Why I chose to read this book:1. I recall hearing about this book years ago, so when I found a hardcopy at a thrift shop, I just had to add it to my WTR list; and,2. May 2023 is my "People of the Far East Month" (country featured: China)Praises:1. author Amy Tan's writing style is so thoughtful and relatable! The relationships between the mothers and their respectiive daughters felt hopeful, but at times, disheartening. Their connections had me chuckling, yet sometimes left me saddened. The moth...

I really enjoyed The Valley of Amazement and I was looking forward to reading this. I really like Amy Tan's writing style and I felt really invested in all the character's stories. I was honestly disappointed when the book ended. I do wish we could have spent more time with the characters. It felt like we spent more time on some of the mother's back stories versus the others. I also feel like I related to the mothers more than the daughters, which seems contrary to a lot of people's experience w...

The Joy Luck Club was an interesting book and certainly better than I first expected. It tells the story of four mothers and their respective daughters through different timelines and locations (USA and sometimes China). It explored different aspects of mother/daughter relationships and even characters (especially the daughters) learned more about their mothers meanwhile which impacted their character development. I loved how Amy Tan portrayed those relationships, each was unique which its speci...

I really wish I like this one more than I did. I have heard about it for years and have seen it on many must read lists. I kept waiting for it to click with me, but it never did.It is not a bad book and my rating only reflects my experience with it. It is well written and the different stories in it are all interesting, but my mind kept wandering. I feel like there was not enough to keep me focused. As I can tell from other reviews, this is not an issue for many other people. But, when I got to ...

Madre mía que llorera más grande con el emotivo final de este maravilloso libro. Ha sido brutal. Que pena haber postergado tanto la lectura de Amy Tan. Este es de esos libros que te llevan de viaje por diferentes vidas y el recorrido ha sido espectacular. La historia nos va a narrar la vida de cuatro madres chinas (Anmei, Suyuan, Lindo y Ying-ying) que a raíz de la guerra y la pobreza tuvieron que emigrar a América y de sus cuatros hijas (Rose, Jingmei, Waverly y Lena) ya americanas de nacimient...

During high school, when I did not have the life experience to fully appreciate her work, I read each of Amy Tan's books as they came out. Now, years later, with many other books and various experiences under my belt, I reread The Joy Luck Club, Tan's first book, as part of my March Women's History Month lineup. Following her mother's death, June Mei Woo has replaced her mother Suyuan at her monthly mah jong game. Suyuan started this game and Joy Luck Club when she first immigrated to the United...

It's not fashionable to profess a liking for The Joy Luck Club. In both academic and literary circles, Tan has been maligned for her seeming misandry and racial self-loathing, raked across the coals for her largely negative portrayal of Asian/Asian American men and for marrying off all her Asian American female characters to white men. She's been dismissed for writing "chick lit," lightweight family melodrama laced with orientalist cliches. She's even been accused of being politically reactionar...

Why read The Joy Luck Club? Because sometimes one needs to get in touch with his inner Chinese feminine side. Amy Tan's most famous book offered ample opportunity in that regard. The JLC is all about the relationships between Chinese moms and their daughters. Honestly, I picked this up as part of my studies into Chinese culture. My brother has been teaching English over there for a few years now and I plan on visiting one day. As per usual, I like to read up on a place before the trip. Some peop...

Those of you who read my blog are most likely aware that my relationship with my mother is not all bouncing bunnies and beautiful butterflies. As an American-born son raised with traditionally Asian standards, my childhood has been filled with conflicts resulting in screaming matches and bountiful tears. So reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan was quite the vicarious experience - though I am not Chinese nor a daughter, I could connect to several of the themes that ran throughout the novel.The in...

After I read The Joy Luck Club (summer required reading before sophomore English in high school), I started pestering my mom about her abandoned children in mainland China. I also declared that I would name my two kids after the aforementioned abandoned children: Spring Flower and Spring Rain.My mom laughed in my face about the latter, saying no self-respecting Chinese would give their kids such pedestrian names, and would be mock-pissed about the former.The truth is that The Joy Luck Club got s...