From the Bookshelf of Gentle SPECTRUMS…

The Joy Luck Club

Amy Tan

Start date: September 16, 2020

Finish date: September 20, 2020

Discussion: A Place For Buddy-Reading

Why we're reading this: This was a wonderfully dynamic, profound cultural journey to take with a friend. I see that Kerri & I rea…more
[close] This was a wonderfully dynamic, profound cultural journey to take with a friend. I see that Kerri & I read it over her birthday!

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A Place For Buddy-Reading

A Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
By C. (Comment,… · 63 posts · 3 views

last updated Oct 05, 2020 08:02AM

"Light A Penny Candle" M Binchy
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last updated Jun 24, 2014 09:17AM

What Members Thought

Jan 17, 2016 Kerri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-to-screen-adaptation, buddy-reads, but-have-you-read-the-book, most-loved, amy-tan

Oh wow, I've been thinking about this review for a while now and it's gotten to the point where I just have to write something, anything!

I really loved this book. It was a buddy read with my friend Carolyn, and it was a great choice for that as there is a lot to discuss and it's very interesting to see what stands out to someone else and why. I had actually read this before, but I only remembered the "lost babies". I had thought that was a revelation from the end of the novel, but it is mentione ...more

88 likes · Like · see review

Sep 20, 2020 C. (Comment, never msg). rated it it was amazing

Shelves: riedel-titles-2020

* I work hard on my writing. I DO NOT want empty like button clicks. Comments, if you have them, are this writer's reward. :) *

After collecting Amy Tan’s well-regarded oeuvres, I needed to start with her story containing ghosts: “The Hundred Secret Senses”. Her characters were realistic, in an original, memorable adventure. I have proceeded 8 years later to her first story: “The Joy Luck Club”, 1989. It is general fiction but immerses us into extraordinary lives with different faces of China: cl * I work hard on my writing. I DO NOT want empty like button clicks. Comments, if you have them, are this writer's reward. :) *

After collecting Amy Tan’s well-regarded oeuvres, I needed to start with her story containing ghosts: “The Hundred Secret Senses”. Her characters were realistic, in an original, memorable adventure. I have proceeded 8 years later to her first story: “The Joy Luck Club”, 1989. It is general fiction but immerses us into extraordinary lives with different faces of China: class, gender, superstitious traditions, the grief of war. Contrasting cultural enrichment justified spotlighting three families, besides Jing-Mei Woo’s. I really liked and related to Lena St. Clair and Rose Hsu Jordan too.

Jing-Mei is 38, whose family knows three other immigrant couples. Each had Daughters. The Mothers and girls tell a story about their birthplaces. Along with Lena and Rose, I sympathized with the Moms in China. I disliked their demanding, critical attitudes in modern day San Francisco, USA. The perceived superficiality of western countries and modern society are commonly criticized, more likely stemming from the changing ages than from countries. Homesickness is understandable and differs from criticism. These women wisely left governments with gender and class inequality. Profound faith accompanies us wherever we are and easily form a part of a Daughter’s modern lifestyle. It is better to blend, not obliterate, mindsets.

This is not about Mah-jongg as I hoped. It is, however, an impressive reinvention of story structures. It sidesteps being a novel and short story suite, by reprising Jing-Mei’s quest with her Father in China at the end. After compassionate glimpses of the women in early life, around whom the girls grew up: Jing-Mei and her Father seek lost relatives. Jing-Mei’s Mother had died, like my Mom this year; which I tenderly related to firsthand. The emotionally happy ending shot my grade to five stars. I would have favoured that story to be the one that was elaborated upon.

* My experience was enriched by reading and discussing this cultural phenomenon with my New Zealander friend, Kerri. ...more

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