Finally decided

I went to the Malden Library in search of my next book after Woman Warrior. I was sad to find that most of the readings I wanted were not there, meaning I had to order them from another library or purchase them. Seeing that I needed to start reading right away since any book from my choice is about three hundred pages, I just decided to take what was there. So I ended up with Trip Master Monkey: His Fake Book. I started right away. The beginning was slow, though the plot seemed promising. This is after all a fiction book. Though I really hated that Kingston decides to put points in it from Woman Warrior, and makes it completely the opposite as to what she wrote before. For example, in the first book, she would write about being Chnese and some things that just happen in the family, things that I understood because my parents do them as well. In this book though, not only does Kingston insaults and mocks them, she falls into stereotyping Asian Americans. The worst part is that the main character is Asian American and fits the stereotypical description. THat was a major let down. After that point, the book continued downhill. I hated that Kingston is so unformal in this book. Swears are littered everywhere and once again, Asian words written in english doesnt make sense, unless I try to figure it out, which is sad because those who don't speak Chinese will never get it because there is not English translation for it. As of now, I can honestly say I hate the book and I would not have continued to read if I didn't have to read for the assignment, or better yet because it is too late now for me to start over in a three hundred somthing pages book that is to be finished reading in less than a week along with my regular studies. Oh well.

This book is so confusing. Maybe because the main character is a poet and many things seem to confuse me about poetry. Though I am surprised to find many quotes from other books that I have read. So far, there are defenetly not as many notes that I took for this book compared to the last. It is just not as interesting. Besides that, I hate that Kingston creates a story inside a story which confuses the heck out of me. Either she doesn't explain well, or I just don't get any clues what so ever. I am largely disappointed on this book.

But there is still hope. It is the monday before the research is due, which is Friday, and I am a little over half finished. This seems to be where the interesting part just starts. Hopefully it will get better, but either way, just because it took so long before I actually got interested in it, I would still say that this book is a disappointment. Another sad part about this is that so far, I have not found anything that can connect to the other book besides Chinese culture. I cannot find the "deeper meaning" or the "true character" of anything. It does not speak to me, it does not seem to mean anything, just somthing I have to read is what I feel like right now. Sad.

Woman Warrior

A picture I found of Kingston portrayed as the story-tale woman warrior, Fa Mu Lan.


Happy New Year guys! I am about a day late, but I am glad to say I am finally finished with The Woman Warrior. I admit, I slacked again during the beginning of the vacation, but it is vacation after all. Overall, I think I would have liked the book more if I did not rush to finish it and also because sometimes I feel that I was trying to analyze a passage that might not be all that important. All in all, it was a good, book, thought slow at times. It has its funny moments and others that touch deeply and go hand in hand with Chinese culture. I did enjoy the book, but I also wished at times it was a faster read. Hopefully if I am lucky I would be able to finish a good amount of the second book before school starts again. I am questioning on the amount of books I am suppose to read. It says two books worth, and since my author is a memoir writer, do I just read two books? I have tried to look for other writings such as essays or articles, but there are very little and I am also unsure of some. Kingston does have a blog, but the last time I checked, there were only two posts. So I am a little confused on where to go next after the other book. Any suggestions?



About the book:
I do feel a little stupid, I reread the title after finishing the book and realized in smaller print under the main title, there was a line that says "Memoirs of a girlhood among ghosts." which I now find very funny. For most of the second half of the book, Kingston used the noun ghosts to refer to any race other than Chinese. Kingston merges and argues for herself growing up as a female in an Asian American family which see women as subordinate to males. I feel that her most important and overarching argument is to establish a place for Asian American females growing up. At the very last moment, Kingston pinpoints a lot of problems that she has with there mother. The culture and beliefs of her Asian parents contrasts so much with that of American culture, that Kingston at first, does not know how to adapt to how to react towards it. Eventually the anger builds, and Kingston discovers on her own, the true meaning of become and Asian American. She is constantly defending the acts of women. At times I feel that Kingston is actually blaming her parents, or Chinese culture in general, for her childhood sufferings and misunderstandings. The book started with Kingston as a young girl just starting menstruation, and goes through her teen life, the part of discovery, and she continues to show herself lost and confused as an Asian and also as an American.

