In "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan, there are 16 different stories; moreover, they all have a similarity. Each story talks about the problems between Asian immigrant mothers and their Americanized children. The first story is about a young lady who has just losted her mother and is now faced with the thought of taking her place. The narrator starts the by explaining her mother's story connecting to the joy luck club. The narrator, Jing-Mei is the daughter of an Asian immigrant who came to San Fransisco due to the World War 2 during the late 1940's. When the narrators mom arrived to San Fransisco she started this club which she took from her native country, called the Joy Luck Club. In the club they play a game called Mahjong which is a game for four players involving dice and domino-like tiles. The narrators mom two childhood friends were her partners in this club and when the narrators mom had pasted away it was up to Jing-Mei to take her mother's place. Although Jing-Mei is everything like her mother , she doesn't believe she can ever be as great as her mother. Jing-Mei has twin half sisters who the mother left during her tragic move to the US. Jing-Mei is aware of her sisters in China and with her mothers death still taunting her she decides to take her mothers place. Jing-Mei also returns to China to meet her two half sisters.
Amy Tan has a very interesting way of writing, she reminds me of another interesting writer name Haruki Murakami. Haruki is a Japanese writer and though his writing is quiet awkward having more than one person's story in one book and all connecting to one another is as similar to Amy Tan. Amy Tan breaks each part down to four main parts and each main part has four individual stories. This is different and keep readers very interested.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that you have an understanding of the story. For someone who has not read this book, you provide a good summary of the plot. Well done.
You also provide a short write up on the author and her style of writing. I like the comparison to the other author. It would have been nice if you mentioned the book he wrote that employs the same technique.
In your next post, I would like to see more of you. I want to hear your thoughts and reactions to the story and the characters.
Jing-Mei is taking over for her mother, which seems to be a major transition. How do you think that will affect how the stories are going to be told? Also, why did you choose this book? Are there any themes that attracted you to it?
In general, I would like to see more of your thoughts. There were some spelling mistakes. Please make to spell check before you finalize your post. Also, make sure to read out loud to yourself just to make sure everything makes sense. Very clear and good first post. I look forward to the next ones.
-Derrick