Rating: 
Summary: Bringing the Past into the Present
Review: I found Amy Tan to have a very intimate writing style -- in the sense that I felt like she was recording my thoughts and emotions. The relationships she builds in this book have been experienced by most and she captures it in a way that makes you wonder how you didn't see/realize it before. The stories of the ancestors make the book even more intriguing by revealing ancient customs and traditions that tend to bleed into the new age. The melding of the two times shows you the product of the present. Kudos to Ms. Tan for a very enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Healing Family Connections in a Rich Historical Context
Review: Ms. Tan has written a monumental novel of the 20th century Chinese immigrants' challenges. The book offers many insights into how children can better integrate into their families by understanding their elders' experiences rather than trying to be totally independent of those experiences. The Bonesetter's Daughter also provides rich food for thought about what the relationships should be between women and men, and parents and their children. The book employs a recycling narrative that will remind the reader of opening up nested Russian dolls.Ruth Young finds that her mother is failing, especially with her memory. Already busy with a life as a ghostwriter and taking care of her boyfriend and his children, Ruth feels overwhelmed. A few years earlier, her mother had become interested in passing along some of her heritage and had given Ruth a document written in Chinese. Because Ruth does not read Chinese well, she had put the documents aside. As her mother's mental condition deteriorates, she finds her mother's mind disturbed by having forgotten her mother's real name. Looking through some old papers, she finds another document written in Chinese about things her mother does not want to forget. Hoping to help, Ruth arranges for the documents to be translated. The bulk of the book then recounts her mother's history in China and in the United States. These experiences were rich and varied, and reading about them will fascinate you. Addressing the issues raised by solving the question of Ruth's grandmother's name causes Ruth to grow and evolve in her own relationships. The book is filled with rich themes that are explored from many different dimensions. For example, ghosts are real and important to Ruth's mother, LuLing Young. As a young child, LuLing decides that the ghost of her mother resides in Ruth. To appease her mother, Ruth plays along and answers her mother's questions. You will be fascinated and amused by the results of these discussions. Since Ruth is also a ghostwriter, you will get a new perspective on how ideas are expressed and perceived. Who the author is counts, as well as the content. The author adds credibility so that the information is acted on, and the content either provides good or not so good advice. The story validates both the mother's and the daughter's views of ghosts. If you are unfamiliar with the history of mainland China in the first half of the 20th century, Ms. Tan's book will give you many of the important outlines as they were experienced at the local level. You will encounter the shift away from binding women's feet, the beginnings of education for women, the falling off of the old crafts and beliefs, the effects of drug addiction on families, the influence of Christian missionaries, scientific investigations of human evolution, and the development of new ways for women and men to marry and relate to one another. You will be fascinated by the many echoes of the experiences that LuLing had with her mother, and those that Ruth had with LuLing. I was reminded by this of how much of our parenting styles we learn from our parents, for good or for ill. So we have a behavioral heritage as well as a genetic one. The book's story-telling style is gracious and smooth-flowing, not unlike putting your hand in a warm, pristine stream in the mountains. You will feel yourself gently pulled along in a way that you will enjoy. I was reminded of the way my mother would tell me stories when I was a child. The Bonesetter's Daughter is beautiful, delightful, and enlightening. What more could one ask for from a novel? After you finish the book, be sure to learn all you can about your ancestors from those who are alive and knew them well. You will probably find many wonderful connections to yourself and your own issues that will help you. This is an outstanding book for a book club to read. You will find many interesting questions for discussion here. In particular, you won't be able to decide what some of the story means until you discuss those aspects with someone. Follow your beliefs . . . wherever they take you!
Rating: 
Summary: Mothers and Daughters
Review: This book proved to be beautifully written and was able to embody the contemporary life of a professional Chinese woman and her struggle to deal with her mother's new dependence upon her because of her age. Amy Tan has created a respect for a parent, a daughter and her culture while bringing these two woman together in harmony. It breathes history.
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Summary: My First Amy Tan Book
Review: I picked this book up on the recommendation of my online book club. A number of folks had raved about Amy Tan and her writing which had inticed me to give her a try. I must say I was not disappointed.
