Rating: 
Summary: I'm a Fan of Tan
Review: I have to admit I saw the movie before I read the book but I was so curious I just had to get my hands on it. The book is always better right? Well I have to say I think I enjoyed the movie just as much, if not more, than the book. I guess I'm just a sucker, but what heartache! I felt every betrayal, every lie, every hopeless decision these women had to make in their families lives. If you're a woman, of any race, these books should be a rite of passage. It's so heartwrenching to see what few options these women really had, and how they had to succumb to their husbands wishes in order to keep their families together.
Rating:
Summary: Wow....
Review: I knew this story was going to be amazing, since I saw part of the movie, but who knew it was going to be inspirational. I could relate to this book so much, it was scary. I could see my grandma's constant need to "out-cook" herself and friend. There was also my mother's need to brag about me and try to push me to be better. To GET that extra 3 points on the test. To BE number 1 in the class. I felt I wasn't alone with these feeling of never being good enough for my mom and not being asian enough. I just hope my mom doesn't think I'm ashamed of her, as many of the women felt in the story...
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Summary: the joy luck club
Review: When i read this book i was amazed by the cultural and fun to read book Joy Luck Club was. If you haven't seen the movie i highly recommend that watch it. This book about these chinese women that talk about the thier lives moving to the states is amazing. It shows us that coming during a time of war and famine wasn't easy for these women. And that we think that we havetrouble sometimes but they show us it isn't or wasn't easier for them. This was a wonerful book that i highly recommend.
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Summary: Excellent Novel!!!!
Review: The Joy Luck Club was an excellent book. It touched on an area that not many books usually discuss. It was about Chinese mothers and their American daughter's relationships. It was quite a moving story, and some of the mother's stories were quite woeful. The daughters all had hidden secrets from their mothers and the mothers vice versa. Each chapter was from the perspective of a different character who sat at the Joy Luck Club; a club where a group of women would sit, talk, and play mah jong. The daughters were to carry out the tradition.I found myself able to relate to some of the chapters with the daughters and it was such an alleviation to me that this matter had been struck with such accuracy. To me, this story was a quick relief because it pleased me to know that there was a book that touched on mother/daughter relationships in Asia.
Rating: 
Summary: A Solid Read...
Review: It is a story of 4 strongly bonded Chinese born and raised women who immigrate to the US in the mid-1950s, and their American born and raised daughters. It chronicles the history of their lives in China and the sacrifice of giving their children a better way of life. Each women has their own story of struggle, love, of being caged and not free, of living in a Chinese society that was not them. But the fact is, these American born daughters don't understand their Chinese mothers and their Chinese ways. Can a Chinese woman still be an American at the same time? The daughers have been raised in a Chinese environment, but think and act American, a concept that been the barrier to understanding mother and daughter. Each daughter has taken a lifetime in trying to understand their own mothers but never getting it right; never knowing that all their mothers want for them, is for them to live their life in happiness, to be strong and to know who they are. The Joy Luck Club, for me, is difficult to explain the concept of the story and what it means. Some people won't understand while others will completely understand. I am an Asian adoptee, and I understand the part of being American raised and not understanding the ways of my heritage. I've met other young people who are born and raised in America whilst their mothers and/or fathers are from their native Asian country. While the element for their heritage is strong within the family, I have found that my Asian peers think the same as the offspring of the Chinese women in the book: that their mothers (and fathers) are stuck in a place and time that does not fit in the modern world of America; that their past lives in China, Korea, Japan etc. still exist in a place that is radically different. You just have to judge for yourself. I found this book very poignant, moving, lyrical and very poetic. Amy Tan's way of choosing just the right combo of words to evoke such imagery is incredible. You literally see what she has written on paper. It is both sad and triumphant at the same time. These Chinese women gave up their way of life in order to become stronger, wiser and to pass on their spirit of memories, their life long lessons learned, to their daughters.
Rating:
Summary: The Joy Luck Club
Review: Have you ever heard of a book called The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. A book full of imagery, good choice of words that created pictures comes to life as if it was happen right in front of your own eyes. From the scale from one to ten, i would have to give it a nine because of the author careful of words. I love the way that Amy Tan created the picturso real "the peak looked like giant fried fish head trying to jump out of a vat of oil". The book comprised with many different types like mystery, adventure, romance, and fiction. if you like these type of book then you would love to read The Joy Luck Club.
This book is about how a daughter trying to learn her mother's secret with the help of her mother's best friend. But the story also included of the other four members and their daughter whom also came to the u.s during the world war 2. Each women tells thier stories throught flashback ans their recall of the difficult time growning up. when you finish this book i garantee you would want to read it over again
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Summary: the relationship between mothers and daughters
Review: The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan was one of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. The story is about four women who came from China to America and how their experiences affected the lives of their daughters. The women are reminders to their daughters of their heritage in America. I could relate to this book because I am South Asian and my mother had made many struggles to come from Pakistan to America. She reminds me of the true importance of my identity as a woman and a minority. I could relate to many of the issues the daughters go through with their mothers and reading this book also shows the perspective of the mothers. The Joy Luck Club brings up very realistic issues between the relationship of a mother and daughter.
