Michelle A. (hippie-mama) - reviewed on 3/19/2009 + 12 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

The Joy Luck Club is sixteen short stories, told by eight unique women, from two very different generations, which interweave to reveal a common basic theme. Some reviewers have described this book as hard to follow, but i was immediately drawn in by the characters, and couldn't wait for more to be revealed. Some have suggested taking notes to keep the stories straight, but i think a little blending between them was the author's intention--this isn't so much the stories of 8 women, as it is one story about two generations sharing two cultures between them.

The writing style is very fluid when the mothers speak; you feel like you're listening to an elderly Chinese woman who has seen it all and wants you to visualize the past with her. When the daughters speak, there are hard facts, lists of joys and disappointments, names and locations and how each person is related to another. Each viewpoint fills in the gaps of the others; events are laid out, and old customs and attitudes are explained.

The main characters may be women, but it is not a "chick book" at all. It's for anyone who thinks about life as part of something bigger, and anyone who enjoys wisdom, humor, action, and emotion all in one read.

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