Rating: 
Summary: Chinese reception to this book seems poor
Review: Being a Chinese American, I was elated by this book's success in the market, and bought a hardcover copy immediately after it first came out. But I was disappointed. I couldn't finish reading it despite several attempts. The story was just boring to me. Later I read some negative reviews in a Taiwanese newspaper on this book. Some of the top writers in the Chinese literary community felt this book was a prime example of what they termed "antique selling". They criticized that many novels by Chinese American writers sell ancient ills of China, such as bound feet, horrors of old-fashioned families, to the American public which takes to this well. According to this review, the problem with these literature is they don't really teach the Americans to look at China or the Chinese in a modern context. Instead, they encourage stereotyping. For example, the women characters in Joy Luck Club were victims, a la traditional Chinese sterotype. The male characters were abusers, none of them likeable. As usual there was a lack of positive Chinese male characters. The review made me think. I myself simply couldn't get into this story because it was boring to me. But my uncle, a Chinese man educated both in China and in America, walked out of the movie version of Joy Luck Club after he had gone to see it with high hopes of a Chinese triumph. Reading all the glowing reviews here, with but one exception of a pan by a Chinese reader, I feel even more alert at the different receptions this book is receiving from the Americans and the Chinese. Very interesting, indeed. I do remember how, when The Godfather first came out, some Italian Americans were upset at the book. In the end, I think many books do offer sickening archetypes. The Americans are of course interested in getting to know some Chinese archetypes; and the Chinese tend to become upset at what they call the "ill caricatures". I myself hold understaing for both views. I simply find the story boring. I still have it on my shelf, but still can't finish it. I have a hard time understanding why this is such a higly regarded book. On the other hand, a friend of mine wrote a novel which had a character many of her Chinese friends identified with. We felt it was at last a "normal Chinese person". But when she sent it to a publisher, it was rejected on account of "the character is totally Americanized." Very funny. Bottom line is: while this book may seem impressive to the Americans, many Chinese feel it's boring, and/or has too many negative stereotypes. I've come to realize that some of the most stereotype cowboy movies had appealed to me while I was growing up in China and knew nothing about America. Without those movies, I would not have been enticed into the American culture. I'm glad Joy Luck Club has generated so much interest in the American audience. I hope also that this interest will not die at this point, but will lead to more in-depth interest in the real, modern Chinese culture. Please don't stop here, Amy Tan, go forward with more modern stories.
Rating: 
Summary: An amazing and rare peek into the powerful Chinese culture!
Review: I am a 12 year girl who read this book at ten, and have read it 4 times since! I find something more profound each time, such as humility, obedience, etc. It has given great interest in Chinese culture, and has inspired me to write my own story of a Chinese family. Absolutely Spellbinding! (Callie Collins)
Rating:
Summary: This novel made Amy Tan one of my favorite authors.
Review: When I first started this novel, I had already read one of her other books. The Joy Luck Club definitely put Amy Tan on the top of my list. The only disappointment is that she hasn't come out with more novels!
Rating:
Summary: Based on a story about life experience.
Review: This story is about the life experience among the ladies in the story. Amy Tan explained how the life in China was like, for an example when a young lady who has to marry an eight year old boy. Another story about this other lady who's husband who had cheated on her without giving any care. She was so devasted about this and that she accidently drowned her baby. There is a lot more exciting story that happens in this book. But I don't want to ruin it for you. So I really recommend you to read this book. I rate it a 10 out of 10!
Rating:
Summary: Joy from reading The Joy Luck Club
Review: This novel is about the cultural differences that Chinese American mothers have with their daughters. The mothers are immigrants from China, and the daughters are first generation of Chinese Americans. The book shows the problems that mothers and daughters have when they try to communicate with each other, so there were a lot of misunderstandings between them. I really like the fact that the daughters and mothers come to an understanding of each other at the end. After reading this book, you can understand some of the conflicts that do occur in Chinese American families.
Rating:
Summary: A great book to read.
Review: The book portrays the mental, physical and emotional journey of eight women of two different generations, and though their experiences were dfferent, they shared similar pains and sorrows. Their hidden emotions were only expressed through some form of dramatic or traumatic episodes in their lives. Amy Tan did a great job in comparing the two different generations and the similar pains and sorrows each one had to endure.
Rating:
Summary: Amy Tan's THE JOY LUCK CLUB was completely enchanting!
Review: Amy Tan's THE JOY LUCK CLUB is an intriguing tale of four Chinese mothers and their American born daughters as they attempt to understand one another despite their background and upbringing.
It is a tale that seems to have been created as a quilt would. All the stories of the mothers have been placed against those of their daughters to form a delicious contrast of relationship and understanding.
Each character has been highly developed and given a sense of familiarity and colloquial distinction. Tan seems to have taken marvelous care in forming the lives of Suyuan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair. From these characters, Tan gives birth to their Americanized daughters: Jing-mei "June" Woo, Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong, and Lena St. Clair. Within the lives of these characters and the stories they tell, there exists a struggle to realize who the mothers are and consequently, who the daughters are and accept what it really means to be Chinese.
THE JOY LUCK CLUB is a book one can easily read over and over again and still be fascinated by the rich and colorful tale of how culture stitches relationships together.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't look quite Chinese in the eyes of a Chinese
Review: Problem is if a chinese-american tried to write something. She or he never could jump out of their ethnic background and wrote a typical american book. all they could do was writing some half-breed stuff and only made most of chinese feel ridiculed by them. this author was a typical case since she could use very basic english to describe the chinese she could never quite understand at first hand. it's an elementary writing and, the reading only made me feel more disgusting of these so called chinese american writers,because they could only deform and misinterpretate the people who would never be quite understood by a chinese who grew up like a american and could only think like american and in the meantime, trying to think like a chinese and make a living by writing about chinese! the result would be just similar to american writers tried to write about the chinese or japanese, all they could write were ying-yang or zen, now, even chinese kithen god, ma-jian club were implemented...give me a break
Rating:
Summary: An American Story of Women
Review: This book made me focus since there were so many characters and each was important. Although I learned about the Chinese culture, being first generation American, not Chinese, I can relate to the experiences of the daughters. The emotional connections between the American-Chinese daughters and China were very desciptive. An excellent work
Rating: 
Summary: Dramatic mixture about generation and culture.
Review: The Joy Luck Club is the story about four mothers and four daughters; four Chinese and four ABC (America born Chinese). Being a Chinese, The mothers passed their Chinese heritage to their daughters. The plot is not strong but you can compose the whole story by the different narration of the caractors. The insight about the conflict of culture in not quite in depth, but that is enough if you just want entertainment. It can be a preparatry reading of another book Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kington
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