A review by lee_parker
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

3.0

This book is famous in international teaching circles. I actually stumbled across a review whilst on staff training in Hong Kong, when I asked teaching colleagues if they had read it, it seemed that everybody had. I can honestly say I found it a frustrating read. The mother/ author is not a like able character and the tiger-mum mothering style, must go against my western sensibility as I found that some of the story made me quite angry.
That said, it is a fair representation of what some of my students have to go through and it highlights the collectivist - individualist cultural dimension very well. Placing great pressure on Chinese children to succeed is not uncommon and the phrase tiger mother is all too common.
I think, the last chapter when the author discusses people's reaction to the book is quite insightful and makes you challenge the thoughts that you had as you read the book.