The Bonesetter's Daughter

Rating:
Summary: We are more than our present
Review: I found The Bonesetter's Daughter to be a very compelling read mostly because Ms. Tan's writing is so strong that you experience the pain and joys of these women's lives, in particular her mother, her grandmother and even her aunt, as if you were there. I was struck by the many generational similarities - Ruth was forced at a young age to speak to outsiders for her mother because her mother couldn't speak english well; Ruth's mother as a young person was forced to speak for Precious Auntie(the nursemaid who, unknown to her was her mother) who was rendered mute by her first suicide attempt; the suicide attempts (Precious Auntie's eventual successful one and Ruth's mother's unsuccessful ones)in the fact of rejection by their daughters. Even the difficulties in Ruth's personal story: words were her life and love but in many ways they were an albatross as she was forced to speak and interpret for her mother. She became so adept at interpreting others' meanings that she became a ghost writer for other not so talented authors. Ruth's talent and desire was to write her own story, however. Only when she acquires an understanding of the difficulties, fates, strains, triumphs, tragedies and joys that shaped her mother's and grandmother's lives, can she come to terms with who and what shaped her own life and where she fits in in the world. I too am the daughter of immigrants and know what it's like to straddle the two worlds, one old and one new so that part of the story also resonates with me. Thus, The Bonesetter's Daughter tells me that we are always more than our present and that the generational past is in fact never past because it lives in us always. I highly recommend this book.

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Summary: Some very good parts but still throwing away her talent
Review: I'm a big fan of Tan's, but in this sometimes thrilling, sometimes disappointing book, all of her weaknesses as a writer (all writers have weaknesses) are on full display. First, in previous novels she's always written about America (the present) and China (the past) with two completely different styles: in China people (mothers) deal with birth, death, war, ghosts, curses and numerous mythological elements, while in America people (the daughters) worry about mortgages and whether their lame white boyfriends will commit. The American sections are generally far less dramatic because there's less at stake; but in previous novels she made the parts about the Americanized Asian daughters compelling by capturing the emotional complexity and conflict of their lives in an (I think) accurate and honest fashion. That's why I enjoyed "Joy Luck Club" and "Hundred Secret Senses" all the way through. In this book, the balance is lost: the Chinese section (the middle) is incredibly absorbing, while the American section (beginning and end) is dull and not even very honest or plausible. At the beginning the book comes off like Gail Sheehy-style therapy as the Americanized daughter frets about her Mom's medical diagnosis. Good for Reader's Digest Drama in Real Life[TM] but not the stuff of great novels. Then comes the "Mom back in China" section, which is completely different: riveting, much richer in detail than the American parts [go figure that!], and heartfelt; I couldn't put it down. But once Mom hops on the boat to America, we're back to worrying about rent and mortgage and whether Ruth's white boyfriend will commit. Bo-ring!!! What happened to the ghosts and curses? And she wraps it all up with a nice ribbon, everything ends happily, no unresolved dilemmas. It was the inability to resolve dilemmas that made "Joy Luck Club" an honest book; and that made "Hundred Secret Senses" 98% honest. To make matters worse, Tan can't create a believable male character (white or Asian) to save her life; what's her problem? Here's the real question: why is it that this talented writer can describe a Chinese orphanage in the 1930's with so much detail and vividness, but can't describe modern San Francisco (where she grow up) with an equal level of detail or interest? Despite my complaints, I am still devoted to the author of "Joy Luck Club" and "Hundred Secret Senses" and will read her next book.

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Summary: Betrayal and ghosts and a curse through the ages....
Review: Amy Tan has done it again in this novel. She's captured theexperience of being a Chinese-American daughter in cultural clasheswith her Chinese-born mother. And she tells a fascinating story thatmoves between modern San Francisco and a rural China in the1920s.

