Rating: 
Summary: interesting
Review: I really liked the book. It was interesting, especailly the mother's story. I can't wait for a new book by Amy Tan. It will probably take for ever. Hurry up , please. We are waiting.
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Summary: My first meeting with Amy Tan
Review: In one of my online book groups The Bonesetters Daughter was coming up as this months read. I live in Norway, and if I don't buy books through mail, there are not many English books available here. I had bought my share of amazon books for the month, and thought I had to pass this one. Then, while browsing one of the bookshops downtown I bumped into it, and decided to skip lunch a couple of days to buy it. Anyway, books are more important than food! Started the book almost at once, and got into it right away. The book tells the story of Ruth Young, and her mother LuLing Liu Young. LuLing Liu Young is in her eighties, and has started her fight agains Alzheimer disease. She came to USA from China as a young woman, and has lived almost all her grown up life in San Francisco. Her daughter Ruth also live in SF, with her lover and his two daughters. Ruth has a difficult relationship with her mother, and fails to understand her. But as LuLings disease gets worse Ruth decides to move in with her mother. This is also a good excuse for Ruth to have some distance to her live in man, trying to find out if their relationship is something they can save. And now alot of things from her childhood get it's explanation. Her mother has had her lifestory written down, and when Ruth gets help to translate this and reads the story, we are taken back to a China very far from the modern USA today. The story is told with annexation, humor and love, and Ruth manage to handle her own life now when she understand the past. This is a love story, love between mother and daughter.Love which is there in spite of all the difficulties such a close relationship give. And it is a story about a mother and a daughter discovering that they are bond together by bones, though their lives are very different. I'm very glad I found this book, and now, after reading my first Amy Tan novel I know that I will read more.
Rating: 
Summary: I was disappointed
Review: I love Amy Tan's first 3 books. This book, however, was a major disappointment. I don't know why she chose to switch from her beautiful first - person style to third person? The book seemed to have lost a lot of the Amy Tan's special charm and was a lot less beautiful, interesting, and profound than the first 3 books. I think this may have something to do with her switching to a new editor.
Rating:
Summary: Magical, mythical and compelling.
Review: Amy Tan has again brought us into her world and culture. This is the story of an Asian daughter who has long since settled in the USA and her relationship with her Americanized daughter who has never seemed to understand the woman within her mother. It is only after Ruth reads her mothers life story, which has been written down for posterity, that she begins to see the great struggles and difficult life her mother has survived. The story is written with a magical hand and reads like a myth to be passed on and treasured by the family that follows. There are many surprises for Ruth along the way as she continues on her trek, unveiling the source of much that has comes to pass. This is a wonderful book. I was able to listen to it as a book on tape and was highly entertained by the intonation of the voices and accents which made it so real. An excellent choice, I would give this book 4.5 stars. Kelsana 8/17/01
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best by Amy Tan.
Review: She has only writen 4 novels( not enculuding the 2 children novels ) and this one is the best, in fact it is the best next to The Joy Luck Club, but how can you top that book? I read this book about 6 weeks ago but I have not gotten a chance to review it until now, so take my advice and pick up this book if you like Amy Tan novels. If you have never read her books before I reccomend you pick up The Joy Luck Club insted. And if you liked this book I reccomend you read, White Teeth by Zadie Smith, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and anything that you have not read by Amy Tan
Rating: 
Summary: Picking over old bones
Review: I'm an Amy Tan fan, so I couldn't wait to read her latest book, however I was slightly disappointed with the book's pace. Tan continues with her family/ancestral themes and the main character Ruth, tells the tragic/triumphant story of her mother's attempt to recall details of those things that were important to her, particularly the name of her mother (Ruth's grandmother). The interlocking themes are also interesting, I especially liked the way that Ruth, who had previously enforced an annual month-long "no-talking" period, was able to overcome this psychological block as more and more of her own family history was revealed. There were also some interesting historical facts about the discovery of "Peking Man" and an interesting theory promulgated by Ruth's ancestors.
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Summary: By Jove I Think She's Got It!
Review: I've been a fan of Amy Tan's since The Joy Luck Club. I've followed her through The Kitchen God's Wife and The Hundred Secret Senses but by and large The Bonesetter's Daughter is her best all around effort. From two points of view we see the emergence of two daughters and two mothers and from different stages in life we can identify and embrace the innocence and indifference of childhood, the angst of young womanhood, and the pain of mother-daughter separation. Amy Tan's continued efforts at explaining the complex relationship between mothers and daughters is further understood in this novel as to how it can be affected by social, cultural and economical pressures. I felt that in this book Amy found the best balance between past and present and that she magically blended the right amount of mysticism with reality. The author has a wise and ancient soul and through her writing we can explore places and histories that have long been erased from the maps and pages of today's history books. Through the help of a translator, Ruth uncovers her mother's memoirs and discovers the life her mother led as a child and young woman. Ruth finds that although now weakened by age and illness her mother (LuLing) is not the woman she thought she was and through the gift of LuLing's memoirs, Ruth is able to see her mother for all of the things she has been, and not just what she has become. LuLing's headstrong determination as a child, her intelligence and strength as a young woman and her willingness to do whatever was necessary to create a better life for herself, for her family and eventually for Ruth are qualities to be admired. I quickly came to care for her character and was moved by her courage. Although pleased with the neatness in which the novel was completed, I was saddened that I had finished the book and will look forward to reading it again. Clearly, the heartache and the joy of motherhood are interwoven and from this tapestry we can discover that the basis for our relationships today were fabricated long before we ever lived. It is with this hindsight that we can only begin to piece together those parts of ourselves and our relationships that aren't quite yet complete. Ruth finds this. I did too.
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Summary: Forgiving Mom.....
Review: I read this book in one day because I simply could not put it down. It is a great story about the healing power of forgiveness with understanding. Anyone who has a tough relationship with a parent will commiserate with the main character, Ruth Young, and after finishing the story, will be left wondering about the circumstances that shaped their own parent's faults. Entertaining and thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Did not let me down
Review: This is the third Amy Tan book I have read. I started reading her works a couple months ago starting with the "Kitchen God's Wife" then the "Joy Luck Club" and "The Thousand Secret Senses." All were wonderful except The Thousand Senses, which I just could not get into. The Bonesetters Daughter is excellent as Ms.Tan once again weaves a story whose characters capture ones interest. Her characters are believable and endearing and as you read you feel you become part of family remembering the past. I enjoy her work because she is well researched, descriptive and colorful and at times very funny. I can't wait for her next book. I highlt recommend The Bonesetters Daughter.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL!!!!
Review: This is an AMAZING book. Thoroughly enjoyable, captivating, humorous (made me laugh OUT LOUD - a very difficult feat when I am reading), and too short! I could have easily kept reading if it went on another 200 pages. This book is a MUST READ.
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