Rating: 
Summary: A wonderul book fulll of humour and emotion
Review: The displacement that comes of being brought up in two diametrically different cultures and societies is the underlying theme running though the Kitchen God's Wife. Through this Amy Tan weaves a touching often tragic story of a woman's life, her relationships with her husbands, her friends and most importantly her daughter. For anyone who has ever had to grown up torn between two polarised worlds this book is a must. It is about love and communication, about strength through adversity and above all hope. At then end of the novel Pearl learns to give in to the brand of love and support her mother has to offer and by doing this learns much about herself. Mother and daughter go through a healing process and reach a better understanding of each other. I read the last page, eyes blurred with tears remembering how many times I shrugged off my own mothers attempts to get close to me, to comfort me in the name of what?. No man is an island and certainly no woman. When I finished this book I understood my own growing pains. This book struck a chord with me and I urge all, women especially to read this. You will see the world and yourself so much clearer.
Rating: 
Summary: Kitchen God's Wife-a must read
Review: The Kitchen God's Wife starts out differently than you would have expected. The start and the end share a bond being told by the daughter but the middle, that is where the true story comes in. A tale of a mother whose life was as good as she made it out to be. Winnie always thought less of herself and higher of others. She was brought up to believe that she was always wrong and that her evil husband was always right and if she disagreed that she deserved to punished. An amazing story filled with chinese culture that does not sound like a history lesson, this book keeps the readers attention and is wonderfully written. You become part of the story as you read it and therefore, seem to be living Winnie's life along with her. Along with all of the hardships and all of the joys. If you have a heart you will be drawn into this book. I had to read this book for an assignment but it turned out that i actually enjoyed this novel and other works by Amy Tan. A book for those who have lost all hope, but somehow still find enough to keep going and remain strong throughout their entire lives. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: This is an interesting book. I learned quite a bit about China's history, although insight into culture appears to be tainted. The characters appear so full-blown and over exaggerated that it felt more like I was reading a Batman comic than a genuine human events story. Her writing style is clear, but it is too cute. Short, cute little phrases, and cute little sayings. Like she's been living on a cream puff for thirty years.
Rating:
Summary: Never-ending Hope
Review: I loved the Joy Luck Club and decided to read this book never expecting to identify so much with Winnie. There were passages near the end of the book that I highlighted because the message was so provoking and inspirational. Hope seems to be the driving force for Winnie and I cried when I realized that Pearl was the living manefestation of the love Winnie had for her past children. There was no resentment for Pearl because of who her father was and how she was conceived, on the contrary, loved all the more because of who Pearl's brother and sisters were. There is no comparison to the depth of a mother's love. Amy, please write another book soon!
Rating: 
Summary: Way too long
Review: First, let me praise Ms. Tan's writing style. Her descriptions of Chinese life in the middle of this century are crisp and soulful. Reading this book gave me a great desire to wander the streets of Shanghai and buy crane scissors in crowded marketplaces. Unfortunately, the book is about twice as long as it needs to be. By the halfway point, I was feeling like a weary boxer in the late rounds. Ms. Tan delivers her point with the subtlety of a sledgehammer over and over and over again: Winnie led a horrible life (whack), Winnie led a horrible life (whack), etc. This is "victim fiction"- wallowing in the helpless martyrdom of one woman vs. society. The theme of a lone woman struggling against the partiarchy can make for incredible storytelling, as in the work of Maya Angelou or Barbara Kingsolver. But here, this struggle becomes tedious, as the book traces the lives of one-dimensional characters who make the same mistakes ad infinitum. If the editor had done his job and trimmed off about 150 pages, this book might have become a tight and powerful tale. But these days, everyone wants to write the next "War and Peace".
Rating:
Summary: The Struggle of Chinese Women
Review: Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan is a fascinating book. The author weaves the stories of two women: mother and daughter. The two stories of the two women contradict each other perfectly. The experieces of the mother goes through is funny and sexual. The mother goes through failed marriages in China, but then her last husband turned out to be one she loves. Her husband brought her to America and their daughter become Americanized. The book is enriched of Chinese traditions and culture about family and life. Tan expresses vivid imagery and beautiful descriptions that makes the book come alive. She puts great emphasize of being a strong Chinese woman and trying to succeed in the world of selfish men. This book almost sounds like the Joy Luck, expect the book puts more emphasize on the relation of one mother and one daughter instead of including the friends of mothers and daughters.
