Rating: 
Summary: Complex relationship betw Chinese mothers and daughters
Review:
The always complex relationships between mothers and daughters seems to be even more so between Chinese mothers and daughters - and most extremely so when the daughters are American-born. Amy Tan's multi-layered family tale is set against the backdrop of her mother's progressive Alzheimer's and the confusion of past with present that is a recurring and ever-worsening problem for both the mother, Lu Ling, and her daughter, Ruth. Much of the tale is told through a series of journals Lu Ling kept when she was a young woman in China, and the comparison between her situation then and now is poitnant.
Not quite The Joy Luck Club, but very, very good.
Rating:
Summary: Tan Successfully Explores Mother-Daughter Relations Again
Review: Like many people, my introduction to Amy Tan was her novel, The Joy Luck Club. Thus, I was unsurprised to find another story, still exploring relationships between mothers and daughters, over time, culture changes, and intangibles that somehow seemed to keep a perceived chasm in their ability to communicate with one another. This story of a Chinese American woman raised by her mother- who had come alone to the United States believing in the certainty that she and her child were doomed. It is also about the attempts of her daughter to understand her mother and herself. The book is excellent, though I heard it on cassette tapes. I believe this made my experience of absorbing this story much richer, because one professional actress delivers the narrative, and the voice of the daughter's story, and I believe the voice of the mother, telling her story is read by the author herself. This enhances the book because of the pronounciation of the Chinese words, spoken correctly by both readers, the faint accent of the mother, and the frequently humerous hysterical imitations of the mother's english. It's an excellent book especially for those of us daughters seeking to understand both our mothers, and through them, ourselves.
Rating:
Summary: The Bonesetter's Daughter
Review: As in other books, Amy Tan uses the stylistic writing of weaving stories from both the past and the present. The Bonesetter's Daughter starts with a short section about a young girl and her nursemaid, Precious Auntie. The two communicate in a silent language understood only by them. The reader then finds that the young girl, whose name is LuLing, now lives in San Francisco with a grown daughter named Ruth. The story then jumps to the present with Ruth. She is a "ghostwriter," one who interprets the words of others and then transcribes them into a written form, of self-help books. As the novel progresses, the reader finds that Ruth has a complicated life. She tries to find care for her mother, who is most likely suffering from Alzheimer's, but at the same time, does not want it to affect her personal life with the man she lives with, Art. In the end, the reader finds that Ruth views are forever changed because of clarifications she has found out in the story.
This book had both positive and perhaps only one negative aspect. Firstly, this book has dominantly simple vocabulary, so it is not difficult to understand. Another one of the positive, interesting things found in books by Amy Tan is how the events skip from time period to time period, yet they can be put together in the end and make sense. Tan also has to skill to create images in the mind that made one think deeply about what was going on in the novel. For example, when LuLing was in China and about to venture on a journey, she said, "[Her] heart wobbled, but [her] mind was firm." This one phrase made me think for quite a while about what kind of feeling this could be. Another aspect I like in this novel is Tan's inclusion of Chinese culture, such as superstitions of marriage and thoughts of the afterlife. The best part about his novel, to me, is how Tan reminds us to appreciate those we have in our life; that we should not reject them or ignore them because they are older or senile. Memories and experiences in life should be remembered because they help guide us in future experiences and situations. The only parts which I did not like about this book, though, was how at times the reading became slow and interest was lost. Other than that though, I would highly recommend this book, especially with readers who have an interest in Chinese culture or enjoy the other novels of Amy Tan, such as The Joy Luck Club or The Kitchen God's Wife.
Rating: 
Summary: My Review
Review: Chinese New Year just seemed to me to be an auspicious day to review this book. However, unlike the majority of the literate portion of the world, this was actually my first Tan novel, and although it rambled a bit in places, I found it quite similar to Chinese cuisine - satisfying while in progress, but leaving you hungry in a few hours.
Sorry to say that after finishing it just a few hours ago, I can't remember very much of it, even though I clearly recall finding certain parts quite intriguing.
The relationship between the generations of women was a key issue, backed up by as much calligraphy as was found in the movie "Hero", and included a National Geographic type-special on Peking Man and his/her bones.
Ruth Young is dealing with a career, a family, and a mother in the early throes of dementia. Her fiercely independent mother has kept a diary, to remind her of the rich, troubled and life-changing events that shaped her life, and ultimately her daughter's life. It is into this diary that Ruth plunges to find the missing piece of her past that has eluded her for so long.
Ruth's dealings with her mother are nowhere near as intriguing as the relationship between her mother and the woman who raised her, and some of the stories could be called "My Big Fat Chinese Family". Very noticeable is that men do not feature here as key players, relegated to being either gentle support figures, brutes, or dumb animals.
Not a bad book to start the Year of the Rooster, but nothing to crow about either.
