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A review by mleung25
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
2.0
I had a hard time rating this book. I mainly read it since I was intrigued by the WSJ article on it & to kill time while I was waiting for a classmate.
I'm not sure whether or not I liked this book. I found a lot of it off-putting, especially since Amy Chua struck me as being rather extreme & as another reviewer put it, very much a snob. At the same time, I can also relate, as I saw some aspects of my own upbringing in Amy's parenting style. Like Amy, my mother is a Chinese mother, being from Hong Kong, and while she was also very strict with me and my siblings, and at times, too strict, I am very glad that she learned much earlier than Amy did, to respect us as individuals and allow for more freedom of choice.
The biggest problem I have with Amy's book & how she describes the Chinese way of parenting, is the stress on achievement. I suppose that's how the world is, but at the same time, aside from her brief mention of teaching her daughters not to make fun of people from different cultures, there is no mention of any guidance in becoming a better human being. I guess that's not the focus of her book, but given how much publicity it has generated, I would have liked to see that in addition to all of her strictness, and focus on a good work ethic, she would also have instilled in her daughters the importance of kindness and compassion, not because it would make them more "cosmopolitan" but because ultimately, that is what is the most important.
After all, Hitler was considered brilliant, and when it comes down to it, you could argue that he was pretty darn successful - he conquered most of the Western world. But he absolutely and completely failed as a human being.
I'm not sure whether or not I liked this book. I found a lot of it off-putting, especially since Amy Chua struck me as being rather extreme & as another reviewer put it, very much a snob. At the same time, I can also relate, as I saw some aspects of my own upbringing in Amy's parenting style. Like Amy, my mother is a Chinese mother, being from Hong Kong, and while she was also very strict with me and my siblings, and at times, too strict, I am very glad that she learned much earlier than Amy did, to respect us as individuals and allow for more freedom of choice.
The biggest problem I have with Amy's book & how she describes the Chinese way of parenting, is the stress on achievement. I suppose that's how the world is, but at the same time, aside from her brief mention of teaching her daughters not to make fun of people from different cultures, there is no mention of any guidance in becoming a better human being. I guess that's not the focus of her book, but given how much publicity it has generated, I would have liked to see that in addition to all of her strictness, and focus on a good work ethic, she would also have instilled in her daughters the importance of kindness and compassion, not because it would make them more "cosmopolitan" but because ultimately, that is what is the most important.
After all, Hitler was considered brilliant, and when it comes down to it, you could argue that he was pretty darn successful - he conquered most of the Western world. But he absolutely and completely failed as a human being.