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Avg. Rating: 4.22
Simplistic Writing Style, Important and Powerful Issues.
The Joy Luck Club is a classic book in Twentieth Century American Literature, and Asain-American literature. It follows the lives of four Chinese women in China during the 40's as well as their American-born daughters in California a generation later. The characters are Suyuan Woo and her daughter Jing-mei (who goes by "June"), An-mei Hsu and her daughter Rose Hsu Jordan, Lindo Jong and her daughter Waverly, and Ying-ying St. Clair and her daughter Lena. It is almost like a book of short stories, because each woman (and daughter) takes a turn or two at telling a story from her life. Each story eventually connects with other stories, but they can also be read alone and make complete sense. Four stories are grouped into one category, so they all are placed into fitting themes. The first grouping is under "Feathers From a Thousand Li Away", and deal with the mother's stories of living in China. The next is "The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates", in which the daughters are introduced and each speaks about her life as an Asian-American, and how each incorporates the legends, stories, and tradition of their mother's countries with modern life in their own. The third grouping is "American Translation", which delves furhter into the complications of living in two worlds at once. The last grouping is "Queen Mother of the Western Skies" and deals with issues of aging and the loss of innocence. Tan's writing style is quite simplistic but the issues she addresses are important and deep. During the reading of this book one can grasp the contrasts between China and America, and can sense the problems and excitement of a Chinese mother raising an American daughter in a completely different environment than that in which she grew up, as well as being that Asain-American daughter. Another theme addressed in this book is that of mother-daughter relationships. All the relationships in this book are strained, and the women involved misunderstand and misinterpret one another because of the cultural differences even though they have genetic similarities. I am glad I read this famous and often-talked-about book, however the writing style was so simple and the plots so easy to follow that I wish I had read it earlier. I think it would be a good book for teenagers, but if you are an adult who has never read it, I also recommend it to you. The issues addressed within it are timeless and thought-provoking.
Four Women and their daughters
In the Joy Luck Club I have learned that the bond between mother and daughter is greater in some countries than in others. These women and their daughters have all experienced hard times but have pushed through them together and learned from them. The mothers are all immigrants from China that came over for different reasons. Some for money, some for family, and some just to escape the Chinese way of life. They went through tough times to get to America like giving up twin babies or making up lies about ancestors to escape an arranged marriage. These mothers were so strong and wanted nothing more than to teach their daughters to be strong as well. The daughters are AMERICAN GIRLS or so they say. They were raised in an American culture and learned the American ways. Some even went against their parents wishes and dated and married white boys, which was a bad thing to do. I really ewnjoyed the book. At first it was hard to read but once I got started I couldn't stop. My favorite character was Waverly Jong, the headstrong daughter who escapes her mothers world of chess meant for her daughter to become successful and eventually one day going to China to find her two twin sisters that her mother had to leave in China. When her mother died and Waverly had to take her mom'm place at the Jpy Luck Club she went to China with the goose feather to share her joy with her other daughters. Waverly also delivered my favorite line when she got to China. She was choked up and said, " Mama has gone to heaven, but I have come to share her joy!" and the daughters meet for the first time and hug each other. It weas really touching. All in all the book was very good and I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to read a story that touches your heart.
The Joy Luck Club
I read this book in my sophomore year of high school when I was sixteen. I was truly amazed by the great word usage that Amy Tan was able to achieve. Being an asian-american myself, I found it very easy to relate to the four Chinese mothers and the four american daughters. But I do believe that regardless of race, color, or creed, anyone can enjoy this book and be able to appreciate the stylized story telling.Another thing I love about this book is its format. There are four different lessons that are subdivided into four stories that are all narrated by either the American daughters or the Chinese Mothers. (If you look at the book, it's make more sense than I'm making right now.) One of the main themes in the book is communication between generations. All the mothers really want for their daughters is for them not to lose "face" and remember where they came from. And all the daughters want is for their mothers to accept them for who they really are. This book shows how great a mother's wisdom can be even when a daughter doesn't want to hear it. This is my favorite book of all time and I advise everyone to read it regardless of age. It's a classic and a good one for a reason. I'll end this with my favortie quotes from The Joy Luck Club: A girl is like a young tree, you must stand tall and listen to your mother standing next to you. That is the only way to grow strong and straight. But if you bend to listen to other people, you will grow crooked and weak. You will fall to the ground with the first strong wind. And then you will be like a weed, growing wild in any direction running along the ground until someone pulls you out and throws you away."
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