The next book:
I am still debating between reading China Men which is almost a sequel to The Woman Warrior, or Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book. As of now, the second book sounds more interesting because after reading Woman Warrior, I do not want a book that has the same feel towards it considering that both of the choices I have now are three hundred pages plus. Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book seems a lot more interesting, not a memoir though comopared to China Men, which is a memoir. But I do believe we are allowed to read fiction and I thought about comparing her roles of women and men, since in Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book, the main character is a male Asian American facing stereotypes. What do you guys think?

Three fourths done

So I am about three fourths done with the book. I am a little disappointed in myself because I did slack a little and I was actually hoping to be done with the book by now and starting my second book during vacation. So far I feel that I have been doing a lot better with the notes. I have began to notice a few things that Kingston uses such as figurative language and she also infuses a lot of Chinese culture into her writing, though sometimes it is so Asian, I guess I can say, that I cannot imagine anyone who is unfamiliar with the Chinese culture to actually understand what she means. I should start doing some actual research on my author. Sadly I haven't started yet. But as of now I am still unsure of what other works I can read besides her books. I have tried to look for her essays or blogs, and I did find a blog, but there was only one post on it. I will check to see if it has been undated.

Myths

I am just about half way done with the book. I don't like it, but I do. Here's why. I chose the book because I thought it would do a lot with how an Asian American sees things. But instead of that, I got a book that says very little about her own life, and the majority of it on myths or "story-talk" that her mother learned when she was younger. Chinese myths are ok, I don't mind, but its not just any myth. It has to be myths about ghosts. And..I don't like scary stuff...at all. I was reading the book last night, when they started talking about a ghost that kills and what not. Of course when I was reading it, it was ok. But after, when I went to bed, the picture was vividly in my head. I couldn't sleep. I swear I must have been awake for about two or three hours before I fell asleep. I'm lucky that today is late entry. And the fact that I was sick might have added to the bad dreams part. Every time I get sick, I feel that I am more prone to getting bad dreams.


Anyway, I do like the book because it is such an easy read. I start and it's just so interesting that I keep going and going. But knowing that I have to write a report on this book later, it is hard for me to keep doing post-its. Besides that, I have no idea what to post-it on. As of now, I found that her "story-talk" is always first and the events that happen there reflect to her own life. She connects the woman warrior to her in every way possible to show that she is strong and serious about changing how an Asian society views women. Also, she uses a metaphor every time right before she starts a myth. This is almost like a bridge or a path that connects her real life to her myth life. I call it a myth life because the myths are most of the time told in first person, and after the myth, it always have similar events happen to her. I feel that I will finish the book soon, but I am still unsure of exactly what to look for. Any ideas?

First Impressions

So, after running around the Malden school library thinking they had the book, Woman Warrior, and finally after two days finding out that the book which was "in" was actually lost, I eventually got the book at the Malden Public Library.

My first impressions? The book looked old, I started to feel the connection to it fade. At first, I chose Maxine Hong Kingston as my research author mainly because I felt that I would be able to connect to much of the events and feelings in the book, being like her, the first generation of Asian American in my family. I expected much more than just another story about a Chinese girl, I have read too much about that. But also, while doing a pre research on the author, I have read great reviews on how amazing this book is.

That impression changed when I began to read. Although it is interesting already, (having only read about 20 pages) it is a slow read. It took me almost an hour and a half just to finish fifteen pages. But I do notice the similarities in her family and mine already. My expectations of the book did not fall any lower and as of now, I don't like it. My only fear now is the idea of taking such a long time to read so little pages.