Has anyone read The Joy Luck Club?
@bagarad (14283)
Paso Robles, California
August 27, 2011 4:03am CST
I am about two-thirds through it now, and I'm wondering what others who have read it think of it. It was recommended to me by a Chinese friend, and since I attended a Chinese church for a few years, I'm finding it especially interesting. I read parts of it to my husband this evening (He's part Serb and part Croatian) that I thought portrayed a bit of Chinese folklore that mothers share with their children, and he said his mother said similar things.
If you are reading or have read the book, what struck you as interesting or moved you? Did you learn anything you didn't know before? If you are American Chinese with parents who were born in China or Hong Kong, did this book seem true to life for you? Just wondering. I'm really interested in your opinions and impressions.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
27 Aug 11
I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm afraid it bored the pants off me and I don't think I reached the end.
Saying that, sometimes books mean more to me in some moods than others, so perhaps I should try again sometime as I've heard it recommended from so many different sources.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
27 Aug 11
I was also ready to give up after the first few pages and was tempted to put the book away. The first part is the hardest, because you don't know who anyone is, and each chapter focuses on one mother and daughter whom you are meeting for the first time. By the second third of the book you can finally keep them straight and get to know them and get interested in them. But it's not the sort of book that grabs you at the beginning with an exciting plot that you can't stop reading. This is probably more literary fiction than escape fiction.
1 person likes this
@beingwell (3625)
• Thailand
28 Aug 11
Hi there my friend. I haven't read this book BUT I've seen the movie. I really enjoyed it. Have a good read! I hope to see this movie again, now that you've mentioned it.hihihi...
@beingwell (3625)
• Thailand
28 Aug 11
It was released in 1993, bagarad. It's a nice movie. I was a teenager then when I saw it and it's surprising now that I was able to appreciate it!hahahaha!! You should watch it after reading the book.
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
28 Aug 11
I'm trying to visualize this as a movie. I can see that some scenes would be very dramatic or funny, but some of the interaction is so subtle I think it would be hard to be put into film. If you read the book, you can tell me if I'm wrong.
@BarBaraPrz (51838)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
27 Aug 11
I can't remember if I read it or not.
I know I've read The Kitchen God's Wife because it's sitting within reach. 
@jeanneyvonne (5500)
• Philippines
29 Aug 11
Actually, I saw the moviue version beofre I read the novel and I think it was better for me. The movie gave a good adaptation of the book and I was more than eager to read the novel after watching it oin film.
I don't like comparing the movie and the novel since it will lead to nver-endign comaprisons and constrasts. I just have to say that the novel filled some of the missing gaps in the movie and it gave me a more wholesome picture than I imagined.
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
29 Aug 11
I can imagine that there might have been some parts of the movie that weren't wholesome. Hollywood can take some of the inuendos in the book and fill them with details the books didn't. That's one reason I don't think I'd like the movie. I suspect it's more violent than the book and might also dramatize the rape scene of Fourth Wife. Just guessing. I can't handle watching any sort of violence on screen. I think I would have enjoyed some of the more humorous scenes, though.
