Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I've been an Amy Tan fan since "The Joy Luck Club". But this book appears to be written by someone who's trying (poorly) to copy Amy's style. I was sorely disappointed; the book was "choppy" in its presentation, and I was put off by the incorporation of Ruth's mother's story smack dab in the middle of the book. If this were the first Amy Tan book I read, I would never buy more.
Rating: 
Summary: Much better than I had expected ...
Review: After having read the 'professional reviews', I purchased the book somewhat skeptically. I have nejoyed much of Amy Tan's writing in the past, but there has also been some that I wasn't as fond of, so I thought, OK - I'll get it, and we'll see.It was a good read. The mother-daughter stuff was very interesting and realistic. The male-female relationship stuff between the main character and her boyfriend was at first tiresome and then at the end of the book, I was happy for them but thought the conclusion was probably less realistic (but that might be my skepticism talking). Definitely the best part of the book is the mother's story in China. It kept me wanting more ... and I guess that is what good writing should do. Amy Tan's passion about her heritage and China really shines when she writes this part of the tale. I definitely wanted that part of the story to go on .... and without giving away too much, I wish the package given by Precious Auntie to LuLing was still around to be translated too!! I found the last part of the book to be a quick read -- and while some have criticized the ending as 'too neatly wrapped up and tied with a pretty bow', I don't think it was. I do think it was probably more happily ended than it would have been in real life, but hey, it's fiction! And, gee, wouldn't it be nice if in real life it would have ended this way.
Rating: 
Summary: It gets better and better!
Review: I love the Bonesetters Daughter and will read it again. This is one of those rare books that you will want to read again and again. I read the previous books as well and do not find this one any inferrior to them. Even though the subjects of the books are very similar Amy Tan still has the talent to make each book individual and touching. I noticed one of the other readers mention "all the ghosty stuff" and how he or she didn't get it. I enjoy the spirituality of the books and find that Amy Tan challenges the reader to make his or her own interpretations and does not 'talk down to the reader' by explaining everything. I highly recommend this book to anyone who ever read anything by Amy Tan before. Also I recommend the book to anyone interested in reading a book that is challenging yet riveting.
Rating:
Summary: A native Chinese reader will say...
Review: It is the first time that I read Amy Tan's work, which, generally speaking, is interesting for a native Chinese like me. I think the mother-daughter relationship in this book is very touching, especially when it is viewed from the cultural differences/conflicts' point of view. Ms Tan has a clear sense of the cultural differences. For example, Ruth and Art's different way of treating the beloved: Ruth always puts herself in the second, and she is afraid of 'taking' but only 'giving'. This attitude, accoring to my opinion, doesn't come from Ruth's peculiar family upbringing, but roots in the Chinese philosophy and culture. But I won't praise the structure of the novel and the way of depicting the characters highly. I am sorry to say in this work, Ms Tan is not an author with much talent. What she is doing is to combine the pieces of Chinese history and traces of mystical Chinese superstitions, which are forgotten by urban Chinese quite some time ago, and the cultural differences together. And I am afraid she has made a mistake when she writes that Bao Bomu has an oracle bone from Zhou's Mouth of the Mountain, because oracle bones are only found in An Yang and some other places in He Nan Province until now. I am not picking on Ms Tan. What I am trying to say here is I can still feel the cultural differences between a real Chinese and an ABC. I am afraid the picture of China and Chinese culture she has offered in this book is more for the western world's knowledge and taste.
Rating:
Summary: Don't be so easily discouraged...
