The Joy Luck Club

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Summary: A book that lingers in your thoughts long after reading.
Review: As with all Amy Tan books, the beauty of the story lies in the telling. The life stories told by Chinese immigrant women to the American born generation is related in a languge rich in metaphor which reveals a poetic thought process that most Americans could only hope to experience. Not only are the stories of life in China moving, but the effect of these foreign lives on their relationships with their American daughters is reflected in Amy Tan's every beautiful, carefully chosen word.

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Summary: Amy, you got skillz honey!
Review: I was visiting my family in another state. All my relatives are old, very old, 75+. I am at least 55 years their Junior. They were all best friends of my grandmother and now she has passed. I've known them since I was young, but this time I didn't sit in another room and watch t.v. I was asked to sit at the table with them. One of them said that I looked just like my grandmother . I read Joy Luck Club years ago, but right then and there I felt just like Waverly. I was in the seat of my grandmother, I was the closest that her friends had to her at that moment. I was the product of her life and I now I possessed her mission. I felt honored. It was like I was living in that scene where Waverly and her mother's friends and family asked her to take a seat and play dominoes with them. (My family was playing cards) Miss Tan thank you for becoming a writer, you've done the world a favor.

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Summary: EXCELLENT NOVEL
Review: Amy Tan's novel was a great book. She shows life through the eyes of different generations, and incorporates real life situations into her novel. "The Joy Luck Club" was one of the best books I have ever read.

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Summary: Ignore the Negative Reviews!
Review: The Joy Luck Club is not about Chinese people. It is about every one of us - you and me! It is an universal story PERIOD!

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Summary: NOT STEREOTYPICAL...SIMPLY WONDERFUL!
Review: Amy Tan's characters are not the negative stereotypes of the Chinese people like some of the reviews here claim. As a gay man, I could easily dismiss the movie THE BIRDCAGE as a horrible stereotype of the gay men with its flaming queens. But in reality, there are such people who exist! We can't deny that. We must remember that one gay person doesn't represent the whole gay population. So in other words, Amy Tan's characters do not represent the whole Chinese or Chinese-American population. They stand on their own with their own personal emotions, experiences, histories, stories, etc. To me, THE JOY LUCK CLUB is a very beautiful story of mother & daughter relationships and the characters happen to be Chinese or Chinese-American. Savor every word and feel the joy and sorrow of each one of those beautiful women....

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Summary: This is my all-time favorite book!
Review: I really loved this book. I have read it again and again. I am fascinated by the Chinese culture and am currently taking classes in Mandarin (Putonghua) Chinese. In my classes we study a great amount of the Chinese culture, and this novel, in my opinion, accurately portrays the Chinese way of life. I admire the Chinese people and their discipline and respect for themselves and others. The book is beautifully written, due mostly to Tan's extraordinary writing gifts. I applaud her for her efforts on creating this beautiful masterpiece. Read the book...you will love it!

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Summary: STUPID!!!!!!!!!
Review: I had to read this book in seventh grade. I thought that it was the most boring book I've ever read. I only passed the tests because I didn't want to fail out of English, usually my favorite subject. This book is actually so dumb it boggles the mind. I advise anyone against reading it.

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Summary: Chinese-Americans Should be More Accepting of this novel!
Review: I have never been to Asia, but I do have quite a few naturalized Asian friends. It is very obvious that the homes that they grew up in in China were very strict and their mothers had incredible expectations. While this book may not be a perfect representation of Chinese culture, it can help many Americans to understand Chinese-Americans. Stories like this also make us wonder why the United States' test scores rank almost last among industrialized nations....An entertaining, multi-faceted novel that is hard to put down!

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Summary: Joy Luck Club is not real China...
Review: Hmm, having posted a review, I am a little surprised to be told by the reader from Rowland Heights "who are you" to speak about China simply because I'm from Taiwan. I hope I'll at least be given a chance to explain. Taiwan is part of China. During the communist takeover of the mainland China, there were Chinese people from all 35 provinces of China that escapted to Taiwan. Therefore, growing up in Taiwan was like growing up in a miniature China, where I got to meet people from all over China, each with their own habits. I loved it because there were definitely differences between people from Peking, people from Shanghai, people from Sandong... I got to know each people. In fact, when I grew up in Taiwan, we leanred all the classical Chinese literature, and the classical Chinese writing, when the people on mainland China were going through the Cultural Revolution, and a simplified version of written Chinese. Enough said on this personal stuff. I do agree with the reader from Rowland Heights that things like arranged marriage, people running from bombs happened. But these were things long past. Therein lies what I feel about Joy Luck Club not being the "real" China. The older-generation characters in Joy Luck Club are a very strange group. They had immigrated to a foreign country, and were dealing with alienations in a foreign land. They're trapped in their little corner of Chinatown. The Chinese people portrayed in Iron And Silk are common people living in China. Give it a read, and you will see the difference. Reading Iron And Silk, I smile and say to myself, these are the people I've known when I grew up in Taiwan. They represented a cross section of many types of Chinese. Reading Joy Luck Club, I frown and feel sorry for the young people who might think this is what being Chinese is all about. Joy Luck Club is hailed as a book about the conflicts between "Chinese" and "American" cultures. Well, Joy Luck Club is hardly the sole representa! tion of "Chinese culture". This was the reason I pleded for the English teachers to put Iron And Silk on their reading lists. It's a fun book about an American martial art student's travels in China. I would rather my kids see the bigger China than a corner of Chinatown. Thanks.

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Summary: There ARE Chinese people who CAN relate to it, like me!
Review: This is in response to the Taiwanese reader from San Jose (review 4/26/98) who said The Joy Luck Club doesn't portray "real" China. Who are you to say the stories are not about "real" China? You are from Taiwan!
Also, it is not true that The Joy Luck Club only appeals to people who "know nothing about 'real' China." The book appealed to me, and I do know something about China. That's where my parents are from. The arranged marriage, the fleeing of one's home because of the bombing, the preference for sons, a female raised to join another family, the conflicts between traditionally Chinese mothers and their American-born daughters, all of these DID happen in my family.
Just because you had a different experience doesn't mean The Joy Luck Club is not about "real" China.