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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this book better than Shanghai Girls although I still found Joy so infuriating. I think it wrapped up nicely though.
This is a dramatic look at a part of China's history we know nothing about. A very compelling read.
This was a nice easy read, with a good central story, some unexpected twists and a history lesson. I didn't know much about the Great Leap Forward (most books set in modern China seem to focus on the Cultural Revolution instead - at least the ones I've read).
I would recommend that people read Shanghai Girls before they read this - although you could read it as a stand-alone, peoples' motivations are much more apparent when you know their back-stories. Plus Shanghai Girls is also a great book, so why would you not want to read it.
None of Lisa See's books in my opinion are "good books" - they definitely shouldn't be winning any literary awards - but they are better than many of the books being produced these days for the ladies book club crowd.
***SPOILER ALERT***
I thought the end tied things up a bit too nicely and neatly ... but who knows, maybe there's another novel in the pipeline that will make it a bit more realistically messy. Or maybe it's not unrealistic at all - I have no knowledge of how many people left China in the 1950s and 1960s, so it could have been an entirely realistic ending. I'd like to know what happened to Madame Hu also!
I would recommend that people read Shanghai Girls before they read this - although you could read it as a stand-alone, peoples' motivations are much more apparent when you know their back-stories. Plus Shanghai Girls is also a great book, so why would you not want to read it.
None of Lisa See's books in my opinion are "good books" - they definitely shouldn't be winning any literary awards - but they are better than many of the books being produced these days for the ladies book club crowd.
***SPOILER ALERT***
I thought the end tied things up a bit too nicely and neatly ... but who knows, maybe there's another novel in the pipeline that will make it a bit more realistically messy. Or maybe it's not unrealistic at all - I have no knowledge of how many people left China in the 1950s and 1960s, so it could have been an entirely realistic ending. I'd like to know what happened to Madame Hu also!
The historical horror of the Chinese famine of 1959, the events that lead to and the oppression of this history by the communist regime is made very real in "Dreams of Joy". The total number of deaths from this 2 year famine are unknown but historians estimate around 44 million Chinese were starved to death by Mao as a way to end opposition to the rise of communism. Lisa See brings a very human and family oriented perspective to this story that encompasses all types of love, compassion, resilence and tradition. I read "Dreams of Joy" without having read "Shanghai Girls" and was incredibly moved and impressed with the content both historically and emotionally. Experiencing how the characters grow and evolve in their different enviornments is inspiring and lovely to have read as a mother, sister and daughter. I honestly couldn't stop reading this book and am so glad I read it.
I had wondered if Lisa See was planning to follow [b:Shanghai Girls|5960325|Shanghai Girls|Lisa See|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255570412s/5960325.jpg|5991850] up with a sequel, what with the sudden twist at the ending, and sure enough that's what this book is.
Unfortunately for me, Joy really got on my nerves for most of this. I didn't like her terribly much in Shanghai Girls, and this picks up right from where that leaves off so it takes a long time for her to grow up. She makes some horribly poor decisions in here that everyone else can see from a mile away is stupid, which made her chapters for the first half of this novel painful to read. Towards the second half, as she grows and learns, I begin to really enjoy her narratives. In the end, she turned out to be a pretty strong and resourceful character, it just took her some time to get to that point.
Pearl, as with the first book, I was really able to sympathize with easily and was very impressed by her bravery in returning to China in order to find Joy. I was happy to see that this sequel stuck with the idea of strong women that
It was really interesting to read more about the tumultuous years with the Great Leap Forward and the famine in China. This wasn't a subject I was familiar with, so it really led to some fascinating reading.
Unfortunately for me, Joy really got on my nerves for most of this. I didn't like her terribly much in Shanghai Girls, and this picks up right from where that leaves off so it takes a long time for her to grow up. She makes some horribly poor decisions in here that everyone else can see from a mile away is stupid, which made her chapters for the first half of this novel painful to read. Towards the second half, as she grows and learns, I begin to really enjoy her narratives. In the end, she turned out to be a pretty strong and resourceful character, it just took her some time to get to that point.
Pearl, as with the first book, I was really able to sympathize with easily and was very impressed by her bravery in returning to China in order to find Joy. I was happy to see that this sequel stuck with the idea of strong women that
It was really interesting to read more about the tumultuous years with the Great Leap Forward and the famine in China. This wasn't a subject I was familiar with, so it really led to some fascinating reading.
So thankful to be able to read this book directly after finishing Shanghai Girls! I did not love it as much as book 1, but I did love the peek into Communist "Red" China. Joy, silly 19 year old idealistic college student, falls for a would be rebel/protester. She belittles her family for choosing a less modern way to live, learns a few secrets, and runs away to Red China. Joy believes that communism is the ideal way to live, until her eyes are opened--- when it is too late. Pearl chases her daughter down in Shanghai. What follows is an awakening for both mother and daughter. It was a wonderful read for family relationships .
Dreams of Joy, the second book following Shanghai Girls, brings to light the difficulties of life in ‘Red China’, and the horrors that were the Great Leap Forward. Joy (the daughter of our main characters from the first book), after having learned family secrets that shook her sense of self, ran away to China to find her biological father and to be a part of the new movement in her homeland. She has an idealistic view of what communist China will be like, and wears rose-colored glasses through much of the book. Her mother follows her to try to convince her to come home to America. Both women face incredible hardships, but overall this is a story of family reunification and the bond of mother and child.
While I absolutely loved this book, I found it difficult to delve into compared to Shanghai Girls. It didn’t get my undivided attention until around the middle of the book, when Joy’s rose-colored glasses came off and she had to start showing some of the same strength her mother had. Once it got to the ‘good stuff’, I was hooked. The book talks a lot about how good people can let bad things happen under unprecedented circumstances. When you’re literally scavenging rotten foods off of fields to try to feed your enormous family, and you’re working like an ox from sun-up to sun-down ‘for the good of your country’, there isn’t an ounce of energy left for a revolution.
I absolutely loved the way this book ended. It was a satisfying ending for most of the characters, and after everything they had been through, they 100% deserved it. It also didn’t feel unnecessary; it wasn’t a happy ending just for the sake of a happy ending. It made sense. I would, without hesitation, read this series again, even though it put me through the wringer, emotionally. It’s worth it.
While I absolutely loved this book, I found it difficult to delve into compared to Shanghai Girls. It didn’t get my undivided attention until around the middle of the book, when Joy’s rose-colored glasses came off and she had to start showing some of the same strength her mother had. Once it got to the ‘good stuff’, I was hooked. The book talks a lot about how good people can let bad things happen under unprecedented circumstances. When you’re literally scavenging rotten foods off of fields to try to feed your enormous family, and you’re working like an ox from sun-up to sun-down ‘for the good of your country’, there isn’t an ounce of energy left for a revolution.
I absolutely loved the way this book ended. It was a satisfying ending for most of the characters, and after everything they had been through, they 100% deserved it. It also didn’t feel unnecessary; it wasn’t a happy ending just for the sake of a happy ending. It made sense. I would, without hesitation, read this series again, even though it put me through the wringer, emotionally. It’s worth it.