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Author: Maxine Hong Kingston
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$13.95~~
Buy Used: $1.88
You Save: $12.07 (87%)

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

170 reviews
Sales Rank: 1589

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.6

ISBN: 0679721886
Dewey Decimal Number: 979.4053092
EAN: 9780679721888

Publication Date: April 23, 1989
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, spine creases, wear on binding and pages.

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 170

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Interesting motive, fails to deliver January 12, 2007
6 out of 14 found this review helpful

While the perspective and ideas of this novel are ones rarely seen in modern day literature, Maxine Hong Kingston fails to captivate a reader in a way that one would expect from a novel dealing with the difficulties of not only being a minority in the U.S., but for simply being female.

The story starts off with the tale of Kingston's deceased aunt, who brought shame to the family and was unmentionable due to the fact that she bore an illegitimate child. As she gets into the tale and finds a parallel between herself and her aunt, both not wanting to conform to societal expectations, the story quickly changes to a story of a legendary girl trained by two old people to battle evil. The narration is filled with melodramatic elements and disorganized and often random occurences that make no sense at all, thereby losing the reader's interest early on in the book. The story then changes a few more times to different events in her family occuring in different eras, making it hard to grasp the relationship between themand her purpose for doing so. As you can see, the organization in this novel seems to be its biggest flaw. Instead of focusing on one tale and going in depth about it, the fact that Kingston changes stories so frequently and often before they are fully developed is annoying and seems to be pointless. While the stories she includes share a common theme of decpicting independent and strong women, her melodramatic and ineffective ways of narrating not only loses the reader's interest but in the process, I think even Kingston got confused about what she was trying to say!

4 out of 5 stars

Interesting Perspective Rarely Seen January 12, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

Kingston combines the use of allegory, fantasy, and real life elements of her childhood to explore the social status of Chinese American women from the 1940s to the present in The Woman Warrior. While at first all of her stories may seem random, they all connect to Kingston's point of view as to how not just being a minority but also being a female made life difficult for her in both cultures. Her interwoven stories were so fascinating, as she brilliantly compares what she truly wants and what society is willing to allow her to do. It is crucial that the reader pay close attention to when her stories shift. My one problem with her plot organization is that she focuses on one story, and then suddenly shifts to another story. I couldn't understand until I was at the middle of the plot to comprehend each story's purpose in the bigger picture. But once the reader succeeds in getting over that one flaw, the rest is amazing. Kingston develops a unique style all on her own as she somehow connects the fantastical parts of her dreams to what she is forced to experience in everyday reality. In the backdrop of her personal experience, Kingston describes America's problems with racism and sexism different women in her lives are hurt by this. Kingston needed to maintain her flow; but the intriguing connections involving fantasy and reality work effectively to enhance her purpose.

1 out of 5 stars

who's talking now January 11, 2007
6 out of 9 found this review helpful

This book tries to do too much! and doesn't succeed.

Even though this book had a good story over all, the confusing narration completely distracts from the intended message.

The entire story is in first person, no matter who is talking. This gets very confusing when the story suddenly shifts to another woman's story and you still think you are reading about the previous person. Suddenly you are reading and you think that the same character has somehow appeared on the other side of the world having no idea how she got there.

You will end up spending the whole book just trying to figure out who is speaking that you will miss most of what the book tries to say.

This is supposed to show the reality of what it is like to be a chinese woman but this is too hard to see when everything else is in the way.

This book does do some things well like its clever incorporation of irony in the narrator's retelling of a story that she has been forbidden to tell. It also incorporates superstitious elements such as her mother's battle with ghosts while at college and the enticing tale of the woman warrior. There is more irony seen here when most women in the story are seen as being weak, yet the woman warrior is strong and represents all the women with its title.

