Woman Warrior (Paperback)

by Maxine Hong Kingston (Author)
Key Phrases: emigrant villagers, ghost room, water gourd, Brave Orchid, Moon Orchid, Hong Kong (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
'A brilliant memoir...it is about being Chinese in the way A Portrait of the Artist is about being Irish; it is an investigation of soul, not landscape, its sources are dream and memory, myth and desire; its crises are the crises of a heart in exile from roots that bind and terrorize it...Maxine Hong Kingston writes with bitter and relentless love. Her voice, now, is as clear as the voice of Ts'ai Yen, who sang her sad, angry songs of China to the barbarians. It is as fierce as a warrior's voice, and as eloquent as any artist's' Jane Kramer, New York Times Book Review 'This is a delightful book...tells more than i ever imagined about the strangeness of being Chinese and a woman; it also gives a superb account of what it's like simply to be alive' Victoria Radin, New Society 'A strange, enchanting book...As a manual of self- discovery through the channels and terrors of one's own rejected communal memory, it is unbeatable' Guardian 'As a dream - of the "female avenger" - it is dizzying, elemental a poem turned into a sword...reimagining the past with such dark beauty, such precision and anger that you feel you have saddled the Tao dragon and see all through the fiery eye of God' John Leonard, New York Times 'A book of fierce clarity and orginality' Newsweek --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap
A Chinese American woman tells of the Chinese myths, family stories and events of her California childhood that have shaped her identity.


From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Vintage Books USA; 1989 edition (June 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072435194
• ISBN-13: 978-0072435191
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #96,744 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational, September 19, 2001

By A Customer

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston is a powerful piece of autobiography from a female and spiritual point of view. Kingston's family originally came from China and later emigrated to the U.S. The book is seen as influential because it confronts many aspects of women's lives, which are repeated in different cultures and places, especially the male-female relationship and attitudes to that relationship within the community.
In the autobiography The Woman Warrior, Maxine Kingston struggles with her identity, which reflects her points of view toward gender differences. Maxine Kingston wants to show the audience that she is a woman warrior. She described her personality, her mind, and her gender by talk stories. Kingston is a symbol of feminism because she stands up for
her woman beliefs. She demonstrates how she feels about the worlds outlook on woman throughout the book.
From the very beginning of her life story Kingston reveals her childhood as a female. She shows the reader her mothers feelings about her Aunt who killed herself in the well
because her pregnancy by adultery. She states how her father would not admit to having a sister because of the humiliation she caused them. This story is very intense and detailed,
which starts the book off with the introduction of how women were portrayed in China.
Maxines mother tells her this story because she wants her daughter to be the perfect female for their family. "Don't let your father know I told you. He denies her. You wouldn't like to be forgotten as if you had never been born. The villagers are watchful." This is frightening for Kingston because she feels that women are being watched to make sure they are behaving the right way for society dominated by prominently one sex.
Kingston shows us how she overcomes this womanly figure by turning into a warrior. She presented the belief that despite gender differences, as long as one is tenacious and determined, one can suffice in the admiration of others by his or her heroic scenes. She spoke this idea through her story about becoming a warrior and displacing the emperor of China with someone who could understand the hunger and the cries of the poor. Her gender was proven to herself that she could be whoever she wants whether society agrees with her or not.
Kingstons book describes a diverse aspect of the behaviors of immigrants from her home village. Kingston perpetrated one of the most disturbing scenes about a man emotionally and physically abandoning a woman whos dependent on him. Her aunt, Moon Orchard, came all the way from their home village in China to the United States only to find out her husband had married someone who is much younger and prettier and started a brand
new life. After the cruel good-bye by her husband, Moon Orchards serious depressing state of mind sent her to the Mental Institution where she found salvation.
Maxine Kingston's life tells her readers that people need to be proud of their gender whether male or female and as individuals we do not need to live up to anyones expectations. We represent ourselves with unique characteristics.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing up Chinese in America, January 17, 2004

By	William F Harrison (Fayetteville, AR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Maxine Hong Kingston, in this book and its companion, China Men, gives us one of the very best depictions of what it means to be a second generation inhabitant of this land when your parents have come from a totally alien culture. And is any culture more alien to us than that of China before the revolution? Woman Warrior works on a lot of levels. First, it is beautifully written wit evocative language and dreamlike scenes that evoke sequentially horror, amusement, wonder and finally recognition, of both ourselves and the "other". I like books that give me information and a sense of understanding of cultures and peoples not my own, that speak to our common humanity. Mrs. Kingston's writings do all those things. Excellent book. wfh

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Tale of Chinese-American Life in the 1940's, February 19, 2003

By	Adam Powell (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I read The Woman Warrior, I was amazed by the quality of the detail with which Maxine Hong Kingston describes life in San Francisco's China Town during the 1940's. As she tells the story of her life, she simultaneously integrates old myths into her story. The story is truly moving. It is very easy to read, and gives the reader a flavor of Chinese culture. Definately one of the better books that I read last year.