Maxine Hong Kingston the author of The Woman Warrior is a woman of many stories. Kingston talks of her childhood accounts growing up as a Chinese American. She speaks about her understanding of Chinese culture and American culture. Her family's way of life and her mothers story myths. The Woman Warrior is the author herself; she is a warrior because of what she learns throughout the book. The stories told by the author are meant to display the author's courage and bravery. As a Chinese American she persevered to overcome what she had been told she would become. She became what she wanted to become, a female member of her family who was independent and able to be self-sufficient. She transformed from her mothers Chinese traditions to her own standards of living.
The memoir starts out with great detail and flow, the detail remains eminent throughout the book but the flow does not. The first chapter of the book is the easiest to follow, the following chapters are much harder to understand what Maxine is trying to tell the reader. "Her fingers and palms became damp, shrinking at the ghost's thick short hair like an animals coat, which slides against warm solidity as human flesh slides against muscles and bones."(115) The book is full of captivating sentences, which seems to be a problem because there is almost too many of them at times. The author seems to go into such a magnitude of detail it makes the memoir hard to follow. Throughout the stories the author learns many valuable lessons, which have had impact on her life. Kingston wants the readers to understand how she feels and thinks, yet it seems she can't describe her feelings in a simple manner. Although this is not a bad thing, for an average reader it is hard to put the descriptive mood into meaning. An avid reader should be able to translate the book easier.
This piece of writing is great for those looking for a story that they may be able to relate to, only if the reader has the patience to piece some of the puzzle together. Readers looking for an easy reading book would not want to look here. The structure of the book is set for an advanced level of understanding. If someone is looking for a personal account of a Chinese American younger childhood, this book is the one.

I must say that I am absolutely appalled by some of the reviews I have read on this page. Some of these reviews are obviously from the voices of ignorance. Maxine Hong Kingston's book is excellent. I read of my own free will as a college student majoring in Asian Studies. As a White reader I was not given a negative image of Chinese people or their culture by this book. I have the profoundest respect for Chinese people and their culture and that is why I want to live in China and to study Chinese culture as my life's work. Kingston utilizes a common literary device of many western writers. She takes a well known legend and adapts it and retells it in a new and creative way, a way that has not been explored or told before. Her point is not to tell the story of Fa Mulan verbatim. She is adapting the story to her own life, which I must say is probably much more interesting than the life of the reviewer from Oak Park, Michigan. If she was a white male writer her use of this literary device would probably be hailed as inovative and daring but her position as a female minority writer using this technique gets her criticized. I personally recommend this book to any one interested in reading the experience of ONE Chinese American woman. It is not the definitve story of the experience of Chinese American women, nor does it try to be, but it is a very vivid, disturbing, and well written account of one woman's life.

This novel is an amazing and intriguing interpretation of a first generation chinese woman growing up in America. It tells of the writer's struggle to integrate herself into american society, while trying to understand and save her heritage at the same time. The point of the novel is not to accurately display chinese culture, or write the "right" english interpretation of Fa Mu Lan, but to relate how the chinese customs and legends she grew up with influenced her own life. Kingston uses a new writing style that is refreshingly different from most required high school literature, and as a high school student myself, I find it hard to believe that there are any negative reviews on this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is able to appreciate the unique writing style and would like to learn more about the essence of America.

"The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams was very well written. Williams did an excellent job of portraying life-like characters. They were so well written, that they seemed real, like us at certain points in our lives. At one time, we were all like the mother, Amanda, who seems to live in the past, and be kind of overbearing at times, for example when Laura only went to three days of her business class that she was sort of forced into going to. Laura, the shy character, also is very life like in the fact that we all were a bit like her too. Everyone, at one point in their life was really shy and just wanted to stay locked up in their room. Tom, the son, is the narrator in the story. He constantly tries to escape reality by going outside and to the movies. He's the sort of person who just needs to constantly escape from life. The main theme of "The Glass Menagerie" is just that. Trying to escape from the sometimes-disappointing reality called life. The plot was simple, yet very effective. A reason for the simplicity I think is that this book is meant for us to realize that even though things may have been better in the past, not to live in it, but rather to live in the present, because we may be missing something even better than what we had that is right in front of us, waiting for us to notice it, but we're so enthralled in the what has happened in the past we don't see it. Basically what "The Glass Menagerie" is trying to tell us is that we need to live in the future and if we don't, then we will miss out on all the un-lived life that lies right in front of us, waiting for us to discover it.

Recently, I was assigned to read "The Glass Menagerie" for my high school English course, and I absolutely loved it. While the play may not have the most suspenseful plot, the thing about "The Glass Menagerie" that most people don't realize is that it wasn't written to be an adventurous drama; it was written to say something important about life, namely that many people miss out on in by living through illusion and not reality. The first thing that the reader notices about the play is that the characters are so incredibly real. Most authors are usually reluctant to showcase a character's faults, but Tennessee Williams accentuates them so much that the reader might actually start mistaking them for people that he or she has met! The main fault of all of the characters in this play is that they live in illusory worlds that they cannot escape from. Amanda, the mother, is stuck in the past and has no real grasp of the family's present situation. Laura, the daughter, is afraid of the outside world and prefers to live in the company of her glass collection and record player. Tom, the narrator who is also a character, escapes reality by constantly going to the movies to satisfy his sense of adventure. None of the characters, however, realize their problems, and as a result, they never achieve satisfaction with life or with one another. Through the words and actions of these characters, though, Williams is making a profound statement. He parades the dangers of illusion and miscommunication right before our eyes and encourages us to sit up and take notice. The lesson of the play is to open your eyes wide and become aware of the situation that you are currently in without worrying about the past or the future. The play serves as an encouragement to live our lives fully and purposefully, avoiding the mistakes that are made in the play. By using a remarkable, well-crafted cast of characters, Williams conveys his message well. It is doubtful that I will ever forget the theme of this play or the memorable characters that so boldly executed the powerful story within "The Glass Menagerie."

I enjoyed the book, The Glass Menagerie. It wasn't too long and it was very interesting to read. This was my favorite out of all the summer reading books i had to read. One reason is that it is written as a play. The play focuses on three main characters: Amanda, the mother, her daughter Laura, and her son Tom. I also liked it because it is one of those books you can't put down. I found myself wondering what was going to happen next. I perceived the atmosphere of this play to be a sad one. It's not like a sudden tragedy had occurred, but just their day-to-day life seemed hopeless. I felt sympathy for the characters. I wanted to give them help and support at times! Amanda and Tom always fought with one another. Tom was sick and tired of the way he had been living. He wanted real adventure instead of just watching it on the movies. Laura, on the other hand, was content to sit at home with her glass menagerie. Their mother, Amanda, had become so obsessed with finding a gentleman caller for Laura that everything else almost didn't matter anymore. Amanda always reminisced of how she had so many gentleman callers in her day. She wanted the same for Laura. But Laura was much different than her mother was. It wasn't that easy for Laura to meet gentlemen. Amanda needed to realize and accept that. I was impressed by this play. It was filled with emotion and diverse characters. They were almost oblivious to reality. They had their own worlds and expectations of what life should be. Their struggles to make their lives better were desperate and real. In the end we don't really know how everything turns out, but we were left thinking that anything could happen.