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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
inspiring
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's amazing how fast you can read a book when it's this good!
Parts of this book I loved and parts of it really dragged. Tan writes interesting and complex characters and explores familial relationships, voicelessness (in many different forms), secrets, ghosts, and memory. In stark contrast to many of the reviews here, I actually preferred reading Ruth's sections instead of her mother's. The book never really convinced me that the LuLing of the past would turn into the LuLing in the present day, and that disconnect made her sections less enjoyable. I'm annoyed by the critiques that Ruth is somehow a bad character because she is very flawed and has a lot of problems. I thought she was a great and very honest character. I could relate to her in some ways and I saw people I knew in her. Also the ending was just ridiculous. I'm not opposed to sentimentality, but happy endings, just like bittersweet ones, need to be earned.
Really giving it 3.5 stars. I really liked the portrait that Tan painted with the mother/daughter relationship and the back story in China. It actually fell apart a bit when the story came back to the “present”. It made sense that Ruth saw her mother in a different light and understood more of LuLing’s story. The part that lost me was Art swooping in and deciding that he wanted some sort of major revelation. That part seemed a little rushed.
I really enjoy Tan’s writing although I felt there was more fart/potty references than I cared for. But I’m a bit of a prude and don’t necessarily appreciate the potty talk.
I felt I learned a bit about Chinese culture and I always appreciate a good mother/daughter tale.
I really enjoy Tan’s writing although I felt there was more fart/potty references than I cared for. But I’m a bit of a prude and don’t necessarily appreciate the potty talk.
I felt I learned a bit about Chinese culture and I always appreciate a good mother/daughter tale.
3.5 stars
I struggled between a 3 and 4 on the Goodreads rating scale and then decided to give the book the benefit of the doubt and rate it the 4.
I struggled to get into this. I'm not sure why. It just wasn't one of those books that kept me reading into the night or had me skipping TV time with my husband in order to read more.
The story is a combination of current - Ruth who is unmarried in a long-term relationship with a widowed mother, LuLing, who is difficult (to say the least); and the recent past (while Ruth was growing up); and the distant past (her mother's story - and partially that of her grandmother too). The first parts of the book moved between the three times and then the author seemed to tire of trying to tie all of that together and spent a whole section telling the story of LuLing. I actually found this part the more engaging - possibly because only telling one story meant it flowed better? It's the kind of story that doesn't really end - seeing as it's about people rather than an event - but the book ended "happily".
It got fairly high ratings from others in my book club so perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind when I read it. If this kind of story interests you, then I'd definitely give it a try.
I struggled between a 3 and 4 on the Goodreads rating scale and then decided to give the book the benefit of the doubt and rate it the 4.
I struggled to get into this. I'm not sure why. It just wasn't one of those books that kept me reading into the night or had me skipping TV time with my husband in order to read more.
The story is a combination of current - Ruth who is unmarried in a long-term relationship with a widowed mother, LuLing, who is difficult (to say the least); and the recent past (while Ruth was growing up); and the distant past (her mother's story - and partially that of her grandmother too). The first parts of the book moved between the three times and then the author seemed to tire of trying to tie all of that together and spent a whole section telling the story of LuLing. I actually found this part the more engaging - possibly because only telling one story meant it flowed better? It's the kind of story that doesn't really end - seeing as it's about people rather than an event - but the book ended "happily".
It got fairly high ratings from others in my book club so perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind when I read it. If this kind of story interests you, then I'd definitely give it a try.
It may very well be that Amy Tan can do no wrong.