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Summary: Great For A Report
Review: Very good book and makes you feel as if you where there
Rating: 
Summary: Very drawn out, confusing, and boring.
Review: BORING BORING BORING!!
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Summary: Fodder for those who crave sanitized Eastern Mysticism
Review: How true it is, when Jesus notes that the prophet is often rejected in his own hometown. However, sometimes this happens, not without good reason. As an Asian male raised in the Far East, I can assure you that my traditional Chinese grandparents did not speak in vague metaphors about "tigers waiting in the trees", which is, at best, laughable. The Asian male bashing is as unsubtle as one gets as Tan attempts to portray the downtrodden Asian females in a patriachal society (which it admittedly was) without anything positive to say about men in that context. This book does a fair amount of harm by perpetuating stereotypes about Chinese culture. Perhaps the only redeeming factor is the clever use of juxtaposition of the stories of the mothers and daughters to form a comprehensible whole.The Washington Post claims this book is "Powerful as Myth". I'd have to agree.
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Summary: A good read, a little slow in places, but fascinating.
Review: After looking at the number of other reviews, I doubt anyone will get this far. Also, I'll make brief comments separated by a return to save reader's eyes.Amy Tan is a good story-teller, but the language usage and style isn't as eloquent as it could be.All men, and as a matter of fact, all characters are portrayed as having weaknesses. The caucasian male who marries one of the older Chinese women and does the speaking for her is an example. Is this any better than physically binding a woman?The Joy Luck Club compliments Tienanmen Square, Iron and Silk, the Rape of Nanking, and Wild Swans for those trying to get a picture of contemporary China.It should be described as Chinese-American literature rather than Chinese literature.As a student of Asian studies with knowledge of Asian thought, this book hits the nail on the head in its portrayal of China as dynastic country where everything "old" is periodically destroyed for a "new and better" way and the victims manage to survive anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't help myself. I read it again.
Review: THE JOY LUCK CLUB, a novel by Amy Tan, tells of the intricate relationships between two strong-willed generations, four tough, intelligent American women and their equally tenacious Chinese daughters. The four families are connected through the Joy Luck Club, a mah jong group that meets each week. After its founding member passes away, her daughter is asked to take her place at the table and the stories begin. Each of the eight women narrates two stories from her own point of view except for the deceased whose daughter tells her stories for her. The mothers relate stories about their lives in China, and the daughters tell of the trials that they face growing up as first-generation Chinese-Americans. The women that Tan has crafted are well developed and extraordinarily believable. She shows the strong and weak sides to all eight of her main characters. Her men however, are flat and are there simply as supporting characters. This is to be expected since this is essentially a book about mother-daughter relationships and how women bond. Therefore, it is my assumption that this book is aimed, for the most part, at the female reader. Tan's literary style is truly novel. The way this woman writes can't be compared to anything that I have read in recent years. The novel that I feel comes closest to mirroring Tan's subject matter is THE GOOD EARTH by Pearl S. Buck. As I was reading, I found myself continually drawing parallels between the two. Therefore, if you found Buck's novel enjoyable, Tan's will be a pleasure as well. At face value, I feel that Tan wrote sixteen incredibly interesting stories. It is the undercurrent that runs throughout the novel, however, that makes it a classic. No matter what race you are, or when your ancestors came to America, the themes that rings true to all women are the struggles that we see underscored by the fierce love that is so obviously shared between each mother and daughter. The topic has universal appeal. Who hasn't been ashamed of her roots at one time or another? In this case, the mothers are trying to instill their Chinese spirits into their Americanized daughters before their ancestry is lost forever. The daughters fight their mothers every step of the way under the pretense of independence from overbearing matriarchs. However, I got the feeling that the conflicts arise because the daughters are somewhat embarrassed by their Chinese heritage. They seem to want to be as stereotypically "American" as they possibly can. What they all come to realize at the end of the book, though to different degrees, is that what they have been battling against is something that can't be fought. The daughter of the deceased expresses all of their feelings best when she proclaims' "I see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood." This novel reminded me of an old quilt my grandmother currently owns that has been passd down for generations. Each square is beautiful enough to stand alone. Each has its own special meaning in the history of our family, but when delicately woven together with the others, creates such a masterpiece that it truly ties each of us together. You can understand what it means to be a part of our family be examining the blanket. I like to think that THE JOY LUCK CLUB is the start of Amy Tan's quilt. She is telling the women that came before her that they will not be forgotten. She is assuring them that she has captured their spirits. Her dedication at the beginning of the novel is what allowed me to arrive at this conclusion. "To my mother and the memory of her mother...You asked me once what I would remember. This and much more." This review cannot possibly do THE JOY LUCK CLUB justice. Tan is a truly gifted storyteller and her novels must be experienced firsthand. The highest compliment that I can give is that in the midst of the busiest summer of my life, with summer readings stacked high atop my desk, and the buzz of the alarm clock awaiting me in less than five hours, I couldn't help myself. I read it again. Reviewed by Colleen Clancy Collen died in a car crash along with two of her classmates on September 22, 1998, the morning after she read this review to her senior English class at Notre Dame Academy, Hingham, MA. Her English class would like to pay tribute to her memory by publishing her work in the Amazon Student Book Review column.
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Summary: Great setting, fully developed characters
Review: This is one of the book that is worth reading. Many have pronounced it to be a "bad" book simply because they assume that the book is telling about chinese cultures and heritage. This is not true. Like any book written, the background (China & USA) is used for atmoshperic setting. (aside from history books) One should not try to learn history from these books, which is not the author's intention in the first place. The book can very well be set in France and still retain the qualities it possesses. One should read the book for universal themes between mothers and daughters, pass mistakes, and the protection of daughters from making the same mistakes. A very well written book with many symbolisms, analogies, etc. I like it. Sincerely, An asian male reader.
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Summary: A good description of the parents-children relationship
Review: This is a book written by an American born Chinese and it gives me a deep understaning of their feeling. i can see that they all have a sense of confusion about their own indentity. Also, the description about the relationship between the mothers and daughters touches my heart. It is something like what is happening in the real life.
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Summary: a powerful book, but at the expense of some people
Review: Having just finished my rotation in psychiatry, I can't believe how this book has impacted some of my Asian female patients. Some swear never to be seen with other Asian men, because in their words, "they are aXXXXXXs." Whether or not that is Tan's intending auxilliary message, the book/movie inarguably feeds into the public's view and catapults Tan to stardom.
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Summary: A beautifully written story
Review: This book was on my English class reading list, and I chose it without really expecting much. I was pleasently surprised. Though it may not be accurate to modern China (I'd like to point out, however, that the parts of the story that take place in China weren't really modern, although I'm afraid I know less than nothing about the culture-unless you count Mulan...*g*) it was still a beautifully written story. In my experience, it is very rare that you find a book from which you wish that you could memorize lines, paragraphs, and pages to quote back to yourself, and this is just such a book. It is a bit stereotypical (of Chinese and American cultures in general) but is such a beautiful reading experience that it is worth putting up with a few immoral, dense modern daughers and patient, suffering mothers just to get to enjoy well crafted stories and thought provoking imagry.
Rating:
Summary: excellent!
Review: Tan captures the essence of mother-daughter relationships. Well written. A must read.
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