- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books (30 Sep 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0143038095
- ISBN-13: 978-0143038092
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.6 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,639,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Joy Luck Club
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Product Description
Book Description
A stunning reissue of Amy Tan's bestselling classic novel of mothers and daughters.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
A story of four mothers and their first generation Chinese American daughters.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Joy Luck Club follows the lives of a group of Chinese women and daughters living in modern day San Francisco. Not unlike "How to Make an American Quilt" (not sure which came first) the book examines the difficult maternal relationships using flashbacks to various parts of the mother's lives. It is only once you know someone's history that you can understand why a person behaves the way they do.
I love this book. Reading it was one of those rare joys that made me forget who and where I was as I read it. I even managed to read throughout the entire night before noticing that the sun had come up. I had forgotten to go to bed! Beautifully drawn characters, elaborate but not complicated plots, and hauntingly evocative of descriptions of life for women in early 20th century China. The Chinese aspect of the story dominates but women from all cultures will recognise the universal relationships between mothers and daughters. It has even given me a new appreciate for Chinese food! Don't wait for a rainy day - read it now. Sisterhood is global.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have just finished this book, after reading it in one day. The story unfolds through the narrative tales of eight women; four Chinese women who left China for America, and their daughters, who struggle to come to terms with their Chinese American identity. The book is beautifully written, and the personalities of all eight women come through very strongly. The tales of the mothers' lives in China are sensitively combined with the perceptions of the daughters, making the book a moving and beautiful one. I do not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone, but if you enjoyed 'Wild Swans' I think you would especially enjoy this book.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Amy Tan continues to enchant her readers with wondrous but tragic tales of life, loves and disappointments. Having read two of her other works her style is familiar and her ability to tell a story placing layer upon layer of conflicting and often confusing emotions together yet do it with such deft ease and understanding is so enjoyable. There is so much of family relationships of high expectations and perhaps too easy resulting disappointments or at least the character's perception of them. Perhaps though she should try to write something a bit less cynical, less steeped in sorrow and hardship and something with more hope for the future rather than the all too familiar bitter-sweet ending. It does lay life bare in many ways though the hardships gone through in the past (mother's generation) may only have been typical of a certain time and place and the hardships of the present are really mostly of the daughter's own making i.e. they seem not to look for great love merelt something convenient and then end up discarding their modern marriages as easily as they came by them. It does, though, show the value of a strong set of beliefs and traditions by which to live as, although they may seem outdated to the modern generation as in the stories of the daughters who felt more settled with modern (cynical and mistrusting) America than with ancient Chinese customs, the value of believing in something becomes more and more apparent as the younger generation is seen to be part of the throwaway society assigning little value or effort to making things count which is strongly contrasted to the older generation of Chinese born mothers who know what they believe and try to teach their daughters the importance of faith and hope before it is too late. One thing though, it would be easier to follow these separate and basically unrelated tales if each family's tale were told separately so as not to confuse the reader by switching back and forth and back and forth as she does chapter after chapter. Beautiful little tales of pride, hope and tragedy but the characters still seem to lack any confidence in themselves - the older generation still trying to convince themselves to cling onto what little hope they feel they have left (often lived out through their own children) yet the younger generation themselves seeming to not only resent this intrusion into their lives (wishing merely to be left alone in order to just be themselves) yet at the same time giving a sense that they are completely 'lost', neither understanding that love and marriage should mean the same thing nor seeming to really know exactly who or what they really are. Perhaps that's the crux of all of her books, a sense of identity crisis in first generation immigrants.......
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
enjoyable book
This was an interesting, and moving account of several mother/daughter relationships with the usual conflicts added to by the Chinese/Amercan cultural influences. Read more
Published 3 months ago by scot-art
The Joy Luck Club
This book should be read by all westerners, the moms are truly scary. don't worry about the guys, this is a really good read, after this we will all love our westerner moms they... Read more
Published 17 months ago by farmcat
Pleasantly surprised
My sister gave me this book and ordered me to read it. 10 pages in and I was cursing her for making me read another "Divine secrets of ...", but I kept reading. I'm glad I did. Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2010 by liveenl
Great Stories
First, I think one needs to be aware that the book tells the story of three sets of mothers and daughters as individual accounts in first person. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by A Reader's Voice
Amy Tan's 'The Joy Luck Club'
Bought this book as a present for my sister because I know it's good and love the film too. No problems with delivery. Good value. Would recommend.
Published on 29 Nov 2009 by Julie RKV
Fascinating
I'm not really sure what I expected of this book. I think I was expecting there to be more of an ongoing story, rather than flashbacks. Even so, I enjoyed it. Read more
Published on 23 May 2009 by Blatant Biblioholic
The need to belong and the desire to escape
Focussing on a female dominated mother-daughter generation gap and a Chinese-American culture difference Tan mixes social and personality differences to create a broad and... Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2003 by Alex Magpie
Moving, enlightening and a joy to read.
Addressing the differences between cultures and several generations, Amy Tan's novel is an enlightening, involving and thoroughly enjoyable work. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2001 by laura_a_howe@yahoo.co.uk
A moving insight into inter-generational struggles
Set in the US and China, Amy Tan crafts a beautiful story of 4 mothers and their daughters who battle with each other and their inherited cultures. Read more
Published on 28 April 2000
Good thought provoking read
Never having read a book about Chinese culture or family and having picked the book at random I was entranced and informed. Read more
Published on 18 Sep 1999 by andrew@brins.freeserve.co.uk
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