The Joy Luck Club

When her mother, Suyuan, dies Jing-mei "June" Woo is invited to take her place in the mah jong table in the Joy Luck Club along with her friends, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair. The women were from various places in China with very different backgrounds, but all met after they immigrated to San Francisco in the late 1940s. The narrative intersperses their stories with that of their American daughters, including Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong, and Lena St. Clair in addition to Jing-mei.

I had to keep reminding myself that this book was written in 1989, because it didn't read like a nearly 35-year-old book. The stories are set up as each move in a mah jong game, eventually building up to a whole that gives the reader a show more fuller perspective of the seven narrators' stories, and that of the newly-deceased Suyuan, despite the fact that she never speaks herself. It's intricately crafted and shows how little we can really know of another person: like these mothers and daughters, we see others through our own prisms of experience and our relationship with them, not necessarily seeing the complex whole of a human being. An excellent book club choice. show less

I just finished rereading this book for the second time in less than a month. I'm preparing for a special get-together of my book club. We first met to talk about this book, The Joy Luck Club, in 1990 (or 1989), before book clubs were really 'a thing.' I remember my excitement at being included in this group of women who loved to read, and being totally blown away by Tan's book, which was like nothing I had ever read before. A book about four mothers and four daughters, a book that showed everyone's point of view, conflicting and otherwise. I book that showed the tensions but, mostly, the love between mothers and daughters, and the difficulties faced by Chinese-born mothers and their American-born children. "One cannot read a book. One show more can only reread it." A quote attributed to Nabokov (among others). I know rereading a loved book can sometimes prove disappointing, but I was confident that this wouldn't be the case with TJLC. In fact, the opposite was true, because now that I'm 35 years older than I was when I first read it, I still feel compassion for all of the characters, but much more than before for the 'misunderstood' mothers. TJLC is a book that doesn't merely hold up on rereading, but that yields even greater gifts. show less

The structuring of this 'novel' intrigues me: four pairs of mother-daughter, two stories allocated to each individual, adding up to sixteen stories spread across four delineated sections. As balance is a recurring theme, I wonder whether there isn't some unstated significance to this? Each of the sixteen chapters is a wonderful whole and delicately written with its own beginning and end; any one of them could be excerpted and presented independently. The challenge lies in remembering whose daughter or mother is whose, and filtering which stories I'd already read that belonged to them. I was frequently flipping back to confirm these things, or referencing the helpful list at the front that pairs the mother-daughter sets, so I'd not show more recommend an e-book version.

In the first section we're provided with the background of the mothers' lives in China, with exposure to the different place and culture they grew up in, the hardships unique to those circumstances that they had to overcome - fleeing from war, or an arranged marriage, etc. In the second section we're given the childhood perspective of their daughters: children who do not know or understand this background we've been given, trying to interpret and absorb their mothers' lessons as they are growing up in America. The third section presents the daughters as adults probing in search of new adult relationships with their mothers (including my favourite chapter, "Four Directions"). The concluding section belongs again to the mothers, completing their stories by describing how they came to America. For all that the daughters feel burdened by what their mothers say, they've little idea about the weight of what has not been told.

The result is eight well-rounded characters: four who are wise with age, and four who have struggled under the shadow of that wisdom but are beginning to find their own. Four pairings that complement one another to produce a fulsome picture of Chinese immigration and integration with the West, but also a wonderful portrait of mother-daughter relationships and the handing down of knowledge and culture. show less

This was fascinating, touching, and heartbreaking all at once. I loved how it explored the complicated relationships between all the main characters and why they are the way they are - though it wasn't always easy and I certainly didn't always agree with them. The aspects of Chinese culture and history it went into were also really interesting and I really liked the way it was written and the story was unraveled.

This is a story of mothers and daughters, structured around the four women players of a regular game of mahjong. Each of four sections is split into four parts, one for each of the mahjong players, simulating the taking of turns during a game. It starts with the mother’s life in China and proceeds to the daughter’s life in the US.

One of the highlights is the portrayal of the Chinese culture and traditions, and the difficulty of passing them along to a younger generation, especially those immersed in American culture. I think the author does an excellent job of putting the reader into the heads of both generations. We see the older women through the lens of the younger, and vice-versa, so we understand their motivations and also see show more the disconnects between the generations.

The novel examines the changing roles of women, which becomes more pronounced when compared to the traditions of past generations of Chinese women deferring to men, sacrificing for the family, and suffering in silence. The game of mahjong is not discussed in any detail. I found it a delightful exploration of the value of family, memories, and identity. show less

I haven't picked this up since high school, but I was thrilled to get around to re-reading this. Each sentence is poetry; the Chinese customs, language, nuances, and characters float right off the page. It's a beautiful book to read. I also love the differences between the mothers and daughters; at first you think it's generational, but it's all about being raised American, in a new land with new customs. The Joy Luck Club tells of four Chinese women who immigrated to America in their youth and their four daughter who were raised American. The daughters can't understand where their parents came from, not the struggles, the humiliations, the secrets. They are too wrapped up in themselves and ashamed of their mothers and their odd show more beliefs. As the stories unfold (alternating chapters feature different perspectives); the mothers reminiscing about how they were raised and persevered, the daughters start to realize that they are more then their differences, they have a resilience, a strength in spirit that needed to be overcome, but deep down they are closer to their mothers than they ever thought possible. Storytelling at it's finest. show less

My mom insisted I read The Joy Luck Club, but it was only after I saw it on the AP Lit reading list that I decided to concede to my mother’s request. And I’m glad I did because The Joy Luck Club is a beautifully written book that’s insightful without coming across as overly academic and stuffy.

“And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same way! Maybe it is because she was born to me and she born a girl. And I was born to my mother and I was born a girl. All of sue are like stairs, one step after another, going up and down, but all going the same way.” {pg. 215}

Amy Tan’s writing style really drawls you in and she does a fantastic job of establishing voices for all eight characters, no easily show more feat I’m sure. True, twice I had to check the name to make sure I was connecting the right mother and daughter, but each character is clearly their own person with their own experiences and struggles.

“And I want to tell her this: We are lost, she and I, unseen and not seeing, unheard and not hearing, unknown by others.” {pg. 67}

Obviously, based on the back cover blurb, The Joy Luck Club is about mother-daughter relationships. But despite being completely rooted in Chinese culture, I could still understand what Tan was trying to explain through each of the mother’s relationships with their respective daughters.

“But inside I am becoming ashamed. I am ashamed she is ashamed. Because she is my daughter and I am proud of her, and I am her mother but she I not proud of me.” {pg. 255}

Still, some of women’s stories bored me and a couple frustrated me with their “do as I say, not as I do” attitudes. I realize that this is a somewhat common philosophy among mothers {Err, not you, Mom}, but I couldn’t help but to yell at these women for criticizing their own daughters as they chose their own courses, when some of them did the exact same thing in China. show less