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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
I’ve had this book on my “to read” list for years on a recommendation from a friend and I’m so glad I finally read it. It took me a bit to get into it (mostly because the book I read prior was very fast paced and this one is a bit slowed down), but Kingston’s storytelling is beautiful. It felt like she was Minha’s spider woman, weaving in the stories with her own memories and fears while blurring the lines on reality and fable. Not your traditional memoir at all, but it’s the choices Kingston makes outside of the traditional genre that make it so powerful
there were parts of this book I really enjoyed and parts that felt so slow. I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I thought I would, and that disappointment made me feel worse than if I had no expectations.
I loved reading the tales and storytelling sections, especially when Hong Kingston writes in the first person perspective of someone who is not her. it feels like nostalgia, fantasy, and magical realism within a creative nonfiction piece.
some sections felt like she was explaining Chineseness to a largely non-Chinese audience, and perhaps that’s because she is, but that feeling turned me off a bit.
favorite chapters were white tigers and at the western palace
I loved reading the tales and storytelling sections, especially when Hong Kingston writes in the first person perspective of someone who is not her. it feels like nostalgia, fantasy, and magical realism within a creative nonfiction piece.
some sections felt like she was explaining Chineseness to a largely non-Chinese audience, and perhaps that’s because she is, but that feeling turned me off a bit.
favorite chapters were white tigers and at the western palace
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I originally bought and started reading this book for a class I’m taking but I think it’s so incredibly interesting and heartbreaking how an experience entirely different from mine, from a whole different time and place can resonate with me just from the premise of mother daughter relationships and growing up with a migrational background. The way every story centers a woman in her family, until finally, she reaches her own story. finishing the book with a story her mother started and she completed. I am in awe and can only recommend this book.
I read the first two stories. I like how Kingston weaves fantastic versions of traditional stories with the reality of her girlhood. A compelling approach to memoir.
reflective
slow-paced
YOu need to be focused to read it, but it's worth the payoff.