This book was again recommended by Slate.com. It was given as an example of a memoir where fantasy and history are mixed to better convey the memories. Kingston does this by seeing herself, for a portion of the book, as Mu Lan, the female Chinese warrior, avenging the deaths in her village. One of the interesting aspects of the book, demonstrated by this, is the tie to the old world of China through her parent's stories and beliefs. Her parents do not think of the US as their home: home is China, even for all the children (all of them born in the US). It isn't until the communists completely change the lives of the villagers in China that the parents gave up on returning and bought chairs to replace the fruit crates in the kitchen.
Related to that, was the use of the term "ghost" for any Americans. I know in Hong Kong the term "gweilo" is used (derogatorily) for whites and means "ghost". It seems on the west coast in Chinatown, it was used to refer to all things American: black, white, otherwise. Anything not Chinese.
The two cultures colliding in Kingston's head appeared difficult for her to reconcile. She had the history, culture and stories of China as strongly in her life as if she was in China, including the attitudes toward women (girls are worth nothing; men can have multiple wives). She was, though, interacting in the American world with "ghost teachers" and pleasing them with the work she was able to do.
Kingston's writing is strong, vivid and precise. I felt her angst and shame as I read. I enjoyed the stories about her mother's life: about becoming a doctor in China; about forcing her sister to see her (her mother's sister's) estranged husband; about her reaction to retirement and an empty house (working in the California fields as a day laborer picking tomatoes). Her mother is a strong woman, even pushing to the front of a memoir about childhood.
8/10
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