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| 25th Anniversary Edition |
Author : Sandra Cisneros
Pages : 110
Publisher : Vintage Books
First Published on 1984
Genre : Classics
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Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero.
Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous–it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.
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Where have I been?
That thought lingering on my mind during reading The House on Mango Street. How can I just know about this book for so long?
The House on Mango Street is a novella or maybe collections of fragments of stories about a young girl's life in Mango Street, a Latino section in Chicago.
The protagonist is Esperanza, a young girl who lives in a shabby house on Mango Street, together with her parents, brothers, and sisters. After moving around several times in a rented house, they finally own a house.
But the house they have and what they imagine before is totally different. No white fence and wide yard, real stairs, and basement.
Esperanza explains her neighborhood very well. Her first friend, and the replacement friends, Old lady who owns several buildings and her only daughter, her beautiful friend Sheila, and many mores.
In her innocent and quirky way, Ezperanza mentioned a subtle hint of her pivotal moment. Esperanza loves to read books, and she knew she ought to out from Mango Street.
Living in a household with not enough income to the house, together with several brothers and sisters, give her freedom to roaming the street, playing with her friends, exploring and analyzing her neighbor. Same with her friends, alas, most of the kids in her neighborhood living a frugal childhood. A 'privilege' that may be rich kind cannot get-roaming the street with friends.
She saw enough in her neighborhood. She's ashamed but she knows that she will be back eventually to Mango Street, but not living in it.
Thru her eyes, she understands that woman in her neighborhood needs to be married or depend on someone outside the neighborhood, to get out. But she determined to find her own power.
Well, it is not a heavy read. Esperanza is a funny and smart girl, readers of any age can read the book. Despite so many social problems that subtly mentioned, it made the book is always relevant in any period.
Then, my most favorite part is the diction, it is lyrical, not always poetic, but with the deep meaning without making the reader confused.
There are some examples:
You can never have too much sky. You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky, and sky can keep you safe when you are sad. Here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful. Still, we take what we can get and make the best of it. -p 33
People who live on hills sleep so close to the stars they forget those of us who live too much on earth. They don't look down at all except to be content to live on hills. -p 86
So much empowerment, so many memories. Well, if you have a daughter, or yourself, woman or girl, in my opinion, it is a must-read.
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