“The Joy Luck Club is one of my favorite books. From the moment I first started reading it, I knew it was going to be incredible. For me, it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime reading experiences that you cherish forever. It inspired me as a writer and still remains hugely inspirational.” —Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich AsiansAmy Tan’s beloved, New York Times bestselling tale of mothers and … York Times bestselling tale of mothers and daughters, now the focus of a new documentary Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir on Netflix
Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who’s “saying” the stories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose to gather to raise their spirits and money. “To despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable.” Forty years later the stories and history continue.
With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined. Mothers boast or despair over daughters, and daughters roll their eyes even as they feel the inextricable tightening of their matriarchal ties. Tan is an astute storyteller, enticing readers to immerse themselves into these lives of complexity and mystery.
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Amazing book. I can see why it’s such a classic. The interweaving stories of the eight women – four mothers, four daughters – was so compelling. By seeing the mother and daughter through each others’ eyes, you are able to fully grasp how each of them feels and why. Nobody is presented as “right,” it’s not a story about embracing the American way or the Chinese way. It’s not about how you should be harsher or more lenient to your kids. All it does is implore you to fully understand and appreciate both, to perhaps see how being harsh to your kids can leave them feeling like they’re never good enough, or how resenting your parents can leave them bewildered when they were just trying to give you the tools to excel. To see the wisdom of your parents that you may have rejected, to embrace their culture where before you may have shied from it. But also to appreciate that your daughter is her own person, and that in America her cultural experiences growing up are shaping her differently than your own did.
Loved this book. I read it years ago after checking it out at the library. The characters were well developed. Great ok about mother daughter relationships. Also, I learn quite A bit about Chinese history.
Awesome book! Actually, even after all these years, it still ranks as one of my favorites. It’s epic in its scope and storytelling. A story of generations intersecting. Fabulous!
Tan’s debut novel established her as a writer of immense talent. This is now deservedly a classic of Asian-American literature, a novel not to be missed.
What can I say about this book that hasn’t already been said? I’ve read it twice. Told in a simple language from multiple points of view, this novel has stayed with me and inspired me to write about my own Indian culture. I loved learning about Chinese immigrant attitudes–white people are considered ghosts; fengshui and the Five Elements are key to a harmonious life; the tiger spirit that resides in every woman. Much has been debated about the authenticity of Tan’s depiction of Chinese American attitudes, but the book stands on its own as a very enjoyable, compelling piece of literary fiction. What rang truest for me were the enormous differences in attitudes between the immigrant mothers and their American-born and -raised daughters. Coming from an eastern culture, the differences were similar between my mother and me. And as an Indian immigrant, I could totally relate 🙂
One of the best books I ever read. I cry when I see commercials for the movie and used an entire box of Kleenex when I saw the movie!
This was an incredible story and so beautifully written. One of my all-time favorites!
Very good book filled with magic realism
A great story using relationships and culture. The characters are believable.
Movie was good, the novel is much better.
A real gem from one of my all time favorite authors. A sometimes heart wrenching, often heartwarming story about mothers and daughters.
A great relationship builder (new understanding) for mothers and daughters, people of Eastern and Western cultures, women.
A classic! The first of Amy Tan’s books I read, and it made me a fan ever since. If a book comes out by Amy Tan, I’m getting it!
I liked learning about the Chinese culture and reading about the interactions of the various family members and how their pasts informed their present.
Family and friendship and culture are complicated concepts. Amy Tan is a masterful storyteller and her characters embody all three themes. A story of feminine strength and survival
I really enjoy Amy Tan’s books so much insight into her community. I try to read all of her books
Story telling at its very best. What a wonderful read.
Love this book
This review has been a long time coming. When I was thirteen years old I saw the movie and was in love with the characters and the stories that Amy tan bought to life. So when I saw movie was based on book many years laters. I knew that I one day had to read and do a review. I siting here finally doing just that. I highly recommend this book. I have bought every single Amy Tan book and can’t wait to get into her other books. The way she bought these women stories to life. And I could only image the real snuggles that women and children went during through during war time coming over to American and making a different life for their families that they started. I love reading each women story in this book.
I felt closet each of these characters when reading their stories. I am so glad that I felling read and now I am finally rewatching the movie.
About Book-
Eight women and eight different stories. How a game stated by one woman sho made friends along the way and their daughters became friends. This book about mothers and daughter relationships . And daughters trying to understand their mothers. It funny its sad. Again highly recommend.
I love this book. You get really attached to the characters and the story of their lives.
I read this book for my book club and when I first started it I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but the farther I got into the book the more I enjoyed it. This story represents the present and the past for the four mothers and their daughters, and their families, both in the United States and in China. I do feel that I had trouble at times remembering which daughter went with which mother and had to keep referring to the front of the book, but I found their stories interesting. The mothers were trying to teach their daughters lessons that they had learned in their childhoods and as they were growing up, but also wanted their daughters to be American. These things cannot always be easily intertwined as I learned in the story. It was very entertaining and I am glad that I finally read this book.
Eager to avoid humiliation, embarrassment and unsolicited attention, often times we shy away from tradition, especially in family. In so doing, so much is lost through the years. Take pictures, take TIME, better yet, MAKE time for elderly family. If they are willing to share their little nuances and snippets of childhood, record them in some way. Like Jing, who will forever live in the land of “what if”.