3 out of 5 stars

Distracting January 10, 2007
3 out of 8 found this review helpful

Kingston strives to weave a profound, complex story about being a Chinese-American in The Woman Warrior, but usually only succeeds in coming up with an unorganized, choppy book that doesn't consistently flow or excite. She explores the racism towards Chinese-America women with her own family's history by juxtaposing the comfortable with the unknown, the fantastic with the mundane. Some chapters are successful in portraying the characters as isolated but strong women, but others only succeed in making the reader feel confused and unconnected to the story.
The novel begins by detailing the story of Kingston's aunt, who was shamed after having an illegitimate child; the first chapter encompasses most of the themes and styles of the rest of the novel, and, like the rest of the book, it is excessively ambiguous. Kingston constantly switches between past tense and present tense truth and imagination. In a single chapter, Kingston describes both her own life and her aunt's life as she pictures it from the stories her mother tells. While these elements are used as a stylistic device for an effect of uncertainty and ambiguity, they are too overwhelming, especially in the first chapter of the story. The reader does not know who Kingston, the narrator, is yet, but the author instantly jumps into narrating two overlapping stories. This chapter does, however, have redeeming qualities. It immediately reflects Kingston's gift for vivid imagery and description, so that, even if the reader may not understand the plot, he or she may still appreciate the colorful and detailed pictures Kingston draws in her narration.
The second chapter, least connected with Kingston's own life, is the most epic and exciting, especially because of Kingston's excellent descriptions. Again, Kingston does not make clear the point of view; it is difficult to realize immediately that Kingston is actually describing the tale of Fa Mu Lan, but in a first-person perspective. This does, however, make the chapter more emotional for the reader. As for the storyline itself, it is, I think, the best one in the book. The reader does not feel obligated to relate to Kingston's struggles with racism and acceptance, because the story does not relate to Kingston. The story is a fantasy, filled with magical elements as well as intense emotions such as love, determination, and spirit. The reader feels liberated as Fa Mu Lan triumphs over boorish warriors despite her original status as a girl. Later, however, Kingston attempts to connect Fa Mu Lan's fantastic tale to her own struggles as a Chinese-American. She first describes her inability to assert herself, and then claims that her true power is in her writing. This brief conclusion feels irrelevant and stark compared to the brilliant story of Fa Mu Lan. Though Kingston tries to tie the story back to her own life, she ends up making her life seem bleak and unimportant in contrast with Fa Mu Lan's life.
Kingston draws the following story from an outside source, her mother. This chapter is another intriguing and riveting part of Kingston's novel, coincidentally, it also involves supernatural elements and follows the tale of a woman who triumphs over typical gender roles. Kingston creates a fascinating tale by using the perfect blend of dialogue and unusual descriptions. The plot of this chapter, which involves Kingston's mother's transition from a revered doctor in China to a laboring wife in America, again contains two contrasting themes. And again, the narration that involves fantasy, growth, and triumph is exciting and absorbing, while the narration of struggles of American life are dull. Kingston attempts to draw the reader into all parts of her story, but the parts that relate to the struggles of female Chinese-Americans are only dull, not profound, because they are too unfamiliar to impact the reader, and too unremarkable to entice the reader.
The final chapters of The Woman Warrior, which revert back to the ambiguous, unorganized format of sections of previous chapters, are not very satisfying. Kingston begins to describe yet another disconnected aspect of struggling as a Chinese in America, this time narrating her aunt's story from a third-person perspective. While Kingston is able to depict the conflict caused when a traditional Chinese clashes with modernized Americans, it is difficult to sympathize with her aunt. Kingston moves too quickly from one story to another, and, apart from the themes, the stories are almost completely disconnected. The last chapter is the most disorientated as Kingston quickly shifts back to narrating her own childhood. Even the themes in this chapter seem disconnected from themes from the previous chapters. Kingston portrays herself as a cruel and violent girl. This is an awful way to end the book, as the reader feels only contempt and confusion towards Kingston.
Your reaction towards the book will depend on your personal history. You are probably more likely to enjoy the book if you have experienced hardships arising from cultural differences and isolation. Though Kingston displays a gift for language- especially description and epic storytelling, her attempts to incite the reader's empathy do not succeed.

2 out of 5 stars

A Driveling Story of Self Pity August 30, 2006
3 out of 14 found this review helpful

Despite my profound love of literature, I could not bring myself to enjoy "The Woman Warrior". The monotonous writing style as well as the bland anecdotes did nothing but block me off from being immersed from the story. I felt myself yawning everytime I had to start a new chapter, and would have been estatic when I finished the book had I contained the energy to feel in such a way. I closed the book feeling drained, bored, tired, and unfulfilled. And if that was what I was aiming for while I read, I wouldn't enjoy the skill at all.

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