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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
emotional
sad
medium-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
Lisa See reminds me of Amy Tan (which is a good thing). This was a great follow up to Shanghai Girls. Very good summer read...
Audio version. Did not care for narrator's voice. Story is so sad, but very good.
I read [b:The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane|25150798|The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane|Lisa See|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1472151037l/25150798._SY75_.jpg|44851955] by Lisa See and loved it so much I picked up [b:Shanghai Girls|5960325|Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1)|Lisa See|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327968416l/5960325._SY75_.jpg|5991850] right away. And then, b/c of how that one ended, I picked up Dreams of Joy immediately! Well, that was a little too much for me and I put it down after about 3 chapters. I knew I'd love it at some later point---which, turns out was just now!
I loved every bit of this book--being with Pearl and Joy again, watching them both grow and then seeing what communist China was like for the countryside and the city. It was certainly a heart-breaking book, but also very heart-warming, too. Great historical fiction and family story.
I loved every bit of this book--being with Pearl and Joy again, watching them both grow and then seeing what communist China was like for the countryside and the city. It was certainly a heart-breaking book, but also very heart-warming, too. Great historical fiction and family story.
Really enjoyable read. Had read Snow Flower/Fan a couple of years back and decided to get this one from the library for my Kindle (love that option now!)
Great characters that were introduced in Shanghai Girls (now on my "to read" list) and a fascinating story of life in Communist China under Mao when the Great Leap Forward created poverty and starvation in the rural areas of China. Stayed up late a couple of nights unable to put it down. Highly recommend.
Great characters that were introduced in Shanghai Girls (now on my "to read" list) and a fascinating story of life in Communist China under Mao when the Great Leap Forward created poverty and starvation in the rural areas of China. Stayed up late a couple of nights unable to put it down. Highly recommend.
Not my style. Barely made it through this one. I wanted to punch every woman in this story in the vagina.
If the author's intention was for the reader to have strong feelings, she did accomplish that, I suppose.
If the author's intention was for the reader to have strong feelings, she did accomplish that, I suppose.
First, special thanks to Good Reads for providing this pre-release copy! How fun to be one of the first to read this!
While I didn't think this was quite up to the story telling of Shanghai Girls, it was a fascinating read!! That reaction may be because I found it hard to believe the characters were as idealistic as they were portrayed and would willing put themselves in such peril. And the setting of Shanghai Girls in 50's Los Angeles was so very identifiable for me, having grown up there at that time, my expectations may have been too much for the sequel.
This period of history is quite unknown to me and I will be very interested to see the reaction from the reading public when this is released, as I think many will be fascinated by the descriptions of the hardship, brutality and stupidity of the Leap Forward. I was only a young child at the time of the Chinese Communist revolution but I don't remember it ever being covered in news stories or have never heard anything discussed, possible because the Chinese kept their country so closed and secret until Nixon made the first overtures of diplomacy. Ms. See's in-depth research painted a vivid picture of the era. The ending seemed to tie things up just a little too quickly and neatly, but overall an enjoyable read.
While I didn't think this was quite up to the story telling of Shanghai Girls, it was a fascinating read!! That reaction may be because I found it hard to believe the characters were as idealistic as they were portrayed and would willing put themselves in such peril. And the setting of Shanghai Girls in 50's Los Angeles was so very identifiable for me, having grown up there at that time, my expectations may have been too much for the sequel.
This period of history is quite unknown to me and I will be very interested to see the reaction from the reading public when this is released, as I think many will be fascinated by the descriptions of the hardship, brutality and stupidity of the Leap Forward. I was only a young child at the time of the Chinese Communist revolution but I don't remember it ever being covered in news stories or have never heard anything discussed, possible because the Chinese kept their country so closed and secret until Nixon made the first overtures of diplomacy. Ms. See's in-depth research painted a vivid picture of the era. The ending seemed to tie things up just a little too quickly and neatly, but overall an enjoyable read.
I finished my first book on the Kindle, Dreams of Joy by Lisa See. I will admit that this book did not get off to the best start for me. At the end of Shanghai Girls, about sisters, May and Pearl, Pear's daughter Joy learns that she is really the daughter of May and an artist still living in China. While away at college she has been a part of a group encouraging General Mao and the People's Republic of China. It ends up getting her whole family in trouble and as a result, the father she always knew hangs himself. She blames herself and flees to China. The book is told in first person, but alternates between Joy and her mother, Pearl who follows her to China. It felt very much like I was reading a bratty 19 year-olds diary and lacked a depth of description. The history lesson on the first ten years of the People's Republic of China also felt very forced. I love historical fiction because it teaches us things about history by weaving it into the story, but the dialogue often felt like quotes from a textbook describing China at the time. Then the dialogue turned and started to feel like it was quotes from the propaganda at the time. Finally, and sadly, the book started to turn for me as the people started to starve and the realizations came that maybe Mao's China wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I was reminded more and more of books that I have read about Russia during World War II and the great depths of starvation. The things they did to make "food", anything for sustenance started to remind me of the things I've read about starvation during WWII. And, then the story itself brought that topic up, Joy said she used to wonder why people didn't rise up against the regime then and she said that now she knows people were "too weak, too tired and too scared" to do anything. That is powerful. And, I think the saddest imagery of the book was when Pearl and Z.G. on their way to rescue Joy see children whose parents dug holes in the ground and then placed them in the holes to prevent them from escaping. So, they hoped someone would rescue their children, but knew in all likelihood they would die of starvation in the hole. In the end, I really enjoyed this book.
I thought "Dreams of Joy" was on par with "Shanghai Girls;" both very enjoyable reads. This one was particularly fascinating for what it revealed about Communism in China; a topic that I am not very familiar with. The policies of The Great Leap Forward were ludicrous and it is amazing to think that it was only the 1950s and 60s when this occurred. Growing up in SoCal and now living in San Francisco, where we have a huge immigrant Chinese population, it actually gives me a new perspective on some of my friends and neighbors. Did they or their parents go through this? Does it explain certain behaviors and beliefs that they still maintain?
As far as the story itself, I thought it was well crafted. I enjoyed seeing old characters again and meeting new ones. I thought Joy - one of the new main characters - was a twit through most of the first part of the book, but it's hard to identify with someone that naive, idealistic, and self-centered. (In that vein, she was a good carry through of May's character, which was mostly absent from this book.) I'm not sure her guilt and angst were really expressed well enough to justify her running away to New China, but it made for a good story, and by the end I liked her somewhat better. I thought it was realistic that she was so drastically humbled by her actions - a lot of times, in stories, it seems that the main character might make mistakes, but is always somehow justified or redeemed. Joy was just wrong, got herself in huge trouble and had to be rescued. As in "Shanghai Girls," Pearl remained the most solid, steady, admirable character of the book. I enjoyed the chapters most that were told from her perspective.
As far as the story itself, I thought it was well crafted. I enjoyed seeing old characters again and meeting new ones. I thought Joy - one of the new main characters - was a twit through most of the first part of the book, but it's hard to identify with someone that naive, idealistic, and self-centered. (In that vein, she was a good carry through of May's character, which was mostly absent from this book.) I'm not sure her guilt and angst were really expressed well enough to justify her running away to New China, but it made for a good story, and by the end I liked her somewhat better. I thought it was realistic that she was so drastically humbled by her actions - a lot of times, in stories, it seems that the main character might make mistakes, but is always somehow justified or redeemed. Joy was just wrong, got herself in huge trouble and had to be rescued. As in "Shanghai Girls," Pearl remained the most solid, steady, admirable character of the book. I enjoyed the chapters most that were told from her perspective.
