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 enlarge | Author: Amy Tan
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $0.81
You Save: $13.19 (94%)
New (54) Used (65) Collectible (2) from $0.58
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 9413
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7
ISBN: 0143038095
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780143038092
ASIN: 0143038095
Publication Date: September 21, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good, but not GREAT February 5, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Generally, I am drawn to stories that expose me to cultures unlike my own. From that perspective alone, I found Tan's novel to be intriguing and genuine; the individual stories are rich in culture and language. I believe I would have enjoyed it more had the book been presented as a collection of short stories instead. The lack of continuity from chapter to chapter is what kept me from really connecting with this book.
I spent much of my reading time flipping back to earlier chapters to remind myself which daughter was born of which mother so that I could see how the mother's experiences and upbringing had an effect on her daughter's life. There were also a few mother/daughter story lines that I felt could have been explored more in depth and that's why I think presenting them as short stories would have been more effective.
This is the first of Tan's books that I have read, but I do intend to try another one!
 Compelling Stories December 14, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is another excellent book by Amy Tan. I had heard about it for years, but had never read it. I finally read it because I thought her book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, was one of the best books I have ever read. I was not disappointed by this book. It inspired me to read another of her books, Dragon Bones, which I am currently reading.
I am impressed with the details that Amy Tan includes in her books, which make them better stories and more enjoyable to read. In this respect, she brings to mind Ha Jin and his book, Waiting, which is such a compelling novel that I read it twice in the same month. The little details about Chinese culture and emotions awaken the mind to another world, but one in which we find there are people just like ourselves.
Very Complicated And Often Tedious. September 1, 2007
5 out of 20 found this review helpful
When I recieved my list of Summer 2007 reading assignments, I'll come right out admit that I chose to read Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club" for the simple reason that I actually heard of it. I went in not expecting much, and came out with my feelings confirmed.
I do understand that this book is often regarded as a classic, but I for the life of me can't say this book being anything more than merely average. Tracing the life of a group of Asian families whose head leader has passed on, leaving her daughter with the unpleasant task of filling her shoes, "The Joy Luck Club" deals with topics such as death, family, marriage, divorce and togetherness. All of which are intriguing at first, but ultimately amount to little.
The book overall lacks a cohesive flow. I found myself confused at many points in the book to the point where it was useless for me to even try to even pay attention to the book. Tan's writing style is also very simplistic, lacking any real originality and leaving very little to the imagination.
Overall, I can't for the life of me see why this book is as highly regarded as it is. Perhaps it's just not my type of book. Nonetheless, I am befuddled as to why it is a classic piece of literature.
Beyond Spectacular. July 3, 2007
12 out of 17 found this review helpful
You know, it is funny, I have read Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter and The Hundred Secret Senses, adoring them both beyond words--why it took me this long to get to her first work is nothing short of inexcusable. Not unlike Louise Erdrich's first novel, Love Medicine, this debut of Tan's is absolutely spectacular (it boggles my mind that first time authors can produce such seemingly flawless, multi-voiced narratives). Given the fact that Amy Tan was so young when she wrote this book blows my mind simply because the wisdom and expertise inherent in her storytelling go far beyond her years. In fact, I think this is my new favorite Tan novel, and not only do I believe she is the best Chinese American novelist out there, but at the top of the list of all authors, period. True storytellers are few and far between. Tan straddles the line between academic literature and pleasure reading, which, unfortunately, is not often accomplished.
I have been a devoted student of literature for over six straight years now (specializing in American minority literatures), and the other day, I was talking with a fellow colleague and classmate about this book. When she told me, in her "yawny" way, that she felt it was boring, I realized for the first time, that regardless of "smarts," there are actually literature students out there without one iota of literary taste. What a shame.
This book is truly phenomenal and speaks volumes about what it means to be a woman, for better or worse. I cannot recommend this book, or this author enough.
Book Review for "The Joy Luck Club" June 8, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Each and everyday, our generation continues to expand its range of different ethnicities and backgrounds as more families immigrant to the U.S. What Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club proves to show is the universal yet distinctive everyday conflicts of ethnic parents raising American children.
In this novel, readers begin a journey with four Chinese mothers and daughters through series of storytelling-including all woman taking a flashback to their childhood or some previous memory.
Moreover, the novel extracts how the American lifestyle that is somewhat different to the lifestyle the mother's were accustomed to creates a gap between the mother and daughters. The Joy Luck Club itself is a club where one mother, Suyuan Woo, created with three other Chinese woman in order to save and collect money as a group and bring up the spirits through the hard times of WWII. After Suyuan dies, her daughter, Jing-mei, has to fill her spot in the club as she finds out more about her mother than ever before, for example, Jing-mei discover she has two half-sisters. This novel creates a character that is able to grow with the reader as she finds out more about her mother's life and ultimately her own life as well. The discoveries allow not only Jing-mei but the readers as well to leave the book with hope as a closer bond with her mother is formed. Jing-mei creates closure with her mother's death as the readers and Jing-mei herself learn the sacrifices and loyalties of all for mothers when raising their daughters.
Since the novel is divided into four major parts, in which the mothers speak out in the first section, readers never seized to boredom, for there is a new exciting adventure that begins as each mother and daughter tells their own story. Even though the structure contributes to grasping the readers attention, readers may find it hard to collect and remember all the stories together.
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