Search - The Joy Luck Club

I loved this book and the movie. It was wonderful to be so personally involved with each persons story. I really felt like I was there with them.
Long after I read the book the characters still stick with me.

Not quite as amazing as I had hoped, I wasn't able to keep track of who was who and that made it a very confusing read. Taking notes on who is who, or just paying close attention, would be very helpful.

This is a *very* good book. I especially liked the sections about China. I love the way they are written, and the descriptions of things are just gorgeous. They really give you a feeling for the mind and the culture of the woman narrating at the time.

Amy Tan did a good job of keeping the story going coherently, even though she had the book divided into 16 sections narrated by 8 different characters. Pretty impressive! So the story comes out more as a one about Chinese immigrants to the U.S. and the next generation as a whole instead of one specific character's story, but it really does work.

The whole time I was reading this book, I was thinking about how this was the start of that group-of-women stories trend. For a while, there was a run of stories about 4 friends, or a group of friends, or 3 generations of women, etc...both in print and at the movies.

This may be a teensy bit of a spoiler, just to warn anyone who might want to know! Okay, I have one thing to say to the (okay, so they're fictional characters) daughters in this book (and please note that I am largely just joking around from here on out). Ladies, I'm sorry, but you don't get to claim your problems with getting your fellas through a meet-the-family dinners or family houseguests entirely on intercultural issues! Partially, of course, but entirely? Nope, no way. At least 2 of you did absolutely no prep work with your guys at all! I mean, it takes at least 10 minutes for me to tip any new guy off on how to charm my family, and that's for just the easy family members, and I'd certainly expect him to do the same for me. How long would it have taken to explain that dear old mom is really begging for compliments when she says her meal didn't come out well, and that everyone is supposed to tell her it's the best meal ever and couldn't be better? Honestly, I noticed a distinct lack of effort on your parts, girls, leaving you with at least part of the blame for troubles in that area. Sheesh! ;)

One of my favorites. The reader begins to think of characters in the book as old friends. This book transcends race and culture. This is not a "Chinese" story but a story of mothers and daughters; of hopes and wishes for one's children; of the joys and tragedies of life. The movie is excellent as well.

An epic tail w/ interesting Chinese history and fabulous empowerment for women. I loved the part about the feather and valuing yourself. I quoted the book for a friend who was in a bad relationship.

This book was tough for me to get into at first. It is made up of short stories told by different characters, either Mother or Daughter. Once you get into the writing style, the book was tough to put down. The stories will stay with me forever. I would recommend this book to my friends.