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thoughts on this please?

In english we were asighned to write a book review on The House on Mango Street but I can't come up with a good ending and I don't know if it is correct proof reading wise. Help would be greatly appreaciated! Also tell me what you think of the rest. I don't actually hate the book that much I just dont really like the teacher and she finds "great value" in it. Do you remember those books you got stuck reading for book reports and all you wanted was to read that other book? To some, Sandra Cisneros is one of the best writers of the modern age. They also believe The House on Mango Street is a masterpiece and a perfect example of Cisneros's talent. Because I have not read any of Cisneros other works, I can not make a fair judgment on her overall talent. If you're looking for an incoherent book, this one is a good choice. Each vignette of The House on Mango Street is either a 1-2 page random story (and I use the term random lightly) of a different aspect of Esperanza's life in her home, on the street, with relatives, at school, and in her larger neighborhood, or a 1/2 page description of something equally trivial and unimportant. Cisneros does, however, capture the poor syntax and shallow nature of writing one might expect from a young girl. The point is, this book lacks any depth, scholarship, or conceivable reason of reading it. The House on Mango Street was disappointing. With so many short vignettes it was hard to keep track of what happened in each and every one. I didn’t feel like I knew the characters that were in the book throughout the whole time I was reading. For the majority of the time Sandra Cisneros would introduce some characters in a chapter that would soon be forgotten for the rest of the book. Then more characters keep coming and coming. At points I also got confused because there was such a huge build up of people that made appearances throughout the book, I forgot who was who and who did what! I wanted to know more about some chapters, and I couldn't because when I turned the page, it was about something completely different. The House on Mango Street jumped around WAY to much! Most of the vignettes almost seem like they were put in to make the book longer so it could be classified as a book. There was just nothing to connect each chapter together for me. One of my favorite subject to point out lies with the book's portrayal of men. To me, it seemed as if almost every single male character in the book either abuses the women or rapes them. Even the main character is raped at a carnival! Yes, I understand that The House on Mango Street is supposed to represent real life, but in reality, not every single man in the world is like that. Girls going to school black and blue from their abusive fathers, bums in the streets asking people to kiss them; are just a few examples of the many characterizations of men in these vignettes. Not even elderly men are safe from Cisneros's wrath! In one vignette, an elderly man forces Esperanza to kiss him on the mouth. And, there's a man across the street that has prostitutes come to his house. This skewed logic and obvious enmity toward men makes Sandra Cisneros's book hard for me to enjoy. Maybe women would like it better; but for me, I would have liked to read a fairer representation of the sexes. On Amazon.com, The House on Mango Street had mixed reviews. The average rating is 3 ½ stars with 598 customer reviews. Out of those reviews, 156 gave it 5 stars, 190 gave it a 4 star rating, 96 gave it a 3 star rating, 60 gave it 2 stars, and lastly, 96 gave it a 1 star rating. I believe this book can be described as a photo album. Each vignette is a different snap shot from Esperanza's life. You can only get so much from a photo album but never the full experience. When I want to read a book, I want it to have a plot, conflict, hook, and climax.

Public Comments

1. I had a similar experience, what you need to do is get this behind you for the grade so placate her. Find common themes such as her view of men an exploit them. Exploit the notion that this is a chapter out of her life and what a hard life it must have been. What was her background, poor, oppressed, observant? Remember, she's writing through the eyes of a child, hence all the characters, who parade through the pages, that's the point. As far as the ending, what did this child remember, now think big picture - how she was hurt, the pain she saw, how cruel the world around her could be? Got it?