Book Four "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
There are few authors whose work I love more than Amy Tan. I know Joy Luck was one of her most famous ones and perhaps that is why I put off reading it till I had read some of her other works. "The Joy Luck Club" isn't one of my favorite books by Tan. However, I really enjoyed it and would love to reread it one day.
Quick Overview:
There are four Chinese women who travel to San Francisco in 1949, each for a different reason. Forty years later they all get together each week to play mah jong (a chinese game). At this point, they all have daughters who have been raised in San Francisco with American culture influencing them more than Chinese culture. Each of these women feels emotionally separated from their daughter and has lost the ability to culturally communicate with them. There is no climax in this book, no real storyline either. It does however paint the history that each woman endured on her trip to America and her relationship (or lack thereof) with her daughter.
1. It reminded me of my culture and made me wonder what influences were lost between the women in my family. They were Native Indians speaking Tarascan. My grandmother can still sing some words but doesn't know what they mean. I wonder what was lost. What would my ancestor women think of me? Am I so far from who they were and what they loved and knew?
2. I liked how Amy tan described the Americanized view of things from the perspective of the daughter towards the mom. Describing two very different ways of thinking and expressing is something I admire in Tan's work.
3. The descriptions of food in this book are detailed and make you hungry. I went to the Korean market twice to get pork-steamed buns while I was reading this book. It isn't Chinese food but I got what I could that was similar.
4. Tan described not only the relationships between mom and daughter but also the perspective of the mom's on their son-in-laws, which I found fascinating. One of the moms noticed how her proud American son in law (an architect) built a twisted table. And she thought (he won't be able to do anything strait in his life that is sturdy) and she was right. Another mom whose daughter was facing divorce of an American, taught her daughter to fight back mentally like a tiger. I liked that idea of fighting mentally like a tiger. Maybe it is because I like cats.
5. I liked how Tan showed the richness in some of the Chinese houses and how they were far wealthier in many ways than the American suburbs. There is this misconception that America has the best of everything and that simply isn't the truth. America has a lot of everything from everywhere but not the best. Each country would never give up its best.
I know this book wasn't on my list but it was such a good and relaxing read. It is definitely a book that should be cataloged in with literature of American history ...would that be in the 945 section on the Dewey Decimal System? Maybe.
Goodbye for now. A certain cat (Bentley) thinks my typing fingers are snacks and has been carefully catching them in his mouth for a little bite. Lucky for me, he has few teeth.
Quick Overview:
There are four Chinese women who travel to San Francisco in 1949, each for a different reason. Forty years later they all get together each week to play mah jong (a chinese game). At this point, they all have daughters who have been raised in San Francisco with American culture influencing them more than Chinese culture. Each of these women feels emotionally separated from their daughter and has lost the ability to culturally communicate with them. There is no climax in this book, no real storyline either. It does however paint the history that each woman endured on her trip to America and her relationship (or lack thereof) with her daughter.
Five things I liked about this book:
1. It reminded me of my culture and made me wonder what influences were lost between the women in my family. They were Native Indians speaking Tarascan. My grandmother can still sing some words but doesn't know what they mean. I wonder what was lost. What would my ancestor women think of me? Am I so far from who they were and what they loved and knew?
2. I liked how Amy tan described the Americanized view of things from the perspective of the daughter towards the mom. Describing two very different ways of thinking and expressing is something I admire in Tan's work.
3. The descriptions of food in this book are detailed and make you hungry. I went to the Korean market twice to get pork-steamed buns while I was reading this book. It isn't Chinese food but I got what I could that was similar.
4. Tan described not only the relationships between mom and daughter but also the perspective of the mom's on their son-in-laws, which I found fascinating. One of the moms noticed how her proud American son in law (an architect) built a twisted table. And she thought (he won't be able to do anything strait in his life that is sturdy) and she was right. Another mom whose daughter was facing divorce of an American, taught her daughter to fight back mentally like a tiger. I liked that idea of fighting mentally like a tiger. Maybe it is because I like cats.
5. I liked how Tan showed the richness in some of the Chinese houses and how they were far wealthier in many ways than the American suburbs. There is this misconception that America has the best of everything and that simply isn't the truth. America has a lot of everything from everywhere but not the best. Each country would never give up its best.
I know this book wasn't on my list but it was such a good and relaxing read. It is definitely a book that should be cataloged in with literature of American history ...would that be in the 945 section on the Dewey Decimal System? Maybe.
Goodbye for now. A certain cat (Bentley) thinks my typing fingers are snacks and has been carefully catching them in his mouth for a little bite. Lucky for me, he has few teeth.
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