Jing-mei has to take her mother’s place playing mahjong since she has passed away. Her mother had organized this gathering in China and had started it again in San Francisco as the Joy Luck Club. The purpose of the Joy Luck Club is to reward oneself and spend time with family and friends and enjoy food. Jing-mei is told of something she needs to do in order to carry on her mother’s last wishes. The aunties guide her into memories and stories that she must remember her mother by and to carry out her duties as a daughter.
This book has a lot to do with remembering your heritage while living in America and to appreciate your parents. After reading this book I had realized the importance of my own family, especially the women, and what the sacrifices they had made for their children.
Finding yourself within your heritage and going back to your history is something so powerful that it never leaves you and it becomes a part of you, your values and your life. Although I may not understand everything my mother tells me because of the language and culture barrier we have between each other, after reading this book I had realized that there is more importance in making the effort to do so.
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Summary: Claim Your Voice
Review: Having read Nancy Friday's, "My Mother/Myself," before reading this book, and having discovered that my life mission is to guide women and girls to earn trust in themselves, I was definitely prepared for this book. Amy Tan put into several short stories, what Nancy Friday put into a pyschological guide. Before any woman can be free to live her own life, she must understand, accept and appreciate where she begins and her mother ends, in each of their interactions. And societal expectations can play a big impact on this challenge for all of us. In this novel, 4 Chinese mothers, who grew up during China's war with Japan pass on that universal and unspoken rule that says that to be female is to not process your thoughts, and speak through your own voice. I recommend everyone read this book, while you think about your own experiences, and how they compare. You will be amazed at how Ms. Tan has told your childhood story, no matter what your race or socioeconomics are. And as you note your story, through this story, share your stories with other women and girls, so that we all benefit from knowing that we can love our mothers, while we break free of the symbiotic bond that has for too long held us back.
Rating:
Summary: The joy Luck club
Review: Four women, all from China started The Joy Luck Club. Amy Tan wrote The Joy Luck Club. This book tells the story of what these women went through to get out of China; it also has the stories of their daughters who are all first generation Americans. This is a fictional book, but has some real events. At some points this book is sad, but in others very funny. In one part a girl has a matchmaker who chooses who she will marry when she turns twelve, a girl who's mother kills herself to save her daughter, and all that is wrong will hopefully be right in America.
I really enjoyed this book, and I think the author was trying to show how hard it was to be a Chinese girl, growing up in a time when only men were excepted in to society. This book is wonderful and beautifully written; I defiantly suggest reading this book.
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Summary: Reflections
Review: The Joy Luck Club reflects back and forth between the lives of four Chinese women and their struggles with their past in China in1949. As they relate their lives to their daughters who are Americanized they tell about great struggles and inner strengths that made them who they are. The novel kicks off at a mah jong table where June takes her late mothers place in the Joy Luck Club with all her mothers' friends as they celebrate June going to China to meet her twin sisters and tell them about the death of their mother. Through out the novel, the mothers tell their stories of horrible tragedies and inner triumphs as they each envy the lives of their daughters and teach them about their past. Tan does a great job in describing the depth of misery that brought these women to find strength that they would have never known they had if it hadn't been for the circumstances given. Tan makes me feel that I am right there feeling the characters pain and then rejoicing in their glory of freedom of spirit! It is sometimes easy to become confused on which story connects with the other. Despite that, each story is interesting. The book deals with all types of real life struggles mothers and daughters face now and have faced in the past. Although many of the stories deal with Chinese customs, many of the other stories are universally experienced by all women at one time or another. The characters deal with issues such as rape, divorce, failure and abandonment. The mothers and daughters experience love and hate, happiness and despair. Amy Tan introduces all of the characters in the present, but then takes them back to their childhood through their memories. Each woman eventually becomes related to the other women as the stories become more complex. It explores old Chinese customs in detail, as well as the responsibility and honor the Chinese hold for their family. The way she ties in Chinese culture with the adaptation of American life gives the reader a chance to see how other cultures are. I like exploring into different unique culture because they are unique, interesting and mainly because I am tired of witnessing the American culture and that I thrive for something new. I enjoy playing mah jong on the internet. It is widely played in Chinese culture. It is a game of skill and wits. The mothers and daughters played the game with actual pieces. Overall I like the book it tells about the Chinese being discriminated in the U.S.A. I think any feminist hesitate to reading this book. This book taught me sometimes how cruel this country can be.
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