Rating:
Summary: An Emotional Roller-coaster Ride
Review: This is the first and only book of Amy Tan that I read so far and I must say that I look forward to reading more of her books.What fascinates and captivates the reader to the mesmerizing and at times tedious details of the story telling is the undertones of the Chinese culture and customes. The story telling in itself is intriguing; story telling is part and parcel of any ancient culture. The more ancient the culture, the more invigorating the storylines become. I myself come from India and I know an ancient culture of India has produced so many stories. Chinese culture is also very ancient and so there is no scarsity for the gems of stories in that culture. The natural flow of the story and its rich treasures of chinese customs, beliefs and superstitions are such as to make any reader believe that Amy Tan is truly Chinese in her heart however Americanised she is or she has become. Even though there are glimpses of American culture here and there in the story, they fade in comparison to the treasurehouse of the oriental culture amply presented. A longing for the ancestral land cultivates its own dreams and hopes and they are hard to die even in the minds of someone who has got assimilated to a different culture. I must confess that I have not read many novels with Chinese Cultural underflow. The only other author I have been fortunate to read is Pearl S. Buck who is an American who lived most of her life in China. Her books are rich treasurehouses of Chinese customs, beliefs, superstitions and they brim with compassion. Probably only her unique mindset can perform dissection of complex human nature and present them to average reader in a golden platter of easy comprehension. I cannot help thinking that there is an eerie similarity between these two authors in their ability in tackling complex human psychology, in their ability in tackling formidable circumstances that befall and turns every one's life topsy-turvy and yet being able to find a practical solution to get out of the loop, in their ability in finding compassion that overpowers the extremities of human nature, in their endearing embrace of the good old optimism that comes and redeems us like a peaceful night at the end of a long turbulent day! The natural flow of the story is such that I was at times fooled to believe that the author is writing her own life story! This is an unforgettable roller-coaster ride through seemingly uncharted areas of the darkest ebbs of evil that human mind is capable of parenting. The fortitude displayed by an innocent chinese wife in putting up with these atrocities probably knows no parallel. It is heartbreaking for the reader to witness this torture chamber of cruelties, especially to witness an innocent baby getting beaten over and over again by her father. The concept of faith takes a new meaning here; only faith and hope can probably enbolden human mind to endure this unspeakable array of events, to make us believe that somewhere over the rainbow there is a dream as bright as tomorrow morning! She finally realized that dream in getting rid of her husband and starting her life anew in USA. Years later, she probably would be making a pilgrimage in search of chinese medicine to alleviate her daughter's malady. She probably would be coming a full circle in returning to her motherland that beckons her like a comfortable cradle and promises a medicine to her daughter's disease. Of course, there is nothing like home!
Rating:
Summary: A Book That Touched My Heart!
Review: I'm a very finicky 17 year old. What I find in a book must be very intriguing and interesting for me to finish it. I've read Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses. Unfortunetly I found them to be poorly written. However, The Kitchen God's Wife struck me hard! It was extremely emotional and contained a theme that really got to me: Human Nature.
Rating:
Summary: It gets better every time
Review: I've read The Kitchen God's Wife five times, and each time it has only gotten better. I've always found the beginning part where Pearl is narrating to be a bit tedious, but I've read this book so many times that now it just flies by. This is a book for women of all ages.
Rating:
Summary: It tells of female emotional strength and maternal love
Review: Amy Tan does it all the time. She knows exactly how to make your heart sing, cry, sympathize, wonder etc. all at once. Winnie is just such a strong individual and I really wonder how she managed to survive, but I think every battered wife and every fearful female should read `The Kitchen God's Wife'. As in `Joy Luck Club', the mother-daughter relationship plays a vital role in the book and I must confess: it is Amy Tan who made me think so much and so hard about my relationship with my mother. Chinese mothers can really be so puzzling and unpredictable because their culture brings in so many supernatural forces, superstitions, beliefs which may sound completely absurd to Westerners and other unthinkable aspects which are very much alive in their traditions. Even if you don't have a Chinese mother, `The Kitchen God's Wife' still digs deep into your thoughts and makes you reconsider just how well you know your mother. Just read it. If you open your heart to it, it will change your life.
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