The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club

It must have taken a lot of confidence to create six protagonists for just one novel. All of them important and each have something special to say, all compressed in 352 pages. Each of them wait politely for their turn to speak, and the author stitches them together by putting them under different chapters which resemble the game of Mahjong. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the book as much as I thought I would/should.

The synopsis behind a book is always an understatement. A very, very tiny peek of what to expect. But in this book, it is oddly adequate. Like being offered an abridged version in the same book.

Another problem I had is with all the 8 voices (mothers and daughters) sound just the same. Even if all of them write in the first person, they are filled with interjections which do not lead you anywhere. It was easier for me to track characters in Lord of the Rings than in this book. Often some unique characteristic, expression, incident, tone of voice, or even a mole on the nose would subtly remind you of who is talking. But here the writer seems to restart her story every chapter, washing her hands off them once finished.

Even if a book has a long list of characters, they sing in unison. Even in conflict, if funneled through the thickness of the book, they always become one. In Joy Luck Club, for better or worse even till the end, they do not fall into place. Long after the book finished, I was half expecting that some pages must have fallen off from behind the book.

But despite all the complaints, the book did make me uncomfortable. It is so rare to find a book which seems to be looking right at you and in this case accusingly. It accuses me of not knowing my parents enough. Of not knowing the seed you have developed from, your history. And how occasionally you are ashamed of it. After merely reading the preface of the book, I felt shame rising in me. So much that I abandoned the book for a couple of days (also because of internship!). But now I listen to my parents a little bit more. I am sure it will last only until the next book I pick up. Nevertheless, the book seems to underline many values I guess we all owe it to ourselves and our history.

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The video which convinced me to read this.