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stelliwithabookie 's review for:
The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan
another banger. you gotta read this book.
update: just watched the movie, I liked it.
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this was so fun. i think the only way to even discuss this book is to do a character analysis of everyone. as this is a character-driven story.
an-mei hsu and rose hsu jordan. an-mei had one of the most interesting stories out of the mothers because she leaves with her mother who is the fourth wife of this man. her mom is going through a lot of pain since she had a son but cannot claim it because the second wife claims the child. her mother literally killed herself because she was stuck in a life that wasn’t good. rose had a difficult marriage with ted, as they were getting a divorce, and she witnessed her little brother die. she struggled with being able to make a decision and wanted everything done for her, but it was a bad-ass moment when she told her future ex-husband off by not letting him only give her 10K. she basically said she is ready to fight to get the house, and that was so powerful. she wasn’t signing those papers until she got what she deserved.
lindo and waverly jong. okay so I enjoyed what these two brought with lindo explaining how it is hard to keep being Chinese in America. she discusses how coming from another country that is looked down upon, when in reality, not everyone is. she worked at a fortune cookie factory and said how the sayings are stupid which I chuckled at, but lindo just wanted a better life for her daughter. lindo had my favorite story with her getting married off, but then getting out of the marriage as a teen. it takes GUTS to escape that. waverly was kind of a bitch. she was this chess champ who was good at something which I think the other girls didn’t really have that and she threw away her talent for what..she lost the dedication she had. without her mother there, what was she playing for? she quit at fourteen. she got married to marvin which flopped but found love again with rick. I still feel like she was ashamed of rick at times just because he wasn’t Chinese and didn’t understand sometimes what was being said, but he was sweet. idk I just don’t think waverly was very appreciative of the situation she lived in, and how she was raised because I think she had one of the more privileged lifestyles. also, she was so rude to jing mei for no reason.
jing mei. she's the protagonist after losing her mom. we never see her mom but just in the view of how jing sees her. we read about how jing mei played the piano, but she never really applied herself and didn’t try. it reminded me of myself when I was playing the piano, and I didn’t really apply myself to and try as hard as I could and kept saying “I’m not good.” when it relies on practice. anyway, the scene at the end where she meets her sisters was nice and just having her and her father go to china was just a good conclusion and how so much had changed in the time span.
lena and ying ying st. clair. they are maybe the most forgettable. ying ying was married and her husband left her and married lena’s father to come to America. it felt like she didn’t marry him entirely because of love, and she was just a character that I didn’t understand. maybe she was the most complex out of them all. lena, on the other hand, was married to Harold, and they were SUCH a weird couple with their habit of splitting and paying an even amount. like what type of marriage is that? like … she always worked underneath him and I was just like… this is where the mess begins like you work underneath your husband. you are with him at work and at home. there is no separation. pardon me but I would go crazy. anyway, their relationship just didn’t seem to work, and ying ying caught on to that.
there’s some much I wanna know, and I might watch the movie soon just to understand but wow incredible. this book is going to be considered one of those essential books to read in high school because it is a classic and timeless.
update: just watched the movie, I liked it.
-------------------------------
this was so fun. i think the only way to even discuss this book is to do a character analysis of everyone. as this is a character-driven story.
an-mei hsu and rose hsu jordan. an-mei had one of the most interesting stories out of the mothers because she leaves with her mother who is the fourth wife of this man. her mom is going through a lot of pain since she had a son but cannot claim it because the second wife claims the child. her mother literally killed herself because she was stuck in a life that wasn’t good. rose had a difficult marriage with ted, as they were getting a divorce, and she witnessed her little brother die. she struggled with being able to make a decision and wanted everything done for her, but it was a bad-ass moment when she told her future ex-husband off by not letting him only give her 10K. she basically said she is ready to fight to get the house, and that was so powerful. she wasn’t signing those papers until she got what she deserved.
lindo and waverly jong. okay so I enjoyed what these two brought with lindo explaining how it is hard to keep being Chinese in America. she discusses how coming from another country that is looked down upon, when in reality, not everyone is. she worked at a fortune cookie factory and said how the sayings are stupid which I chuckled at, but lindo just wanted a better life for her daughter. lindo had my favorite story with her getting married off, but then getting out of the marriage as a teen. it takes GUTS to escape that. waverly was kind of a bitch. she was this chess champ who was good at something which I think the other girls didn’t really have that and she threw away her talent for what..she lost the dedication she had. without her mother there, what was she playing for? she quit at fourteen. she got married to marvin which flopped but found love again with rick. I still feel like she was ashamed of rick at times just because he wasn’t Chinese and didn’t understand sometimes what was being said, but he was sweet. idk I just don’t think waverly was very appreciative of the situation she lived in, and how she was raised because I think she had one of the more privileged lifestyles. also, she was so rude to jing mei for no reason.
jing mei. she's the protagonist after losing her mom. we never see her mom but just in the view of how jing sees her. we read about how jing mei played the piano, but she never really applied herself and didn’t try. it reminded me of myself when I was playing the piano, and I didn’t really apply myself to and try as hard as I could and kept saying “I’m not good.” when it relies on practice. anyway, the scene at the end where she meets her sisters was nice and just having her and her father go to china was just a good conclusion and how so much had changed in the time span.
lena and ying ying st. clair. they are maybe the most forgettable. ying ying was married and her husband left her and married lena’s father to come to America. it felt like she didn’t marry him entirely because of love, and she was just a character that I didn’t understand. maybe she was the most complex out of them all. lena, on the other hand, was married to Harold, and they were SUCH a weird couple with their habit of splitting and paying an even amount. like what type of marriage is that? like … she always worked underneath him and I was just like… this is where the mess begins like you work underneath your husband. you are with him at work and at home. there is no separation. pardon me but I would go crazy. anyway, their relationship just didn’t seem to work, and ying ying caught on to that.
there’s some much I wanna know, and I might watch the movie soon just to understand but wow incredible. this book is going to be considered one of those essential books to read in high school because it is a classic and timeless.