Maxine Hong Kingston – Cannonball Read 17

slick with sweat, thick with hate-and I love it

The Lover by Marguerite Duras

March 2, 2022 by andtheIToldYouSos 2 Comments

Somehow, this incredible little novella flew completely under my radar until last year. Luckily, the folks over at Lit Hub are absolutely obsessed, and I was unable to remain in the dark for much longer. When it’s in a book I don’t think it’ll hurt any more …exist any more. One of the things writing does is wipe things out. Replace them. While not entirely an “autobiography”, Duras tells the tale of a very young girl who grew up in an unstable household in French-colonized […]

Memoir and misogyny

November 21, 2018 by Sophia Leave a Comment

I picked up The Woman Warrior (1976) by Maxine Hong Kingston because it was on my list of 50 Books Every Woman Should Read Before She Turns 40 and it looked relatively short. I thought it would be good to read while on my backpacking trip. Unfortunately, this book was a little hard to follow at times, so reading on my phone, in my tent, wasn’t the best option. I also discovered that even when my phone is on airplane mode, it apparently knows when my Kindle books need […]

Do the right thing by whoever crosses your path. Those coincidental people are your people

July 14, 2018 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

I wasn’t actually planning on responding to my previous criticism of books that “rewrite” fairy tales, myths, and legends with a TWIST as boring and banal too much of the time with a review of a book that did it well, but here we are. IF you’re going to rewrite a myth, don’t simply tell the story again, but inscribe that myth onto a new set of contexts and characters to show continuity of the ideas and narrative, not simply put your own spin on […]

A Warrior Armed With Words

April 8, 2017 by ElCicco 2 Comments

Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior (published in 1976) is known for its feminism and for giving voice to the experience of being first generation Asian American. It is an intersectional masterpiece that is part factual memoir and part “talk-story,” i.e., creative storytelling, not just about Hong Kingston’s childhood but also about her female relatives. Through these women, we see the juxtaposition of strength and powerlessness, of warriors and ghosts, of Chinese and Chinese-American. For Hong Kingston, being able to use one’s voice meant being […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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