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A review by frostbitsky
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I had seen this film adaptaion years and years ago. I remember loving the movie and crying at the end. It's a really beautiful story about mother-daughter relationships.
I had the book in my Audible library since 2018. As I listened some things were coming back to me so I would say (as far as I can remember) it is an excellent adaptation.
With 8 women and 8 different stories to tell it's bound to happen that some women were more developed than others. When it came to the mothers, An-Mei has the most developed story. Her poor mother was a concubine. However, her daughter Rose was the least developed of the daughters. Which is a bit of a shame because I liked where it was going that because of the lessons An-Mei learned from her mother she told Rose to stand up to her soon-to-be ex-husband, Ted.
Ying-Ying St. Clair was the least developed of all the mothers. And I know I remember this correctly because it was so tragic when I saw the film butshe (accidentally??) drowns her baby boy. In the book Ying-Ying gets an abortion. That is the only drastic difference I can remember.
What I did find funny (in a good way) about Gwendoline's narration was how she portrayed the voice of Harold Livotny, Lena St. Clair's husband. He sounded like such a dweeb! Like a computerized dweeb which is such a good characterization of him.
Waverly Jong - the chess champ- was the most developed daughter. Her mother, Lindo's story was pretty well developed too.
Suyuan Woo and Jing Mei Woo's story is pretty much the way I remember it from the film. Only now I understand they reason why Suyuan Wooleft her twin daughters is China (she was so ill she almost died), as well as how the twins ended up being lost before they were adopted by family. I don't recall that being clear in the film, so it was explained.
It's hard to pick a favorite story or mother-daughter pair because they each had their own challenges and relatable issues. It's why I think the story is so well done and one that any woman can understand and find meaning in.
4 out of 5 Mahjong Tiles.
I had the book in my Audible library since 2018. As I listened some things were coming back to me so I would say (as far as I can remember) it is an excellent adaptation.
With 8 women and 8 different stories to tell it's bound to happen that some women were more developed than others. When it came to the mothers, An-Mei has the most developed story. Her poor mother was a concubine. However, her daughter Rose was the least developed of the daughters. Which is a bit of a shame because I liked where it was going that because of the lessons An-Mei learned from her mother she told Rose to stand up to her soon-to-be ex-husband, Ted.
Ying-Ying St. Clair was the least developed of all the mothers. And I know I remember this correctly because it was so tragic when I saw the film but
What I did find funny (in a good way) about Gwendoline's narration was how she portrayed the voice of Harold Livotny, Lena St. Clair's husband. He sounded like such a dweeb! Like a computerized dweeb which is such a good characterization of him.
Waverly Jong - the chess champ- was the most developed daughter. Her mother, Lindo's story was pretty well developed too.
Suyuan Woo and Jing Mei Woo's story is pretty much the way I remember it from the film. Only now I understand they reason why Suyuan Woo
It's hard to pick a favorite story or mother-daughter pair because they each had their own challenges and relatable issues. It's why I think the story is so well done and one that any woman can understand and find meaning in.
4 out of 5 Mahjong Tiles.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion