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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
The Hundred Secret Senses is another fine work of literature by Amy Tan.
I've loved some of Tan's other books, such as [b:The Joy Luck Club|7763|The Joy Luck Club|Amy Tan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1304978653s/7763.jpg|1955658] and [b:The Kitchen God's Wife|12557|The Kitchen God's Wife|Amy Tan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1434152599s/12557.jpg|1131637], and I wanted to continue on this literary adventure by reading another classic, The Hundred Secret Senses.
The story focuses primarily on the characters and their development over time. You're presented with the main character of Olivia and her newly arrived from China older sister, Kwan. Their relationship may not be the best, but Olivia is trying to get to know her sister and accept her for who she is, even though she's always saying these crazy stories that are borderline crazy talk. Olivia is also trying to manage her relationship with her husband, Simon, as they embark on a trip to China together that might change their outlook on things. These characters are real, and Tan doesn't pull any punches. They're frustrating, they're funny, they're full of conflicting feelings, much like how humans ought to be in real life. I found myself ending some chapters pretty much agreeing with Olivia, and then some chapters basically disowning her because of her stupidity. That's how much Tan gets these characters.
There were certain parts of the plot I didn't much care for. Specifically, Kwan's stories of the past were interesting at best, as I found myself trying to speed through these parts. They're important to getting to the heart of the story.
A great book overall, and definitely recommend for any fans of Amy Tan.
I've loved some of Tan's other books, such as [b:The Joy Luck Club|7763|The Joy Luck Club|Amy Tan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1304978653s/7763.jpg|1955658] and [b:The Kitchen God's Wife|12557|The Kitchen God's Wife|Amy Tan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1434152599s/12557.jpg|1131637], and I wanted to continue on this literary adventure by reading another classic, The Hundred Secret Senses.
The story focuses primarily on the characters and their development over time. You're presented with the main character of Olivia and her newly arrived from China older sister, Kwan. Their relationship may not be the best, but Olivia is trying to get to know her sister and accept her for who she is, even though she's always saying these crazy stories that are borderline crazy talk. Olivia is also trying to manage her relationship with her husband, Simon, as they embark on a trip to China together that might change their outlook on things. These characters are real, and Tan doesn't pull any punches. They're frustrating, they're funny, they're full of conflicting feelings, much like how humans ought to be in real life. I found myself ending some chapters pretty much agreeing with Olivia, and then some chapters basically disowning her because of her stupidity. That's how much Tan gets these characters.
There were certain parts of the plot I didn't much care for. Specifically, Kwan's stories of the past were interesting at best, as I found myself trying to speed through these parts. They're important to getting to the heart of the story.
A great book overall, and definitely recommend for any fans of Amy Tan.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES focuses on Olivia, a Chinese-American woman, and Kwan, her older sister who was born in China. The novel opens explaining that Kwan has “Yin Eyes,” which means she is able to see ghosts. Now in middle age, Olivia separates from her husband, Simon. After they get an offer to write a piece for a magazine together, Kwan convinces Olivia and Simon to go with her to China to write about Chinese food and to see the village where she was born.
This book is structurally interesting. The novel follows a fairly straightforward plot in present day San Francisco and China. These sections are broken up by stories told from Kwan’s point of view, allegedly from a past life. Kwan speaks with an accent and the writing matches her accent, except for the storytelling parts which is in a more traditional English style.
I loved this book. I was not sure what to expect, but I thought it was surprising and engaging and interesting. I was confused at times jumping back and forth between the two time periods, but eventually I was able to follow which led to a satisfying ending. I loved Kwan and thought she was really funny. Olivia was frustrating at times, especially her treatment of Kwan, but she grew as a character and was sympathetic. This book explores themes of love, identity, and memory. The prose is beautiful and the story captivated me.▪️
This book is structurally interesting. The novel follows a fairly straightforward plot in present day San Francisco and China. These sections are broken up by stories told from Kwan’s point of view, allegedly from a past life. Kwan speaks with an accent and the writing matches her accent, except for the storytelling parts which is in a more traditional English style.
I loved this book. I was not sure what to expect, but I thought it was surprising and engaging and interesting. I was confused at times jumping back and forth between the two time periods, but eventually I was able to follow which led to a satisfying ending. I loved Kwan and thought she was really funny. Olivia was frustrating at times, especially her treatment of Kwan, but she grew as a character and was sympathetic. This book explores themes of love, identity, and memory. The prose is beautiful and the story captivated me.▪️
Olivia is a young girl when her half-sister Kwan she didn't know exists comes from China to live with them. Kwan adores Olivia and that is the constant of their life. They are grown up now, Olivia is unhappy and is divorcing her husband and Kwan is trying to save their marriage. Many years have passed since Kwan moved to USA, but she still didn't learn the language completely; she really made me laugh out loud so many times. Kwan believes she has yin eyes and can speak to ghosts so stories about lives of those people and their deaths go throughout the whole novel. One day, the three of them, Olivia, Kwan and Olivia’s husband find themselves on a trip to China and something happens there that I really didn't expect. This novel is great; I adore Kwan. I was reading parts of what she was saying to my boyfriend and we easily adopted some of her phrases, so I think we will forever have Kwan with us.
I really enjoyed Amy Tan's writing. I hadn't laughed reading a book in awhile. Kwan is a terrific character and she kept me interested in the story throughout. Olivia, although not as likeable, balanced the ying and yang between the two.
It was an enjoyable beach read for me. Amy Tan is great at creating characters with personality, although the main character annoyed me at times...
An interesting story with interesting characters but it fell a little short of my expectations. Amy Tan writes with amazing texture and vividly paints scenes but this book was not the best example of her writing talent. I still enjoyed the story.
While this book starts off a little slow, it escalates into a fantastic tale about fate, love and loyalty. That may sound cheesy, which is completely accurate; there were definitely some moments in "The Hundred Secret Senses" that felt cliche and somewhat forced. That being said, the book made me think about concepts I had never considered before, the most prominent being the possibility of reincarnation, and ghosts in general. I, like the main character, started off as a skeptic, but by the end of the book, I was as believing and crazy as the main character's sister, Kwan.
This book follows Olivia's life, from youth to married life. The book doesn't really get going until about 70 pages in, when some of the conflicts of life with her husband are revealed. However, from that point on, the book picks up speed, and the last 80 or so pages are completely riveting. I couldn't stop until I reached the end. And I was very pleased with the ending; unlike other parts of the books, it was not at all cheesy or completely happy, but rather realistic, somewhat dire, and ultimately, hopeful.
I recommend this book to adolescents and up. This is a book for people that are willing to suspend their disbelief and allow themselves to be pulled into a remote Chinese village, where ghosts may or may not still live. Also let me make it clear that this is NOT in any way, shape, or form, a sci-fi book. The discussion of ghosts and the afterlife is presented in a personal, not over-exaggerated, way. The book doesn't TRY to make you believe one thing or another - you decide that for yourself.
This book follows Olivia's life, from youth to married life. The book doesn't really get going until about 70 pages in, when some of the conflicts of life with her husband are revealed. However, from that point on, the book picks up speed, and the last 80 or so pages are completely riveting. I couldn't stop until I reached the end. And I was very pleased with the ending; unlike other parts of the books, it was not at all cheesy or completely happy, but rather realistic, somewhat dire, and ultimately, hopeful.
I recommend this book to adolescents and up. This is a book for people that are willing to suspend their disbelief and allow themselves to be pulled into a remote Chinese village, where ghosts may or may not still live. Also let me make it clear that this is NOT in any way, shape, or form, a sci-fi book. The discussion of ghosts and the afterlife is presented in a personal, not over-exaggerated, way. The book doesn't TRY to make you believe one thing or another - you decide that for yourself.
It's Amy Tan, so you can expect an emotionally over-involved, unreliable, female narrator/main character, complicated family dynamics, a distant mother and a satisfying but not perfect ending. You can also expect excellent, emotive, descriptive writing. This one holds few surprises.
I did however enjoy it for the most part. I struggled a bit with Simon's character. He was just as his ex described him, too quick to go with the flow. And as a result, I felt a lot of Olivia's complaints and fears were legitimate and his unwillingness to stand up for them, or even apparently understand that he should, felt contrived to me. What's worse, I didn't feel he deserved Olivia's compromises in the end.
Similarly, I disliked how much of the turmoil was laid at the feet of Olivia's own self-doubt. This felt very much like blaming her for her own victimhood. Did she deserve some? Sure, but I felt too much was left to her by dint of Simon's obliviousness.
Kwan, of course, stood out for me. I adored her. Was she overly cheerful and too forgiving? Yes, but I also saw her reasoning in the end.
All in all, exactly what I would expect from an Amy Tan book. I'm glad to have read it, but now need to clean my palate with something silly and fluffy.
I did however enjoy it for the most part. I struggled a bit with Simon's character. He was just as his ex described him, too quick to go with the flow. And as a result, I felt a lot of Olivia's complaints and fears were legitimate and his unwillingness to stand up for them, or even apparently understand that he should, felt contrived to me. What's worse, I didn't feel he deserved Olivia's compromises in the end.
Similarly, I disliked how much of the turmoil was laid at the feet of Olivia's own self-doubt. This felt very much like blaming her for her own victimhood. Did she deserve some? Sure, but I felt too much was left to her by dint of Simon's obliviousness.
Kwan, of course, stood out for me. I adored her. Was she overly cheerful and too forgiving? Yes, but I also saw her reasoning in the end.
All in all, exactly what I would expect from an Amy Tan book. I'm glad to have read it, but now need to clean my palate with something silly and fluffy.
Never disappoints
Amy Tan’s characters are always so vivid! I love it when the character’s voice supersedes my internal reader voice. I also enjoyed the touch of eastern mystical magical realism and how it influenced the story.
Amy Tan’s characters are always so vivid! I love it when the character’s voice supersedes my internal reader voice. I also enjoyed the touch of eastern mystical magical realism and how it influenced the story.