Ruth Young, in her mid-forties, makes her living as aghostwriter for self-help books and is going through difficulties withher live-in boyfriend and his children. Her mother is in the earlystages of Alzheimer's and Ruth is watching her gradual decline. Butwhen she comes across a memoir her mother started writing yearsearlier, it not only brings up her own memories, but she starts tounderstand her mother better through the gradual revelations of thefamily secrets.

The chapters about Ruth set the stage for the coreof the book, which is the story of LuLing, the mother. We learn aboutthe bonesetter's daughter, the terribly scared nursemaid namedPrecious Annie who raised LuLing and the connections between thegenerations. It's a story of betrayal and ghosts and a curse throughthe ages. It's a story of relationships between sisters and teachersand mothers. It's the story of healing and hope and redemption. Andit's all so interesting that it's hard to put the book down.

Ms. Tanis a fine writer. She brings out some universal truths about a worldI'm familiar with as well as those of a world that has vanished andcan only be recreated by the skill of the author. Her sense of placeis extraordinary and she puts the reader right into the skin of thecharacters, building the story gradually and adding telling details atjust the right moments. I was swept right into it and found bits andpieces intruding on my thoughts until I could get back to it later.It was 353 pages but I wish it had been longer.

Rating:
Summary: Satisfying story that wraps up a bit too cleanly
Review: I'm a big fan of Amy Tan and looked forward to reading this book. Her historical detail as well as the subtle (and not so subtle) nuances of mother/daughter relationships are as distinct as ever. My main complaint would have to be the ending - things are just a bit too happy and unrealistic. Relationship problems are resolved and LuLings financial status improves, even if her memory doesn't. While I was content with the resolution of conflict between mother and daughter, I felt the other relationship resolutions were just a bit too neat and tidy for this to feel completely realistic.

But I recommend this book to any Amy Tan fans and those experiencing Ms. Tan's writing for the first time. Her historical descriptions are rich with vivid detail, giving the reader a good understanding of life in China in a bygone era.

Rating:
Summary: I'm a Tan Fan...
Review: Yes, as many of reviewers mentioned, this is much like the other Amy Tan books we know and love (I personally count Kitchen God's Wife among my all-time favorites). Like all of her other books, the characters are colorful and well-developed; the plot (which weaves back through generations) keeps you riveted; and the narrative desriptions allow you to see, feel and even smell the scenery. So what--Tan has developed a formula that works, and this book is no exception. For those of you who are fans--don't be discouraged from reading Bonesetter's Daughter by the reviews complaining that it is "more of the same". It has many of the same elements that have made Tan's books so compelling--that's why I enjoyed it so much.

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Summary: An entertaining mystery, a more rewarding journey for origin
Review: Much is being written pro and con Amy Tan's new novel THE BONESETTER'S DAUGHTER and the views are as divergent as the book itself. As in her "The Joy Luck Club" Tan starts her story in contemporary San Francisco in the midst of East/West dichotomies, shaky mixed marriages, burdens of living in the present with the clash between caring for parents who are senile and finding places for their custodial tending. The first section is a bit on the whining side...until Tan pulls her magic trick and makes us want to understand lineage and heritage as much as her narrator wants and needs to know. Part Two is sheer Chinese history (with a good bit of true events sprinkled into the fiction to keep us alert) and that is where the novel shines. Tan may not be purely Chinese in her style but what she writes works so well that she is able to drive her character revelation to surprising ends that rewards us up to the last page. A great novel? No. A well spun tale? Wholeheartedly Yes.

Rating:
Summary: Amy Tan broke pace with this book
Review: This book drags interminably onward in a depressing slog. What is the point? Her other books have been crafted with insight and showed brilliant perception of the inward struggles of women in difficult situations. This book "sets my (jaw)bone" against ever buying another authored by her!

