The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

"So we decided to hold parties and pretend each week had become the new year. Each week we could forget past wrongs done to us. We weren't allowed to think a bad thought. We feasted, we laughed, we played games, lost and won, we told the best stories. And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our only joy. And that's how we came to call our little parties Joy Luck."
                 -Suyuan Woo to her daughter, Jing-Mei Woo

I quickly became interested in reading The Joy Luck Club when I saw that the public library was providing many activities centered around it in May. This was a part of The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts "to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture."

When I found I could check out a Book Bundle, multiple copies of the novel, I decided it would be our book club selection for June.

On the last Saturday in May, I attended a lecture at the library delivered by Dr. Guiyou Huang titled "Joy Luck Club, The Book, the Movie, the Author." I had just begun reading the novel and Dr. Huang's talk was very helpful. The following are some of his interesting points about the novel:

Joy Luck Club, published about 24 years ago, was Amy Tan's first novel. Though the book is fiction some characters were based on Amy's family, particularly Suyuan Woo representing Amy's mother and An-Mei Hsu, her grandmother.
Dr. Huang also gave insight into the setting of the novel: China and the United States, particularly San Francisco. He provided some significant political background of both places such as the war with Japan and the communist revolution in China, and, in the U.S., the Gold Rush and the building of the railroads which had attracted numerous Chinese immigrants.
He talked about the gender relations and social marginality brought out in the novel. I was surprised to learn that some of the male chauvinism in China came from Confucious. Of course there is much contrast in the novel as American-raised daughters clash with Chinese-born mothers. This provides much of the conflict and leads to themes of parental expectations as opposed to self-determination, interracial marriage and ethnic identity, sexism, racism, and feminism.

Last he spoke of the movie, "Joy Luck Club" and related that it was a first in several ways: a departure from the Suzie Wong and Charlie Chan stereotypes and the first to use a Chinese-American director and actors. Many Chinese traditions were reintroduced, such as mah jong, Chinese New Year, Moon Fest and Chinese cuisine.

I feel lucky to have read this novel and it brought me joy.  I would give it a 4 and will look for another novel by Amy Tan. Our book club did read her Saving Fish from Drowning a few years ago and didn't really love it. Dr. Huang suggests The Kitchen God's Wife, so that's next on my list. I look forward to our group's discussion of Joy Luck. We plan to go out to lunch after our meeting---a Chinese restaurant, of course! We hope to be able to view the movie together, as well.

***
Our Page Turners group met to discuss The Joy Luck Club on Thursday. Helpful volunteers provided boiled peanuts, fortune cookies, orange sections and green tea as refreshments. We had a smaller group than usual---only 10 but it IS summer and folks are traveling. We started our meeting listening to one of two tracks on a CD I had picked up at the library the day I attended the lecture on the book. I didn't mention that before, nor did I say I had helped myself to enough of the Reading Guide booklets for our members. Both the CD and the booklets were provided by the National Endowment for the Arts to enhance The Big Read. The CD had the author and other knowledgeable people talking about the novel. We found it enlightened us on some aspects of Chinese culture and the characters and events in the book. The Reading Guide included questions for our discussion as well as background on the author and a page some called a "cheat sheet" to remind the reader of who's who among the 8 main characters.
The rating for the book was 3.8 with most members voting a 4. One of the criticisms was the difficulty of jumping back and forth between two countries and keeping track of all 8 women! We all felt it introduced us to Chinese culture and perhaps some insight into problems of immigrants to which we hadn't given much thought. Most of us thought The Joy Luck Club was a worthwhile read AND it was a lovely excuse for 10 of us to meet for lunch afterward at a Chinese restaurant!

