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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Good read. A woman trying to care for her mother her has alzhiemers, who comes across a journal written by her mother at a time when she knew she was starting to forget. The story goes back and forth from the present to the mother's past life in China.
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nossa! Que livro triste! Ver como a culpa de LuLing determinou toda a sua infelicidade no decorrer de sua vida é bem triste. O livro é dividido em três partes. A 1ª narra a vida Ruth. Como ela cresceu com as supertições da mãe, tentando se adequar aos costumes americanos e o sentimento de inadequação e vergonha. As duas brigavam com frequência, especialmente porque LuLing sempre teve mau humor e histórico de depressão. Está em um relacionamento com Art e mora com duas enteadas, é ghostwriter e ocupada para a mãe a maior parte do tempo, até que esta aparenta sinais de demência. Não saber como lidar com a mãe gera a motivação para enfim traduzir/ler um manuscrito (em mandarim) que LuLing entregou a ela há anos. A 2ª parte é sobre a vida de LuLing na China. Quando criança, LuLing cresceu em uma família de fabricantes de tinta. A pessoa mais importante de sua vida era a babá, Precious Auntie (a filha do restaurador de ossos), uma mulher misteriosa que tinha cicatrizes graves e era incapaz de falar. LuLing se comunicava com ela por escritos e gestos e atuava como tradutora para o resto da família. No documento, LuLing revela eventos da vida de Precious Auntie: ela era muito bonita, e sua beleza acabou atraindo propostas de casamento de Chang (fabricante de caixões) e Uncle Baby, de quem aceitou a proposta por estar apaixonada. O casal havia tido relação sexual e, no dia do casamento, Uncle Baby, seguindo a tradição, acompanhou Precious Auntie e seu pai até sua casa junto com presentes da família da noiva. Esses presentes incluíam “ossos de dragão” que foram encontrados em cavernas nas montanhas próximas e usados em rituais de cura. O grupo foi atacado por bandidos. Pai e noivo foram mortos e todos os objetos de valor, roubados. Precious Auntie estava convencida de que o ataque foi planejado por Chang como vingança. Foi levada para a casa da família do noivo para se recuperar de sua dor, mas, em desespero, tentou se matar bebendo tinta ardente. Isso a deixou com cicatrizes e incapaz de falar. Quando percebem que ela estava grávida, a bebê é adotada pelo tio e ela vira sua babá, não revelendo a verdade a LuLing, até que aos 15 anos foi considerada a ser esposa de um dos filhos de Chang. A babá foi contra e escreveu carta explicando o porquê, contando toda a verdade, inclusive ser sua mãe. A adolescente ignorou e quando questionada sobre a leitura, mentiu que leu e que não se importava com o que havia sido dito. Em desespero, Precious Auntie se matou, e só depois disso, LuLing leu o documento. A família agora acreditava que LuLing estava associada à má sorte, então a enviaram para um orfanato, tornou-se professora e se casou com um homem que amava, morto na guerra. LuLing foi para a América, casou-se novamente e deu à luz Ruth. No entanto, ficou viúva quando Ruth era bebê, então ela a criou sozinha. LuLing sempre se encheu de arrependimento e tristeza pelo que aconteceu com sua mãe. A 3ª parte conclui a história. Ruth percebe depois de fazer a tradução o quão turva era sua compreensão da vida de sua mãe. Isso traz mais respeito, amor, perdão e cuidado de uma para a outra. Ela começa a escrever uma história com sua própria voz pela primeira vez. Meu primeiro livro da autora e achei a escrita de Amy Tan sensível e detalhista; gostei bastante!
"The other day Ruth's mother called her. She sounded like her old self, scared and fretful. "Luyi," she said, and she spoke quickly in Chinese, "I'm worried that I did terrible things to you when you were a child, that I hurt you very much. But I can't remember what I did...." "There's nothing-" Ruth began. "I just wanted to say that I hope you can forget just as I've forgotten. I hope you can forgive me, because if I hurt you, I'm sorry." After they hung up, Ruth cried for an hour she was so happy. It was not too late for them to forgive each other and themselves. (…) After all, Bao Bomu says, what is the past but what we choose to remember?"
""LuLing had told her that when she was fourteen, this nursemaid killed herself in a gruesome way that was "too bad to say." Whatever means the nursemaid used, she also made LuLing believe it was her fault. Precious Auntie was the reason her mother was convinced she could never be happy, why she always had to expect the worst, fretting until she found it.""
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Enjoyed the complex layers of mother/daughter relationship. Enjoyed Ruth’s story a lot, her childhood and how she copes (or doesn’t cope) with her ailing parent. Did not enjoy the EXCESS rumination/overthinking. Page after page of it just to get to another plot point.
Halfway enjoyed the entire Part 2, the deep dive into said parent’s past. It was def carefully written and planned out, but much of it was... well, I kept wanting to skip forward. Did not need so much of it.
The ending—the nice pretty bow—while completely unbelievable, did bring a smile to my face. All of it was so perfect, and I guess I cared enough about the characters (nod to Tan’s writing) to be happy for them.
Halfway enjoyed the entire Part 2, the deep dive into said parent’s past. It was def carefully written and planned out, but much of it was... well, I kept wanting to skip forward. Did not need so much of it.
The ending—the nice pretty bow—while completely unbelievable, did bring a smile to my face. All of it was so perfect, and I guess I cared enough about the characters (nod to Tan’s writing) to be happy for them.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not everyone can or will appreciate this book to the same degree, and it's not all a matter of personal preference. Some people have experienced what Ruth and LuLing, our principal characters, experience herein. Whether you are a woman, a mother, a daughter, the child of immigrants, an immigrant, or specifically if you are Chinese, this book will strike several chords with you. If you are none or only one of these things, you will likely not relate to much of the content. I personally relate to almost all of these criteria, so for me, it was a powerful, sad, sweet, intriguing, mysterious and--at times--creepy tale. It checked a lot of boxes!
I didn't have any specific problems with this book, except that it didn't stay with me. The writing is skilful, the characters relatable and the descriptions aptly long. What pushes something to a 5-star rating, however, is the lasting effect it has on me. Some books contain written passages I will remember for years to come. Others contain characters I think about after I read those final words. This book contained neither, even though none of its individual elements were lacking.
The weakest characters and subplots were those surrounding Ruth's boyfriend and his family. I really disliked them all, and didn't want to read about them. They were disrespectful to Ruth and her mother. If they were erased from the book and replaced with more material about either Ruth's or LuLing's childhood, I would have liked this book more.
Overall, this was a highly enjoyable read. Some parts more so than others, but I will definitely pick up more of Tan's work in future.
I didn't have any specific problems with this book, except that it didn't stay with me. The writing is skilful, the characters relatable and the descriptions aptly long. What pushes something to a 5-star rating, however, is the lasting effect it has on me. Some books contain written passages I will remember for years to come. Others contain characters I think about after I read those final words. This book contained neither, even though none of its individual elements were lacking.
The weakest characters and subplots were those surrounding Ruth's boyfriend and his family. I really disliked them all, and didn't want to read about them. They were disrespectful to Ruth and her mother. If they were erased from the book and replaced with more material about either Ruth's or LuLing's childhood, I would have liked this book more.
Overall, this was a highly enjoyable read. Some parts more so than others, but I will definitely pick up more of Tan's work in future.
Great story that demonstrates the dramatic changes for Chinese women over the course of three short generations. Compelling, occasionally heart-breaking, but ultimately joyful.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes