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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
A long-time fan of Amy Tan's writing, I was recently going through some of my books to determine which could be released in my BookCrossing.com releases when I can upon The Bonesetter's Daughter. I immediately sat down to reread it in order to determine whether it might be a helpful read for my mother, whose relationship with her own mother has several parallels with this book.
::: The Plot :::
For those unfamiliar with Amy Tan's writing, her books usually center on family relationships between a Chinese-American daughter (or daughters) and her immigrant Chinese mother. In The Bonesetter's Daughter, our narrator is Ruth, who has been raised by her superstitious and often depressed mother LuLing. Ruth's father died when she was a toddler, and the two have a complex relationship that is changed irrevocably when Ruth's mother is diagnosed with dementia.
Ruth has a complicated life of her own even before her mother's diagnosis. She lives with a man who has never asked her to marry him, and he shares custody of his two adolescent daughter. After a very confusing visit with LuLing to the doctor, Ruth finds a translator for the pages of writing that her mother gave her months before, and so discovers the truths of her mother's life, a story Ruth hadn't ever known.
While Ruth learns about herself and her mother through LuLing's story as well as her disease, she also works through her long-term relationship with her boyfriend, as well as her mother's history with LuLing's sister.
::: Universal Truths :::
I actually read The Bonesetter's Daughter quite some time ago. Little did I know at the time that my mother's own mother would begin to show the same signs as LuLing, and my mother's relationship with her mother has many complications, much as Ruth's with LuLing had.
Even without that parallel, The Bonesetter's Daughter is a story of mothers and daughters across two generations, and the themes are universal: the struggle of an adolescent daughter to separate herself from her mother, and the struggle of an adult daughter to reconcile herself with her mother as a separate person, while also resolving the adolescent relationship that many mothers and daughters seem to continue.
At times, the reader feels almost bludgeoned with the idea that you have to resolve your relationship with your mother before it is too late, both in Ruth's relationship with LuLing only being worked on once she realizes her mother is in the throes of dementia, and in LuLing's relationship with her own mother left forever unresolved after her death.
However, Tan's ability to take her own relationship with her mother (who died of Alzheimer's) and put it into the pages of this story give the characters a reality that is felt by the reader, and prevents the story from becoming the fable that it could have become.
::: Overall :::
Any fan of Amy Tan's writing will enjoy The Bonesetter's Daughter, but I also think that any daughter, or any mother, will find bits and pieces of her own life in this book.
::: The Plot :::
For those unfamiliar with Amy Tan's writing, her books usually center on family relationships between a Chinese-American daughter (or daughters) and her immigrant Chinese mother. In The Bonesetter's Daughter, our narrator is Ruth, who has been raised by her superstitious and often depressed mother LuLing. Ruth's father died when she was a toddler, and the two have a complex relationship that is changed irrevocably when Ruth's mother is diagnosed with dementia.
Ruth has a complicated life of her own even before her mother's diagnosis. She lives with a man who has never asked her to marry him, and he shares custody of his two adolescent daughter. After a very confusing visit with LuLing to the doctor, Ruth finds a translator for the pages of writing that her mother gave her months before, and so discovers the truths of her mother's life, a story Ruth hadn't ever known.
While Ruth learns about herself and her mother through LuLing's story as well as her disease, she also works through her long-term relationship with her boyfriend, as well as her mother's history with LuLing's sister.
::: Universal Truths :::
I actually read The Bonesetter's Daughter quite some time ago. Little did I know at the time that my mother's own mother would begin to show the same signs as LuLing, and my mother's relationship with her mother has many complications, much as Ruth's with LuLing had.
Even without that parallel, The Bonesetter's Daughter is a story of mothers and daughters across two generations, and the themes are universal: the struggle of an adolescent daughter to separate herself from her mother, and the struggle of an adult daughter to reconcile herself with her mother as a separate person, while also resolving the adolescent relationship that many mothers and daughters seem to continue.
At times, the reader feels almost bludgeoned with the idea that you have to resolve your relationship with your mother before it is too late, both in Ruth's relationship with LuLing only being worked on once she realizes her mother is in the throes of dementia, and in LuLing's relationship with her own mother left forever unresolved after her death.
However, Tan's ability to take her own relationship with her mother (who died of Alzheimer's) and put it into the pages of this story give the characters a reality that is felt by the reader, and prevents the story from becoming the fable that it could have become.
::: Overall :::
Any fan of Amy Tan's writing will enjoy The Bonesetter's Daughter, but I also think that any daughter, or any mother, will find bits and pieces of her own life in this book.
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-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
Love her writing style. Great story that spans generations of Chinese Americans.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this book, but I did enjoy part of it more and part of it less.
The part I enjoyed less, was Ruth's present-day struggle with her job, her relationship, and her mother. For me, this was the least interesting part of the book, although I could relate to it most.
The part I enjoyed the most was the story of Ruth's mother's childhood in mainland China. Curses! Bone-setters! Forbidden love! Scandal! Ghosts! The story of growing up in China decades ago interested me a LOT more than growing up in San Francisco.
Recommended for fans of Tan's other novels, and those who like to read about tumultuous relationships between mothers and daughters.
The part I enjoyed less, was Ruth's present-day struggle with her job, her relationship, and her mother. For me, this was the least interesting part of the book, although I could relate to it most.
The part I enjoyed the most was the story of Ruth's mother's childhood in mainland China. Curses! Bone-setters! Forbidden love! Scandal! Ghosts! The story of growing up in China decades ago interested me a LOT more than growing up in San Francisco.
Recommended for fans of Tan's other novels, and those who like to read about tumultuous relationships between mothers and daughters.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
There are so many things about this book to love - the setting (China, in particular); the vast scope of the story; the deft way that the author ties together the present and the past; the commitment and love between LuLing and Ruth, LuLing and GaoLing, LuLing and Precious Auntie; how Tan's writing style and word choices seem to exude the culture she is writing about, including a subtle but still noticeable shift in tone in section two (LuLing's story).
I connected with the story immediately, and particularly with Ruth. I related to her inability to feel confident, to believe that she actually had something to say, to think that anyone would be interested in her words. I got how she allowed herself to "disappear" in her relationship, never seeming to require anything concrete or real from Art, not even sure he really loves her, yet continuing on in a sort of hazy mediocrity. I understood her choice to do the work she did - behind the scenes, anonymous or very nearly so (even if, in the end, she tended to resent the lack of credit), and risk free, meaning any criticism of the work would be directed to the author of record, not her (a "ghostwriter," but in reality the actual author of all the books she worked on).
Perhaps more than any of the above, I had a visceral and immediate connection to her relationship with her mother. Their conflicted, competitive, critical and volatile relationship was as familiar to me as the back of my hand. I was transported time and again back to my own experiences as a child, an adolescent, and a young woman as I read the arguments & struggles between Ruth & LuLing. I found LuLing controlling, irrational, hypercritical, and impervious to reason. I felt the frustration that Ruth felt right along with her, and when time & again she allowed herself and her own desires to be eclipsed by her mother, I wanted to shake her out of her lethargy.
And then came Section 2.
Once again, I felt like shaking someone and screaming "Wake UP!" But this time, it was LuLing herself. As I progressed through this middle section, I began to understand LuLing in a completely different way, and while I still didn't (and don't) understand the necessity of incessantly criticizing and insulting one's daughter, I did ultimately comprehend the enormous suffering that LuLing endured & overcame. I understood how it shaped her and hurt her, how it gutted her and made her strong. She was so much more than Ruth's experiences, GaoLing's interactions or Precious Auntie's recollections. It was clear that Ruth needed to know her mother's history and understand where she came from in order to appreciate her strengths, weaknesses & eccentricities. She needed to know those things to also heal herself, to recognize that despite herself she had a good partner, and to allow herself the luxury of committing fully to the relationship, loving without reserve, and being likewise loved in return.
Amy Tan weaves this exotic, timultuous, and ultimately cathartic story in such a way that it leaves you wanting more...to continue on with the story, to find out what happens next with the characters you've come to love. That's good writing...really good writing, and it's worthy of a place on everyone's bookshelf.
Read this and other reviews at http://bookishnerd.com/.
I connected with the story immediately, and particularly with Ruth. I related to her inability to feel confident, to believe that she actually had something to say, to think that anyone would be interested in her words. I got how she allowed herself to "disappear" in her relationship, never seeming to require anything concrete or real from Art, not even sure he really loves her, yet continuing on in a sort of hazy mediocrity. I understood her choice to do the work she did - behind the scenes, anonymous or very nearly so (even if, in the end, she tended to resent the lack of credit), and risk free, meaning any criticism of the work would be directed to the author of record, not her (a "ghostwriter," but in reality the actual author of all the books she worked on).
Perhaps more than any of the above, I had a visceral and immediate connection to her relationship with her mother. Their conflicted, competitive, critical and volatile relationship was as familiar to me as the back of my hand. I was transported time and again back to my own experiences as a child, an adolescent, and a young woman as I read the arguments & struggles between Ruth & LuLing. I found LuLing controlling, irrational, hypercritical, and impervious to reason. I felt the frustration that Ruth felt right along with her, and when time & again she allowed herself and her own desires to be eclipsed by her mother, I wanted to shake her out of her lethargy.
And then came Section 2.
Once again, I felt like shaking someone and screaming "Wake UP!" But this time, it was LuLing herself. As I progressed through this middle section, I began to understand LuLing in a completely different way, and while I still didn't (and don't) understand the necessity of incessantly criticizing and insulting one's daughter, I did ultimately comprehend the enormous suffering that LuLing endured & overcame. I understood how it shaped her and hurt her, how it gutted her and made her strong. She was so much more than Ruth's experiences, GaoLing's interactions or Precious Auntie's recollections. It was clear that Ruth needed to know her mother's history and understand where she came from in order to appreciate her strengths, weaknesses & eccentricities. She needed to know those things to also heal herself, to recognize that despite herself she had a good partner, and to allow herself the luxury of committing fully to the relationship, loving without reserve, and being likewise loved in return.
Amy Tan weaves this exotic, timultuous, and ultimately cathartic story in such a way that it leaves you wanting more...to continue on with the story, to find out what happens next with the characters you've come to love. That's good writing...really good writing, and it's worthy of a place on everyone's bookshelf.
Read this and other reviews at http://bookishnerd.com/.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-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
Beautiful!!! Endless depth and reflection. The characters really grow on you as you learn more about the complexities of their life.
