Alicia G. - reviewed on 5/28/2007 + 52 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 5

I had a hard time getting through the first chapter of this book. It all became relevant later, but at the beginning I wasn't that interested in hearing about the narrator's childhood and funeral and all that. It was confusing and I think it should have been more integrated. Once the story delved into the tourist trip, the "dead narrator" device became interesting. Unfortunately, the tone continued to ramble up until the last third of the book. There would be times I was very interested in the storyline, but then the narrative would go flying off in some other direction and my mind would wander. The novel would have been better served if she'd stayed with the surprisingly compelling kidnapping plot, allowed herself to adopt the thriller conventions to her own use, and sacrificed a few chapters for relevance. I did love the way it ended, where she made it clear that the events of the book changed the lives of the characters, but did not totally remake the world or their worlds, individually. So the character notes were well done. Amy Tan employs a certain epigram-like writing style in this book and frequently drops in a little bite-sized line containing some poignant insight. The book overall is uneven, but it's an enjoyable book.

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