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A review by carweneve
Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
3.0
On the plus side it was a very quick read (maybe two hours?)
Otherwise ... this was interesting ... but I didn't feel it was that representative of the Chinese American mother parenting style (at least from what I know and have observed of it). Amy Chua isn't just pushing her children to be the best that they can by e.g. not letting them quit (an admirable quality that more parents should try to have) but borderline psychotic in her obsession to have her kids do the best they can. You get the impression that if they let her, she would push push push her kids until they were basically running the world at age 15. And then I'm sure that, having reached the pinnacle of what they could achieve on earth, she would be on some quest to find an alien race for them to best.
The fact that one of her daughters clearly loved music and has told her mother that she ruined it for her is a clear sign she took the pushing far far too far. And yet, despite that she doesn't seem to have let up on her other daughter and has only done so grudgingly with the other because (kuodos to her) said daughter has firmly put her foot down. The whole situation is complete and utter madness.
And what the hell was the father doing all this time? I understand that they agreed she would lead in parenting issues, but at some point did he not think it was time to rescind that agreement and step in?! I found the whole situation extremely bizarre. My kids will definitely not be raised this way! (Although they will be made to speak Mandarin, but their father is a native speaker, unlike Amy Chua!).
Overall it left me with a nasty taste in my mouth. The fact that she pushed her children so far seemed to me evidence that she herself wanted the attention. The fact that she then published a book outlining it all seems to me to only confirm the fact. I'm only pleased that her children are high schoolers and won't have much longer under her control!
I also disliked the writing style - it felt hurried, unedited and like a teenager had just typed up their journal in many sections. I expected more from a professor!
Otherwise ... this was interesting ... but I didn't feel it was that representative of the Chinese American mother parenting style (at least from what I know and have observed of it). Amy Chua isn't just pushing her children to be the best that they can by e.g. not letting them quit (an admirable quality that more parents should try to have) but borderline psychotic in her obsession to have her kids do the best they can. You get the impression that if they let her, she would push push push her kids until they were basically running the world at age 15. And then I'm sure that, having reached the pinnacle of what they could achieve on earth, she would be on some quest to find an alien race for them to best.
The fact that one of her daughters clearly loved music and has told her mother that she ruined it for her is a clear sign she took the pushing far far too far. And yet, despite that she doesn't seem to have let up on her other daughter and has only done so grudgingly with the other because (kuodos to her) said daughter has firmly put her foot down. The whole situation is complete and utter madness.
And what the hell was the father doing all this time? I understand that they agreed she would lead in parenting issues, but at some point did he not think it was time to rescind that agreement and step in?! I found the whole situation extremely bizarre. My kids will definitely not be raised this way! (Although they will be made to speak Mandarin, but their father is a native speaker, unlike Amy Chua!).
Overall it left me with a nasty taste in my mouth. The fact that she pushed her children so far seemed to me evidence that she herself wanted the attention. The fact that she then published a book outlining it all seems to me to only confirm the fact. I'm only pleased that her children are high schoolers and won't have much longer under her control!
I also disliked the writing style - it felt hurried, unedited and like a teenager had just typed up their journal in many sections. I expected more from a professor!