Book 4 "The Bonesetter's Daughter" by Amy Tan
I try to stay away from any book that is called: "The x's Daughter" or "the x wife" there are just so many of them and they are all the same with some little variation of time and location. There are more "wife" books than daughter books, The time traveler's wife, The Aviator's wife, the Good wife, the Stupid wife. The list goes on.
The Bonesetter's daughter was written by Amy Tan so I felt I should give it a shot. Though each of Tan's novels stem from her Chinese American experience, they all enrapture the good and horrible of human nature like no other author I've read.
Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors to read when I am feeling blue or sick. In this case, she was perfect. And I hope to be all better by tomorrow since I just finished reading her book. Does it work that way too? If not, I will have to pick up one of her other novels, maybe the one about saving a fish from drowning. Sounds peachy.
So the Bonesetter's Daughter was better than I expected. It starts with a lady, Ruth, taking care of her mom Luling in Los Angeles and finally getting to the root of her moms mysterious past. However, in order to take care of her mom, Ruth leaves her neglectful boy friend and step daughters.
The mom is showing signs of forgetfullness and can't keep her secrets anymore so starts talking with truth. Then the story travels back to the moms hometown in China in the 1920's and describes this families ink-making business. They grind powder into ink from day in to day out. They make the best blackest ink. However, the family is cursed. I love a good story with suspicion. So they are cursed to be unlucky because one of their ansestors died without all of his bones and is out for revenge as a ghost till his bones are all back together in the grave. At least that is the suspicion the family holds to be the reason of their bad luck.
Which made me think: "So what is the reason I have the best luck with parking spots? I always get the best spot, even on the holidays. I wonder if it is because my ancestors are all happy as clams in their places."
So, LuLing's real mother, Precious Auntie, was cursed when she denied marrying horrible Chang, and decided to marry her lover Ku Jing. The day of the wedding Chang came and killed both Ku Jing and the father of the bride. But wait! Precious Auntie was pregnant with LuLing! She lied about being her mother in order to save the family's honor.
Isn't that horrible? So many babies have been discarded like trash due to preserving family honor. Life is honor, that's what.
So LuLing grew up with her "aunt" and one day argued with her. Lu wanted to marry horrible Chang's son and her aunt said no. Well...she should have listened because her aunt took it so bad she killed herself. Bad Luck!
The story then takes LuLing to an orphanage where she meets her love and then he gets killed by communists. Bad luck!
Finally LuLing travels to the US, marries a doctor, has a baby (Ruth) and then guess what? The 2nd husband gets hit by a car. Bad luck!
This book was not the Joy Luck Club. It was all about characters who tried hard to overcome the odds and when things got good, bad luck hit.
I really wouldn't recommend reading it unless you have the flu or a bad cold. It is impossible to read a thriller or happy novel when you are sick. Anything too happy will make you annoyed (Damn Polyanna), anything quick is too hard to focus on. If you are sick, pick up an Amy Tan novel. Her characters are always doomed to a mediocre life filled with superstitions, sad marriages and vivid descriptions of Chinese mothers and food.
To some extent I could appreciate the detailed character descriptions of the relationship between mother (LuLing) and daughter (Ruth). LuLing has many aspects of older mothers that I think can be appreciated by readers who have been concerned and responsible for their moms. I'll never forget when my mom was sick and I had to take care of her, no one else could. Her frailty was so real, I had to think of everything but still answer to her demands as my mom. LuLing had her current memory go but still held on to her bull-headed personality and her daughter had to care for her. It is a complicated relationship that many people can relate to. Tan is very sensitive when creating these relationships between people in her novels while spinning a dysfunctional story full of sadness and grief with small lights of happiness.
I'm glad I read it. On that note, off to call my mama and granny.
The Bonesetter's daughter was written by Amy Tan so I felt I should give it a shot. Though each of Tan's novels stem from her Chinese American experience, they all enrapture the good and horrible of human nature like no other author I've read.
Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors to read when I am feeling blue or sick. In this case, she was perfect. And I hope to be all better by tomorrow since I just finished reading her book. Does it work that way too? If not, I will have to pick up one of her other novels, maybe the one about saving a fish from drowning. Sounds peachy.
So the Bonesetter's Daughter was better than I expected. It starts with a lady, Ruth, taking care of her mom Luling in Los Angeles and finally getting to the root of her moms mysterious past. However, in order to take care of her mom, Ruth leaves her neglectful boy friend and step daughters.
The mom is showing signs of forgetfullness and can't keep her secrets anymore so starts talking with truth. Then the story travels back to the moms hometown in China in the 1920's and describes this families ink-making business. They grind powder into ink from day in to day out. They make the best blackest ink. However, the family is cursed. I love a good story with suspicion. So they are cursed to be unlucky because one of their ansestors died without all of his bones and is out for revenge as a ghost till his bones are all back together in the grave. At least that is the suspicion the family holds to be the reason of their bad luck.
Which made me think: "So what is the reason I have the best luck with parking spots? I always get the best spot, even on the holidays. I wonder if it is because my ancestors are all happy as clams in their places."
So, LuLing's real mother, Precious Auntie, was cursed when she denied marrying horrible Chang, and decided to marry her lover Ku Jing. The day of the wedding Chang came and killed both Ku Jing and the father of the bride. But wait! Precious Auntie was pregnant with LuLing! She lied about being her mother in order to save the family's honor.
Isn't that horrible? So many babies have been discarded like trash due to preserving family honor. Life is honor, that's what.
So LuLing grew up with her "aunt" and one day argued with her. Lu wanted to marry horrible Chang's son and her aunt said no. Well...she should have listened because her aunt took it so bad she killed herself. Bad Luck!
The story then takes LuLing to an orphanage where she meets her love and then he gets killed by communists. Bad luck!
Finally LuLing travels to the US, marries a doctor, has a baby (Ruth) and then guess what? The 2nd husband gets hit by a car. Bad luck!
This book was not the Joy Luck Club. It was all about characters who tried hard to overcome the odds and when things got good, bad luck hit.
I really wouldn't recommend reading it unless you have the flu or a bad cold. It is impossible to read a thriller or happy novel when you are sick. Anything too happy will make you annoyed (Damn Polyanna), anything quick is too hard to focus on. If you are sick, pick up an Amy Tan novel. Her characters are always doomed to a mediocre life filled with superstitions, sad marriages and vivid descriptions of Chinese mothers and food.
To some extent I could appreciate the detailed character descriptions of the relationship between mother (LuLing) and daughter (Ruth). LuLing has many aspects of older mothers that I think can be appreciated by readers who have been concerned and responsible for their moms. I'll never forget when my mom was sick and I had to take care of her, no one else could. Her frailty was so real, I had to think of everything but still answer to her demands as my mom. LuLing had her current memory go but still held on to her bull-headed personality and her daughter had to care for her. It is a complicated relationship that many people can relate to. Tan is very sensitive when creating these relationships between people in her novels while spinning a dysfunctional story full of sadness and grief with small lights of happiness.
I'm glad I read it. On that note, off to call my mama and granny.
I am a huge fan of Amy Tan's and read this book many years ago. I remember being glad that I read it, but also feeling melancholy. I enjoyed your recap since I'd already forgotten much of what it was about!
ReplyDeleteSo speaking of books about daughters...this is one I read a few weeks ago and LOVED, the Scavenger's Daughter by Kay Bratt.
I think you'd like it!
Thanks, AJ! I have read 3 of Amy Tan's works and really liked each in a different way. I just read "The Valley of Amazement" and liked it much better than her other works. She really drew out the Chinese American character and showed how much she evolved over decades.
ReplyDeleteI will have to check out the Scavenger's Daughter. I was looking for a new fiction to read. Thanks!
Always looking for new good books! Love this! : )
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Thanks!
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