The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
From what I have picked up so far, it seems like as the main character tries to fill her late mother’ shoes, she realizes that she did not know her mother as well as she thought she did. With the help of her father, aunts, cousins, friends, and other relatives, June will connect with family members from around the globe. So far, I like that at the beginning of the book, Amy Tan would introduce a character, then give a description and a bit of a backstory or that character. It makes the book clear when stories are being told by the characters and it makes the book easy to follow. I also like that the chapters are split up into different sections and that each title includes the name of a character as well as a chapter title. Though I am only roughly forty pages into this book, it has been enjoyable and intriguing thus far.
So far, the tone at the beginning of the book is somber. Tan creates this tone by introducing the book with an anecdote, being told from the eyes of June’s mother. The authors then goes on to inform the reader that the mother has been dead for months. Still, at the start of the book, the author continues to build up this character, sharing about her personality and life. Since we already know that June’s mother is dead, there is an empty feeling as the reading goes on, due to the fact that the mother will be a static character in this story.
This seems quite an interesting read you have in your hands Kendall, I might have to take a bite out of it myself once I finish the novel I’m currently reading in the nearby future!!
By just reading the title of this book, I can imagine that the author has intriguing reasons to what and how the novel relates to this enigmatic title she chose to encapsulate the main premise of the book around. Expressing the life of her character’s stories through anectdotes, as you stated in your blog, the protagonist’s family from all over the world could just be like the various mahjong tiles you would find in a set, all having a purpose to provide relationships and meaningful gifts in creating the “face” and story of June’s mother. To come to think of it, this novel reminds me of Ava’s Man haha. Enjoy this novel!
I read this book last year in English and I enjoyed it quite a bit! Currently, I am reading another novel by Amy Tan, The Kitchen God’s Wife. She set up the chapters the same way and I definitely agree with you when you said that it makes the book easy to follow. I’ve found that the author likes to use many characters so this format helps the reader know who is who. I hope you continue to enjoy the book!