The House on Mango Street

 

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Fiction - Classics

1984

Finished on January 10, 2024

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Here is Sandra Cisneros' greatly admired and best-selling novel of a young girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Acclaimed by critics, beloved by children and their parents and grandparents, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, "The House on Mango Street" has entered the canon of coming-of-age classics even as it depicts a new American landscape.

Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, "The House on Mango Street" tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong - not to her run-down neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become. "The San Francisco Chronicle" has called "The House on Mango Street" "marvelous... spare yet luminous. The subtle power of Cisneros' storytelling is evident. She communicates all the rapture and rage of growing up in a modern world." It is an extraordinary achievement that will live on for years to come.

Part poetry, part novella, Sandra Cisneros' classic coming-of-age story is easily read in one sitting. I chose to read a few vignettes every night, allowing the beautiful prose to sink in, appreciating the visual imagery presented by Cisneros. I wish I had read this while in school, as I think there is much more below the surface. Maybe it's one to discuss with a book group. Lyrical. Nuanced. Spare. Eloquent. Recommend.

Earl works nights. His blinds are always closed during the day. Sometimes he comes out and tells us to keep quiet. The little wooden door that has wedged shut the dark for so long opens with a sigh and lets out a breath of mold and dampness, like books that have been left out in the rain. This is the only time we see Earl except for when he comes and goes to work. He has two little black dogs that go everywhere with him. They don't walk like ordinary dogs, but leap and somersault like an apostrophe and comma.