Amy Tan delves into the lives and relationships of mother and daughter blending the past with the present. Ruth finds old writings in her mother's house that lead her on a voyage of discovery, a voyage that takes her back to the old ways in China prior to WWII. Through this voyage she comes to know the secrets that govern her mother's past, the secrets that help her to come to terms with her own life. I very much enjoyed Amy Tan's style of writing and plan to add her other books to my reading list.
Rating:
Summary: Clever Lady
Review: The 1st chapter is the mystery--the chapter that binds the book together. And the last chapter leads you back to the first chapter. The grandmother, mother & daughter keep secrets throughout their lives and onto their graves but yet they were close and curious of the other one's lives. This book certainly made me think of the secrets kept in my family, and the closeness of my mother who had beginning altzimer's. The last page brought tears to my eyes and I didn't really want to finish the book. Recommend for anyone thinking of their mother and ancestors.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as I expected
Review: I'm a huge fan of Amy Tan's, but this book let me down. Don't get me wrong -- it's a GOOD book. But I expect GREAT books from her. Her previous books (especially Joy Luck Club and Kitchen God's Wife) held my interest so much more. I felt that the characters in The Bonesetter's Daughter weren't as believable or likable. I agree with the other reviewer who wrote that Amy Tan should try writing a book completely about the old days in China, and leave the modern Chinese-American descendants out of it. Now THAT would be interesting.
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Summary: Competence, Magnificent, Divine, Effortless...
Review: This has been the first book I read for Amy Tam, and I must add her style of writing did positively surprise me, which would encourage me to read more for her... After a slow start, the book starts getting much more interesting, it enters more into the chinese culture, the beliefs the older generation had, and the hard life they had to go through, it does tell us how much different we can be, and how we have the tendency to blame others for our mis-fortunes!!! It has been a book that I wanted to finish in one sitting...It has been written with lots of emotions, it is a sad book, the kind that shows life in it's unfair picture....but contains a lot to learn from, and pages to read again and again... I like the way the book went into detail regarding LuLing's story, and everything she went through and discovered, just an incredible story...for sure a book to read
Rating:
Summary: The Bonesetter's Daughter
Review: ... I have just finished reading this wonderful book. I especially liked how it was narrorated by two people, and how it showed the past of different characters in the book. It was interesting to see how the character's pasts affected their lives.
Rating:
Summary: Mother-Daughter relationships across cultures
Review: The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan In the Bonesetter's Daughter Amy Tan has deftly woven the contrasting lives of Ruth, an American woman of Chinese descent, and Ruth's mother, LuLing, a Chinese woman who fled to the United States after the communists gained control of China. Ruth and her mother had spent much of their lives arguing and failing to understand one another, and now, as Ruth's mother begins slip into dementia caused by Alzheimer's, Ruth realizes that she has only a short while to try to understand her mother. When she realizes her mother's memory is slipping, Ruth finally has some papers that her mother had written in Chinese and given her to read several years earlier translated into English so that she can read them, and learns the secrets her mother has hidden all these years. This story of the family's life in China is the heart of the book, and would be worth reading by itself, but interweaving of this plot with Ruth's life turns a good book into a great book. We see Ruth mature as her mother's illness rips Ruth from her comfortable middle-class existence. We see the huge contrasts in the lives of these Chinese-American women in just two generations, and realize how difficult it is for one generation to truly understand each other. It is here that the book gains its universality-- none of us can truly know our parents for they grew up in a time that is lost to us, like Ruth's mother they keep secrets, and they try to protect their children and give them easier lives. Unfortunately it is often only in our parents' old age that we have the maturity to begin to understand them.
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: I'm a huge fan of Amy Tan's work and I have to say that this book ranks right up there with all her other books. The only similarity is a mother/daughter relationship, but that's what I love about her work. The relationship between Ruth & LuLing and the interweaving of Ruth's story with LuLing's and Precious Auntie's is great and I can't wait for Mrs. Tan's next book!
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