Review: I purchased this book when it was first released (I'd become a fan of Amy Tan's books having read the other three before), and then just out of curiosity decided to check the reviews of it here at amazon to catch a glimpse of what I was getting into. I'm sad to say that many of the reviews readers gave "The Bonesetter's Daughter", of it being a "rehashing of the same story" and such made me prejudiced towards it, and I put down the book for a few weeks. Pure boredom this past weekend made me finally resolve to give it a try anyway, and I could barely stop to put it down. Sure, it can be argued that the bulk of Ms. Tan's books focus on the mother-daughter relationship dynamic and of past wrongs done to them by men of their pasts...but I think that part of the reason why she's sucessfully been able to transform these themes into their own unique story every time, is because they deal with a part of history in which several different cultures can find kinship. The fact is that Amy Tan is a master of capturing true human emotion in her characters' lives, that touches the reader in a very poigniant way. And this one is no exception. "The Bonesetter's Daughter" has now become my favorite of Amy Tan's novels, and I just moments ago finished it and passed it along to my own mother telling her that she "MUST read this book right away!" I'd like to extend the same recommendation to everyone else who is considering taking up "The Bonesetter's Daughter" as well. Luyi--*all that you wish*
Rating:
Summary: A finely wrought novel
Review: I think this is Amy Tan's best novel. The middle section about the life of the protagonist's mother in China is outstanding, and vivid, and heart-rending. The treatment of girls and women in China was brutal and sad, and continues to this day. (See Karin Evans' The Lost Daughters of China, Penguin Putnam 2000).
Rating:
Summary: Amy Tan's best
Review: This is a gorgeous book, reading flows, and you are transported to another world and time. It is beautiful and painful, Tan's best story-telling to date.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm... something sounds vaguely familiar!
Review: Those of you who have read Amy Tan's other books, particularly THE JOY LUCK CLUB and THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE, tell me if this rings a bell: "Daughter of first generation Chinese-American mother is largely unappreciative of mom's story and her family history until it's almost too late, but ends up learning it all despite their differences." You got it... Ms. Tan is evidently stuck in this mode. We even get the old Japanese occupation theme, the missionaries (remember THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES?), the battered wife syndrome, etc, etc. While the book is well written, it's old hat for those who have read other Amy Tan books. I got more out of her first two books than THE BONESETTER'S DAUGHTER offers... in my opinion they're richer with insights about Chinese culture and what it's like to be a Chinese-American than this book is. Amy Tan is definitely worth reading. I would suggest you save yourself about 18 bucks and buy a nice paperback copy of either or both of her first two books.
Rating:
Summary: Sandwich generation story hits the mark
Review: Having been there, a member of the sandwich generation, stuck between the needs of aging, dementia prone parents, and young adult children and their young children, Ruth Young's story reminds me of my own years of tears, frustration, and laughter. For in The Bonesetter's Daughter, Amy Tan has written the Chinese-American version of a task so familiar to American Baby Boomers of all cultural backgrounds: the story of adult children and their parents. Tan's portrayal of Ruth and her mother in their patterns of love and near hate, of communication with reservation is right on target. When living a busy personal life, it is hard to come to grips with the needs of elderly parents, to take the time to finally know them as one should. Ruth's need to take on the parent role, to take care of her mother, to accept her mother in spite of past misunderstandings, is redolent of so many of us who have "been there, done that." The dialogue and mimicked accents of Chinese pronunciation are always perfect in Tan's writing. Thank heaven for the comic bantering between mother and daughter. One chapter brings out-loud laughter, the next somber thoughtfulness. Tan's three part novel sets the stage for the importance of Ruth's mother's past in China, an obscured past with secrets, ghosts, and horrors. Once again, Ms. Tan has captured my imagination, entertained and moved me, brought me to an enhanced understanding of the importance of family, no matter what the culture.
Rating:
Summary: So Disappointed
Review: I am a fan of Amy's Tan's, but this book was a big disappointment. As other reviewers have said, it's just a rehash of the same old materials. And she doesn't write well in the third person. Her first person writing can be in a simple style, because it lends itself to the diary feeling of her books. But in third person, it lacks substance. I was curious as to the dedication at the beginning of the book. In it, she states that she gives credit to her grandmother and mother for anything good, but she will try harder next time. I wondered if she herself doubted the quality of this book. The middle (the mother's voice) is by far the best part--the ending is of a "slap you over the head with what you should have learned" variety, and the relationship between Ruth and Art just plain isn't interesting. I wonder if Tan has run out of things to say. Perhaps this will be her last book?
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