veelaughtland 's review for:

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

2.0

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I honestly didn't really enjoy this book, and found it a bit of a struggle to get through. This book is touted as a memoir but is instead a strange amalgamation of short story inspired by Chinese myth, and recounting of experiences Kingston's mother and aunt had, rather than herself. In fact, there's only one section in this book told from Kingston's point of view, and it didn't exactly paint her in the best light. That's not to say that the content here isn't interesting - the juxtaposition of Chinese societal norms in comparison with a more American style of living is fascinating and jarring. I just didn't like the way the material was presented and it didn't do much for me. And sure, I'm into a reimaging of Kingston playing the role of Fa Mu Lan, but not in a book that I expect to be memoir. Maybe I would have liked this more if it was presented as entirely fictional.