The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Book Title: The Joy Luck Club
Author: Amy Tan
Genre: Fiction
My Grade: B+
# of Pages: 288
Summary: In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club.
With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between these four women and their American-born daughters. As each reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined.
My Thoughts: My mom really wanted me to read this book, mainly because of it's emphasis on the classic mother-daughter relationship. But I saw it more as a reflection on the mother's life before her child and how it sort of affected how she raised her daughter later on. I never really saw the daughter (with the exception of June) learn about their mother and hold a new understanding of her. The most the other girls caught was a sort of toleration of their mother.
Amy Tan is one of those writers who draws you in with every word. It's a good thing because at the beginning I wasn't really hooked, it took a few chapters before I was into the book. It was really the mother's stories that grabbed my attention and unfortunately it seemed that every time the daughter's tale came up I wasn't as into it. Luckily there was a careful balance between the two.
I think the most rewarding part of the whole novel was the ending. It didn't neccessarily tie the whole novel together, but it made it all worthwhile and happy.
The characters were also pretty well-developed, though if Tan wanted to change the view on the older Asian women and the stereotypes following her, it didn't work. It sort of shows you how stereotypes have to come from some place and most of the time the mom's act like what you think an older Chinese woman should usually act like.
The book was good though, character driven with a small plot thread to keep the book really going. I found it enjoyable but slightly overhyped. Don't go into this book expecting the best book ever, or the ratings everyone else has been giving it, and you'll find that you will like this book. With expectations, you risk being let down. Happy reading!
Next Book: Cell by Stephen King • review
Back to the Book List.
Author: Amy Tan
Genre: Fiction
My Grade: B+
# of Pages: 288
Summary: In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club.
With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between these four women and their American-born daughters. As each reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined.
My Thoughts: My mom really wanted me to read this book, mainly because of it's emphasis on the classic mother-daughter relationship. But I saw it more as a reflection on the mother's life before her child and how it sort of affected how she raised her daughter later on. I never really saw the daughter (with the exception of June) learn about their mother and hold a new understanding of her. The most the other girls caught was a sort of toleration of their mother.
Amy Tan is one of those writers who draws you in with every word. It's a good thing because at the beginning I wasn't really hooked, it took a few chapters before I was into the book. It was really the mother's stories that grabbed my attention and unfortunately it seemed that every time the daughter's tale came up I wasn't as into it. Luckily there was a careful balance between the two.
I think the most rewarding part of the whole novel was the ending. It didn't neccessarily tie the whole novel together, but it made it all worthwhile and happy.
The characters were also pretty well-developed, though if Tan wanted to change the view on the older Asian women and the stereotypes following her, it didn't work. It sort of shows you how stereotypes have to come from some place and most of the time the mom's act like what you think an older Chinese woman should usually act like.
The book was good though, character driven with a small plot thread to keep the book really going. I found it enjoyable but slightly overhyped. Don't go into this book expecting the best book ever, or the ratings everyone else has been giving it, and you'll find that you will like this book. With expectations, you risk being let down. Happy reading!
Next Book: Cell by Stephen King • review
Back to the Book List.