borrowed from the public library. Exceptions are a very occasional review copy sent to me by a publisher or author, as noted. Receiving a book does not influence my opinion or evaluation of it

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL:

Subscribe to my blog:

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

VIEW MY PERSONAL COLLECTION:

TRADE BOOKS WITH ME ON:

ARCHIVES: 

2024
January 2024 (21)February 2024 (22)March 2024 (39)
2023
January 2023 (27)February 2023 (23)March 2023 (25)April 2023 (11)May 2023 (17)June 2023 (11)July 2023 (23)August 2023 (23)September 2023 (14)October 2023 (14)November 2023 (26)December 2023 (14)
2022
January 2022 (12)February 2022 (7)March 2022 (13)April 2022 (16)May 2022 (13)June 2022 (21)July 2022 (15)August 2022 (27)September 2022 (10)October 2022 (17)November 2022 (16)December 2022 (23)
2021
January 2021 (14)February 2021 (13)March 2021 (14)April 2021 (7)May 2021 (10)June 2021 (5)July 2021 (10)August 2021 (27)September 2021 (16)October 2021 (11)November 2021 (14)December 2021 (12)
2020
January 2020 (14)February 2020 (6)March 2020 (10)April 2020 (1)May 2020 (10)June 2020 (15)July 2020 (13)August 2020 (26)September 2020 (10)October 2020 (9)November 2020 (16)December 2020 (22)
2019
January 2019 (12)February 2019 (9)March 2019 (5)April 2019 (10)May 2019 (9)June 2019 (6)July 2019 (18)August 2019 (13)September 2019 (13)October 2019 (7)November 2019 (5)December 2019 (18)
2018
January 2018 (17)February 2018 (18)March 2018 (9)April 2018 (9)May 2018 (6)June 2018 (21)July 2018 (12)August 2018 (7)September 2018 (13)October 2018 (15)November 2018 (10)December 2018 (13)
2017
January 2017 (19)February 2017 (12)March 2017 (7)April 2017 (4)May 2017 (5)June 2017 (8)July 2017 (13)August 2017 (17)September 2017 (12)October 2017 (15)November 2017 (14)December 2017 (11)
2016
January 2016 (5)February 2016 (14)March 2016 (5)April 2016 (6)May 2016 (14)June 2016 (12)July 2016 (11)August 2016 (11)September 2016 (11)October 2016 (9)November 2016 (1)December 2016 (3)
2015
January 2015 (9)February 2015 (9)March 2015 (11)April 2015 (10)May 2015 (10)June 2015 (2)July 2015 (12)August 2015 (13)September 2015 (16)October 2015 (13)November 2015 (10)December 2015 (14)
2014
January 2014 (14)February 2014 (11)March 2014 (5)April 2014 (15)May 2014 (12)June 2014 (17)July 2014 (22)August 2014 (19)September 2014 (10)October 2014 (19)November 2014 (14)December 2014 (14)
2013
January 2013 (25)February 2013 (28)March 2013 (18)April 2013 (21)May 2013 (12)June 2013 (7)July 2013 (13)August 2013 (25)September 2013 (24)October 2013 (17)November 2013 (18)December 2013 (20)
2012
January 2012 (21)February 2012 (19)March 2012 (9)April 2012 (23)May 2012 (31)June 2012 (21)July 2012 (19)August 2012 (16)September 2012 (4)October 2012 (2)November 2012 (7)December 2012 (19)
2011
January 2011 (26)February 2011 (22)March 2011 (18)April 2011 (11)May 2011 (6)June 2011 (7)July 2011 (10)August 2011 (9)September 2011 (14)October 2011 (13)November 2011 (15)December 2011 (22)
2010
January 2010 (27)February 2010 (19)March 2010 (20)April 2010 (24)May 2010 (22)June 2010 (24)July 2010 (31)August 2010 (17)September 2010 (18)October 2010 (11)November 2010 (13)December 2010 (19)
2009
January 2009 (23)February 2009 (26)March 2009 (32)April 2009 (22)May 2009 (18)June 2009 (26)July 2009 (34)August 2009 (31)September 2009 (30)October 2009 (23)November 2009 (26)December 2009 (18)
2008
January 2008 (35)February 2008 (26)March 2008 (33)April 2008 (15)May 2008 (29)June 2008 (29)July 2008 (29)August 2008 (34)September 2008 (29)October 2008 (27)November 2008 (27)December 2008 (24)
2007
August 2007 (12)September 2007 (28)October 2007 (27)November 2007 (28)December 2007 (14)
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
1979
1978
1977
1976
1975
1974
1973
1972
1971
1970
1969
1968
1967
1966
1965
1964
1963
1962
1961
1960
1959
1958
1957
1956
1955
1954
1953
1952
1951
1950