Rating:
Summary: Truly Wonderful!
Review: Amy Tan with her best yet! The Bonesetter's Daughter is truly wonderful and beautifully written. Once again Amy Tan has achieved a wonderful balance between recreating the past and living the present. Ruth is a wonderful modern woman, working in a job that is not quite fulfilling and dealing with her mother, Luling's deterioration to Alzheimer's. She discovers a manuscript written by her mother of her own life story that allows Ruth giving her deep insight into the tumultuous past that made Luling the complex and unpredictable woman who raised her. The story of LuLing's life is astounding! Amy has weaved an amazing tale with details so finely tuned you will feel like you are walking along with Luling while she searches deep into the woods and beyond for the beloved woman she learned to be her mother to late. I will say it again, truly wonderful!

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Summary: These are things I know are true...
Review: While this opening line of the preface is engaging, the promise of such entrapment is never fulfilled. Disappointingly, as the story of 'The Bonesetter's daughter' unfolds, the novel continues to lose the aspect of it's initial charm and quiet grace. I wouldn't say that I am sorry to have read this book, I simply expected to walk away from it with a lot more than I did.

The author, Amy Tan, unleashes her latest novel (said to be somewhat autobiographical) in three distinct parts The first being told from the voice of a 30something, Chinese, American, Ruth Young. The main points of Ruth's own life, her annual voicelessness, her relationship with a live in boyfriend and his children, her flighty and superficial best friend, her annoying mother and her flamboyant publisher, are set up to be significant in the basis of this novel. The only one richly explored is the relationship with her annoying mother and her mother's ancient, secretive ancestry, which is the focus of the second part of this tale. The reader and Amy discover the secrets of her mother's traumatic and tragic childhood in China (before and during the Second World War), and her immigration to so-called American freedom. The final part tells of what Ruth does with her newly acquired knowledge of her ancestral past and how it changes both her feelings towards her mother and her own life.

Critics complained that 'Bonesetter's Daughter' was too 'Americanized', and they are correct. Tan attempts to incorporate two very different styles of writing in this book; one of authentic, cultural memoirs and the sultry, everyday experience of the modern American novel. If you are looking for something similar to the beautiful wisdom of popular titles such as 'Memoirs of a Geisha', you will be disappointed as this is only a small part of what makes up this book. If you are after a style similar to the types of work that continuously make Oprah's list, you may be a little more satisfied- but not fully as the novel doesn't fully explore the relationships that make up this alternate plot. There are parts that are as charming and delightful as the preface alludes to, but not many. I believe that Tan is a gifted author and has the ability to do great work, I just don't think it was adequately displayed here. 'Bonesetter's Daughter' had too many loose ends, too many questions left unanswered and explored too many sub-plots to be truly enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: As Good As It Gets
Review: Amy Tan's previous three novels made us weep, made us cry. She made us proud to be what and who we are. And this much awaited fourth novel doesn't disappoint and she has done it again with grace and style. This novel is tightly woven and it's contagious to read. Every words and sentences are written with poise and with a purpose, and it's no wonder Amy Tan is one of the best in her field. This novel is loosely based upon her real life experience with her mother who is showing sign of dementia. In this novel, the ghost writer by the name of Ruth is having a trial separation with her husband, trying to get along with her angst-ridden children from her husband's previous failed relationships, having a strained relationships with her mother. Whilst she's having a successful career, her private life is an utter mess. When she discovers that her mum's mental health is falling apart, she moves in with her mum to take care of her, and along the way, thru a translator, she starts to unveil the secrets that her mum has been hiding for many years, especially about her mum's maid that she called Precious Auntie. Later on, Ruth discovers the true identity of Precious Auntie, the sacrifice her mum has made for her and her mum's sister, the curses that has haunted her mum over the years, and how those factors intertwined with her life somehow. Amy Tan's play of words, her eye for detail, her understanding of the Chinese older generations who repress their love in the open but expressing it in a subtle way to their children are admirable. This is a book about learning to let go, learning to love and be loved, redemption, motherly love. It is simply as good as it gets. Highly recommended.

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