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

"I met Sister Bettie before I met Miss Debbie. She ain't no nun or nothin like that. We call her 'Sister' 'cause she's a real spiritual woman. I don't know how old Sister Bettie was when I met her, but right this minute she got a crown a' hair just as white as a cloud on a summer day, and twinklin eyes as blue as the sky them clouds go sailin in. When she's talkin to you, she'll lay a hand on your arm like she's knowed you all your life, like maybe you was her own child. And even if she keeps her hand there awhile, it don't bother you none. You just feel happy God saw fit to drop a lady like that into this world."
                                            -Denver Moore

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I am so glad I read it. It is a marvelous story of redemption, grace and brotherly love. Ron Hall is a wealthy art dealer and Denver Moore, a poor homeless black man. They go back and forth in telling the story of how they connected. It probably never would have happened without the amazing influence of Deborah Hall, Ron's wife. I am so in awe of what she accomplished! Though a nonfiction book, this one was at times entertaining and often poignant---it made me laugh out loud and brought me to tears! My rating for this book is a 5 and I hope it will continue to inspire me.

Oddly, Same Kind of Different as Me reminded me of a Shel Silverstein poem titled "When You Turn Off the Light." It goes like this:
Small as a peanut,
Big as a giant,
We're all the same size
When we turn off the light.
Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We're all worth the same
When we turn off the light.

Red, black or orange
Yellow or white,
We all look the same
When we turn off the light.

So maybe the way
To make everything right
Is for God to just reach out
And turn off the light!

In my interpretation, the poem says everyone is the "same kind of different!"

I loved Denver Moore's theology. For example, at the very end of the book, he says, "The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless---just workin our way toward home." There are numerous times that Denver speaks his own truth and you just want to say "Wow!"

This book includes questions for discussion in the back, as well as an interview with the authors that was quite interesting.  A friend told me she saw Ron and Denver on a talk show. I intend to see if I can find it on Youtube.

Benjamin Franklin's Bastard by Sally Cabot

"Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones."

              -Benjamin Franklin

I am something of an American history buff and especially enjoy the colonial and revolutionary periods. I have seen the musical "1776" several times and very much enjoy how our founding fathers are portrayed in it. I have always found Benjamin Franklin to be a fascinating character, a man of many talents.

There is a line in "1776" about Franklin's son, who at that time was the royal governor of New Jersey, in which Franklin refers to him as the "bastard." I don't believe I knew that he meant it literally. The novel cover has a subtitle that reads "A father, a son, and the women who loved them" and that is a pretty good summary. Anne is a prostitute, mother of Franklin's illegitimate son, William, and Deborah is Franklin's wife who ends up helping to raise William.

I watched a television show about Benjamin Franklin at the same time I was reading the novel and it was very enlightening, corroborating some of the history in the novel and revealing some of the fiction. For example, it seemed that Franklin did have a weakness for women throughout his life, though there is little proof of their identities. One of the main characters in the novel is Anne, who the author admits is fictionalized, and of course the TV show didn't mention that name. One important fact revealed in both was the closeness of father and son in the early years and the irreparable rift in the relationship caused by the American revolution when William remains a staunch loyalist while Ben becomes one of the greatest patriots.

I am rating this novel a 4. I enjoyed it very much and though I discovered more of Franklin's "bad habits" he is still one of my American heroes!

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

"I have been moving in slow motion, waiting for an inevitable ax to fall, listening to testimony as if these witnesses are discussing the destiny of a stranger. But now, I feel myself waking. The future may unfold in indelible strokes, but it doesn't mean we have to read the same line over and over. That's exactly the fate I didn't want for Nathaniel...so why should I want it for me?"
               -from the novel, page 298

A friend read this novel and recommended it to me. I have read a few of Jodi Picoult's books and they were definitely "page turners." This one did not disappoint!

Picoult's books often have disturbing themes. Perfect Match is no exception. In fact much of the story about the sexual abuse of a child is difficult to read. ADA Nina Frost finds out what a mother is capable of when her child is hurt. It might give any of us who are parents or grandparents cause to think what WE might do in the face of such trauma to a loved one. At a crucial point near the end of the book, Nina admits to an act which was completely out of character for her, ending with "...I knew exactly what I was doing. And at the same time, I was crazy. Love will do that to you."

I would rate the book a 4. Picoult is a talented writer and I was completely drawn into the plot but I cannot say I really enjoyed it due to the darkness of the subject.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

"People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see."
                                          -the man in the grey suit, page 28 of the novel

I enjoyed The Night Circus. I hadn't read a true fantasy in quite a while and it was refreshing to "suspend my disbelief" and enter an illusory world. Not all the Page Turners book club agreed with me. In our discussion there were varied words to describe the novel: creative, confusing, enchanting, dream-like and even tedious. Someone said it reminded him of a fairy tale. The group voted a rating of 3.8 out of 5, with individual ratings from 5 to 2. I personally voted a 4. Most of us agreed that the book was well-written; the story just wasn't everyone's cup of tea. Many of us do not read much fantasy and perhaps our imaginations get rusty! Some in our group just found the changes in narrative perspective and the non-linear sequence difficult to follow.

I found myself comparing the book to the Harry Potter series, which I loved. I am in awe of writers who can invent a whole different world and then make us feel we have entered it for a time. I thought the characters were well-developed and interesting. I identified with Celia most, understandably. Perhaps a male reader would favor Marco. These are the two main characters pitted in a competition that even they don't understand until late in the story.

If you enjoy fantasy and can follow the action, you will like The Night Circus.

Murder at the Library of Congress by Margaret Truman

"An author whose inside knowledge of Washington is matched by her ability to spin a compelling mystery plot."
                             -a review from Crime Times

We had a tour of Washington D.C. planned when I noticed this book on a shelf in the library. I wasn't looking for it but it just sort of found me. I started reading, hoping we would get to the Library of Congress although it was not on our itinerary. And what do you know? On the last day, something was cancelled and we ended up at the Library after all! Such a stunningly beautiful building! It was interesting to see the main reading room, really the only part mentioned in the book that was visible on a short tour.

I had read one other mystery by Margaret Truman and enjoyed it. This one was quite entertaining, as well, with a many-faceted plot including more than one murder and the theft of a painting. I liked the main character, Annabel Reed-Smith, an artist/writer researching an article on the diaries of Bartholome de Las Casas. He was a 16th century explorer who sailed with Columbus and may have kept his own diaries which, if found, would be extremely valuable historically. This history mystery was intriguing to a history buff like myself. With the elements of history, the sleuthing of a shocking murder AND mention of places I was visiting at the time, what was NOT to like about this one? I would give it a 4.

All Around the Town by Mary Higgins Clark

"East side, west side,
All around the town,
The tots sang 'Ring-a-Rosie,'
 'London Bridge is Falling Down.'
Boys and girls together,
Me and Mamie O'Rourke,
Tripped the light fantastic,
On the sidewalks of New York."
                         -lyrics from "The Sidewalks of New York"

This Mary Higgins Clark was as good as any other of hers I have read. She is appropriately called "The Queen of Suspense." Clark is one of my go-to authors when I just want to enjoy a thriller and not think too hard. Our Page Turners group tends to read literature with more challenging plots and more profound themes so an easy read like this is refreshing at times, just mindless fun. Most of Clark's novels are centered around a song, often oldies, and this one is no exception. If I ever hear "The Sidewalks of New York" again it will probably give me goose bumps! And I never want to see a decapitated chicken!

Two sisters are the main characters, one a lawyer and one a troubled young lady with multiple personality disorder. The second sister, Laura, finds herself accused of a murder and the older sister, Sarah, takes on the task of defending her. Short chapters and a gripping plot made this book a true "page turner"---I could hardly put it down! I would give it a 5.

The problem for me with books like this is they are not very memorable and there is really no redeeming social value that I can see. A couple of weeks from now I will have forgotten much of it. It was a great ride while it lasted!