The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings

In the Opposite of Fate, Amy Tan takes us on her own personal journey, within the confines of the mother/daughter relationship. Her journey brings us insight into her mother/daughter relationship, and how the words of her mother are a constant nagging, yet guiding force, in her own life. Her cultural background, along with her maternal influences, direct most of the choices she makes, even when she tries to let go of those influences.

Tan makes us think about and question the issues of fate and choices, and she touches upon the varied paths we take. Is there such a thing as “free will…do we direct our life course”, or is our journey one of destiny…a predetermined end? We are brought to think about the outcome of our own steps we show more have chosen to take, and what is the relevance between those pathways and fate, faith and luck.
Tan blends several essays that she has written, and adds more substance to them, bringing us a book filled with poignancy, choices, spirituality, the meaning of “fate and luck”, and, towards the end of the memoir, her own battle with Lyme Disease, and her struggle to get a correct diagnosis. She does this with both seriousness and humor, laying the roadwork of her life before us.

Fans of Amy Tan, and her previous works, will enjoy reading her memoir, and will enjoy learning more about the woman behind the wonderful novels essays, and short stories. show less

The book is a series of essays/stories throughout her life and about her life and writing. Although the book is extremely well written and has some interesting thoughts in it, I find Amy Tan a little full of herself and pretty pretentious when expressing her views on various subjects. There are also numerous times when she repeats stories (although this is probably because she writes the book in essay style which I didn't particularly care for). Here's a good example of a statement I found ridiculously uptight: "Many writers think sarcasm is a clever way to show intelligence. But more mature writers know that mean-spiritedness is wearying and limited in its one-dimensional point of view." What I don't understand is... since when is show more sarcasm used SERIOUSLY? Her view of sarcastic writing just doesn't make sense. To make a long story short (unlike the book), I finished it... and didn't struggle through it (unless by struggle you mean... disagree with what is written) and I found that I don't particularly like this writer as a person. I do however think she has a great writing style and she can clearly tell a story. If you can get over her pretentious attitude, then read it. show less

Tan's mother pronounced the word "faith" as "fate"--a misunderstanding that Tan didn't disentangle until she was an adult. I don't think of faith as being the opposite of fate exactly, but I can see that the former contains the idea of hope, which is central to Tan's philosophy (for lack of a better word) and is thus also a part of Tan's evolution as a daughter and a writer.The essays are mostly not written for this book specifically, but were written for various talks, awards, and the like over time and so the book is a patchwork. Parts were a bit too "aren't I somebody?" for my taste, but I there is an aspect to those bits of wonder -- Tan's own amazement that she's done so well seems genuine enough, however I hastened over those show more bits. I'm interested in her life as a writer more than her skiing or her time in an amusing literary rock band. One chapter stood out for me -- about the self-policing now in fashion (because it is a fashion and nothing else)n that you have to stick in your own ethnic milieu or you are trespassing. She writes, on this subject of "ethnic authority" : "It's as though a new and more insidious form of censorship has crept into the fold, winning followers by wearing the cloak of good intentions and ethnic correctness." While conceding that the effort;s basis, to correct the stereotyping of the past, she continues that her objection has to do with whether literature must serve as the cart and horse that hauls away human ills." This one essay made the book worthwhile to me. Whatever happened to the idea of trying to enter into someone else's skin to better understand them, Wordsworth's negative capability, or more simply put empathy? Tan writes well and can tell a great ghost story (of which she has more than one in her own life) and so it was a pleasant read but not stellar. *** show less

Reading Amy Tan's The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings warms the writer's soul. With the same exquisite writerly voice that characterizes her wonderful novels, Amy speaks to readers who write about the creative process. Her first book of non-fiction, it reveals the power of moral ambiguity in finding a focus for one's life work.

What disturbs you as a writer? What makes you uncomfortable? With what do you struggle with to make meaning of without resolution? This is where the writing begins.

Chance, fate, luck, destiny, accidents, coincidences, serendipity. The answers to the questions of how and why things happen is what the writer seeks in the construction of the story.

Amy Tan's stories of her own life, particularly her mother's show more influence, enchant.The second chapter, "how we knew" is one of those haunting stories I took as confirmation that I wasn't the only crazy person who had experienced death in the room. This story of an uncanny premonition and the characters' inability to intervene before a tragic end resonates with my own spiritual and emotional experiences associated with death and grief. Signs from the jinns of beyond.

As a writer, Amy Tan shares her gift with other writers. I read The Opposite of Fate for my fiction book club and found I couldn't put it down any easier than her fiction. show less

Great to hear Amy Tan's own story. I fervently hope that she and others affected by Lyme disease get the right treatment; why does the medical establishment dig its heels in like this and insist it knows best, before it performs a turnaround as slowly as a battleship? A similar thing happened with stomach ulcers (now known to be caused by bacteria), and chronic fatigue syndrome..... It's not very scientific.
I think that regarding one's life as "the opposite of fate" is an excellent approach.

amy tan writes beautifully. i loved the beginning and end of this. the middle dropped off slightly but that was probably me. she is a wonderful, wonderful writer and reading this makes me want to read (or reread) everything she's ever written.

"A relative once scolded my mother, 'Why do you tell your daughter these useless stories? She can't change the past.' And my mother replied, "It can be changed. I tell her, so she can tell everyone, tell the whole world so they know what my mother suffered. That's how it can be changed.'"

Entertaining, enlightening, and an easy, comfortable read.

Amy Tan covers every stage of her life, with evocative imagery, people from movie stars (not too much of that) to a sometimes-crazy mother, loss of her brother and father to cancer, her experiences writing her first work and writing for Hollywood.

She covers her more recent Lyme disease issues and generally gives me the kind of insight and access to her life that Joy Luck Club gave me to her general experience.

Well worth the read and it reinvigorated my desire to read more of her fiction!