Amanda Richards, February 9, 2005
Rating:
Summary: my first Amy Tan - excellent
Review: Five stars for this book, which I listened to unabridged on tape, narrated by Joan Chen and Amy Tan. It's disappointing to read other reviewers feel this book is too similar to Tan's other works.
Rating:
Summary: I'm beginning to sense a pattern here.
Review: I read the Joy Luck Club as my first exposure to Amy Tan's writing. I thoroughly enjoyed it then, but after reading this, I'm beginning to see a pattern in Tan's writing.You have a Chinese-American daughter who doesn't understand or appreciate her mother's odd superstitions and customs. As the mother ages though, the daughter eventually learns her mother's whole story, and learns to appreciate where her mother is coming from. The daughter discovers that her mother is a remarkable woman and deserves her respect. With her newfound respect for her mother, their relationship grows stronger, and you have a sentimental ending. That said, while Tan seems to cash in on same themes in her writing, I still think it works. The story contained in The Bonesetter's Daughter is engaging, worthwhile, and tragic. This book held my interest well and as such allowed me to finish it in less than a week. This book is well constructed - with LuLing's (the mother's) story contained between two sections involving her younger daughter Ruth. While Ruth and her live-in boyfriend (with his two daughters) struggle to stay connected, Ruth has to deal with a mother who is increasingly unable to live by herself and manage her own affairs. Ruth is wearing out as her mother, her boyfriend, and her work all demand her attention. She moves in to take care of her mother and in their old house is faced with her childhood memories. One night she discovers many pages of chinese calligraphy her mother had written years ago. Unable to fluently read her mother's story, she hires a translator to reveal her mother's secrets. The translated story reveals the truth about LuLing's upbringing and ancestry in rural China, her adventures in love, and her struggle to escape during World War II. When Ruth finally learns all of this, her life seems to fall back into place, but I'll leave the details for you to read the book yourself. I think this book is a worthwhile read for a Christmas break - a good escape from reality for a brief time, and who knows - maybe you can learn something about your own family relationships.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I think this is the best book Amy Tan has ever written! It is better than her other books, which are great too. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A MESSAGE TO CERTAIN OTHER REVIEWERS
Review: I would like you to know this is a great novel. Amy Tan is excellent. Everybody knows that. But how dare anyone "tear out" a chapter of a book because of "raunchy" language? You have no right to personally edit someone else's creation. That's appalling You should be ashamed of yourself :(
Rating: 
Summary: Another Saga of the Chinese Mother-Daughter
Review: If this is your first Amy Tan book, then you will probably like it. However, if you've read the others, then this is just a tedious rehash of what she has already written. American born daughter, Chinese born mother. Chinese born mother who struggled in China against horrible men, an unforgiving society, and so on. The story never changes. The American born daughter is always the same in every book, as is the comparison of the two generations. I liked her first book, the Joy Luck Club. That was fresh and original. But then she just repeated it with the Kitchen God's Wife, which was just a continuation and a rehash of the first. I only got halfway through it before it got just too repetitive. I skipped her third book because the plot sounded too familiar. This one I took out of the library, and got about halfway through before I just had to put it to rest. Same story, same characters, just different names. It would be nice if Tan could write something original, instead of this same worn out theme. Unless you're interested in re-re-re-reading the Joy Luck Club, pass this one by.
Rating:
Summary: My first meeting with Amy Tan
Review: In one of my online book groups The Bonesetters Daughter was coming up as this months read. I live in Norway, and if I don't buy books through mail, there are not many English books available here. I had bought my share of amazon books for the month, and thought I had to pass this one. Then, while browsing one of the bookshops downtown I bumped into it, and decided to skip lunch a couple of days to buy it. Anyway, books are more important than food! Started the book almost at once, and got into it right away. The book tells the story of Ruth Young, and her mother LuLing Liu Young. LuLing Liu Young is in her eighties, and has started her fight agains Alzheimer disease. She came to USA from China as a young woman, and has lived almost all her grown up life in San Francisco. Her daughter Ruth also live in SF, with her lover and his two daughters. Ruth has a difficult relationship with her mother, and fails to understand her. But as LuLings disease gets worse Ruth decides to move in with her mother. This is also a good excuse for Ruth to have some distance to her live in man, trying to find out if their relationship is something they can save. And now alot of things from her childhood get it's explanation. Her mother has had her lifestory written down, and when Ruth gets help to translate this and reads the story, we are taken back to a China very far from the modern USA today. The story is told with annexation, humor and love, and Ruth manage to handle her own life now when she understand the past. This is a love story, love between mother and daughter.Love which is there in spite of all the difficulties such a close relationship give. And it is a story about a mother and a daughter discovering that they are bond together by bones, though their lives are very different. I'm very glad I found this book, and now, after reading my first Amy Tan novel I know that I will read more.
|
