the joy luck club

Rating:
Date: 2008-05-21
Very Good
In the book "The Joy Luck Club" written by Amy Tan, there are tons of Chinese cultured explored and different peoples relationships that you get to read through. Amy Tan takes you on a journey through 8 different peoples lives and the stories they told. Each story is a little different from one another.
"The Joy Luck Club" is a very challenging read. Amy Tans writing style is very difficult to follow. Each chapter is a different story. If you pay really close attention to each story and kind of take notes they all come together in the end. It is a really good read but challenging. If you have a hard time following book this may not be a good read for you or you can just take notes to follow along.
Throughout the book you get to learn a little bit about the Chinese culture. For example in one of the chapters a character is getting married and it is an arranged marriage, the girl does not want to marry this man. Unfortunately the mother of the groom had told the bride that if the candle that is lit on both sides that represents if there marriage will last, if one of the sides blow out throughout the day of the marriage they will not last together. That is a myth that is told in Chinese culture. While I was reading this book I was sort of comparing and contrasting between American culture and Chinese culture and how much they are different. In this book Chinese mothers and American mothers all want the same thing in their daughters. They all want them to grow up and be successful. In China it is a honor to take after your mother as you grow up. I feel the bad thing in Chinese culture is they have arranged marriages, I don't agree with them. I feel that everyone should get to choose the one they love and want to spend the rest of their life with and not have someone in their family pick for you. If you end up not loving them and you are stuck with them for the rest of your life, you will not live a happy life that you would have if you got to choose the one you loved and wanted to marry.
Challenging but very good is a good way to describe this book. I recommend this book to people who don't mind having a challenge. It is an excellent read.

Reviewer: Brittany Modreski

Rating:
Date: 2008-03-27
magnificent
Amy Tan is a magnificent writer, telling us stories that translate across cultures, nationalities and even ages. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

Rating:
Date: 2008-03-26
Good read
The stories of four Chinese women and their American-born daughters, The Joy Luck Club was a very intriguing and interesting examination into the Chinese culture as well as a reminder that love, loyalty, friendship and compassion know no cultural boundaries or constraints. Author Amy Tan did a remarkable job of telling the stories of these fascinating women - shadows in their own culture, but yet dynamic and captivating on paper. Tan told the stories of struggle and hardship, but each journey also had its victories and success along the way. While four daughters grew in their understanding and appreciation for their mothers, I also grew in my own understanding and appreciation for the Chinese culture and for those immigrants who have made the difficult transition from one culture to my own here in America.

As a Christian, I was intrigued how the book dealt with the universal issues of family, love, purpose and meaning. I found the book honest about the hardships created by a culture shaped without an appreciation for the equality of women - the pain is real even if it is not allowed to be expressed or shown publicly. I loved how the book valued the role and influence of the family and also showed the difference between the Chinese and American concepts of this institution. I also appreciated how this book dealt honestly with disappointment and disillusionment - especially from a lack of understanding between generations and cultures. It's hard to imagine the hardships faced by Chinese women seeking to pass on their rich cultural traditions to their daughters here in the US - Tan did a great job showing the tug of war waged between old and new, Chinese and American in the lives of her characters.

Rating:
Date: 2008-02-05
Good, but not GREAT
Generally, I am drawn to stories that expose me to cultures unlike my own. From that perspective alone, I found Tan's novel to be intriguing and genuine; the individual stories are rich in culture and language. I believe I would have enjoyed it more had the book been presented as a collection of short stories instead. The lack of continuity from chapter to chapter is what kept me from really connecting with this book.

I spent much of my reading time flipping back to earlier chapters to remind myself which daughter was born of which mother so that I could see how the mother's experiences and upbringing had an effect on her daughter's life. There were also a few mother/daughter story lines that I felt could have been explored more in depth and that's why I think presenting them as short stories would have been more effective.

This is the first of Tan's books that I have read, but I do intend to try another one!

Rating:
Date: 2007-12-14
Compelling Stories
This is another excellent book by Amy Tan. I had heard about it for years, but had never read it. I finally read it because I thought her book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, was one of the best books I have ever read. I was not disappointed by this book. It inspired me to read another of her books, Dragon Bones, which I am currently reading.

I am impressed with the details that Amy Tan includes in her books, which make them better stories and more enjoyable to read. In this respect, she brings to mind Ha Jin and his book, Waiting, which is such a compelling novel that I read it twice in the same month. The little details about Chinese culture and emotions awaken the mind to another world, but one in which we find there are people just like ourselves.

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