The House on Mango Street

I struggled. Part of it was the structure: Cisneros is fond of that short-story gimmick where you start a story (or chapter) by throwing the reader off the deep end, making them have to figure out what's going on, usually by having them read 3-4 paragraphs then go back to the beginning. I dig that, but when each chapter is just a few pages long and I have to do that over and over again it gets tiring. The cognitive load is too much.The other thing: although written from the perspective of a young girl, it doesn't feel like the words or thoughts of one. It feels like an adult reframing memories from a distant perspective. The observations feel like adult ones; and the only way I can describe it is by contrasting against [b:The Bluest Eye 292327 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492591342l/292327.SY75.jpg 1987778] – which I know is unfair – but there I constantly felt surprised by the alienness of the narration; how differently we see things as children.Even so it was quite a lovely experience: poignant and engaging. Each story drew me in after the initial slog. I would've preferred a smoother flow, but hey, maybe there are people who really loved that. I may just not be her target audience.