The Joy Luck Club 喜福會
讀書樂編號：6340
推介人： 郭詠恩老師
Students, do you love literature? Yes, I do! English Literature is not that difficult as you think. I want to recommend The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan to you. I read this book during summer holiday. The English is easy but the content is inspiring and touching. I like this book because of its rich cultural meanings behind and the vivid descriptions of the struggles among daughters and mothers. Do you have a smooth relationship with your mum or are you always upset because you quarrel with your mum a lot? You will feel released when you read this book because you can find a reflection of yourself. You will understand more about your mother too. The book consists of many short stories. All of them are about culture differences and mother-daughter relationship. For example, in Two Kinds, Jing-Mei was forced by her mother to be successful in piano playing. She didn’t feel comfortable to work so hard yet she still played awfully. She struggled a lot like what you do when your mother forces you to study hard for examinations. Luckily, the struggle between Jing-Mei and her mother was solved finally by understanding each other. I think it is also a message that Amy Tan wants to send us—Understanding is the key to relationship problems. Besides mother-daughter relationship, American-Chinese is another main theme of Two Kinds. After World War 2, thousands of Chinese escaped to America to pursue their American dream. They and their generations have to face lots of cultural shocks and deal with the cultural differences. Amy Tan is one of the first few writers who portray this kind of emotion. In Two Kinds, Jing-Mei’s mother nurtured Jing-Mei and hopds Jing-Mei to pursue her own dream. And just as many American-Chinese young generations do, Jing-Mei felt sick of it. The young who are educated in American culture are unfamiliar with this kind of thinking from their parents. Chinese parents are very different from American ones. The children don’t agree with their parents as the same time the parents want their children to recognize their original culture. Luckily, in the story, Jing-Mei came to accept Chinese culture when she grew older and got more understanding. In just a few pages, Two Kinds is structured tightly with the conflict which is the two different definitions of “prodigy” from Jing-Mei and her mother as well as the resolution which is understanding. Amy Tan also links the conflict and the resolution up ingeniously by the piano. At the end of the story, a song was played by Jing-Mei. It is a symbolic of her acceptance of the two identities as a Chinese and an American. I like this ending! Author Amy Tan Country United States Genre(s) Novel Publisher G. P. Putnam's Sons Publication date 1989 Pages 288 pp ISBN 0-399-13420-4
