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 May/June Book Club: The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan (Page 1)
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| Author | Topic: May/June Book Club: The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan |
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BionicGirl Housemate |
posted 04-27-2002 09:08 AM
   
This was another close vote. Please remember to purchase the book through the DigsShop to help out Digs (yeefan, can you set that up & provide a link, por favor?) Discussion will begin on Monday, June 24. No spoilers before then, please. Hope everyone enjoys it! IP: Logged |
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bassoongrlspam Housemate |
posted 04-27-2002 10:42 AM
OOOOHH!!! I can't wait! I've wanted to read this one for awhile, how great! IP: Logged |
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yeefan Head of the House |
posted 04-29-2002 10:00 AM
yay! I'll add the link to the bookstore today ... IP: Logged |
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risusa Housemate |
posted 04-29-2002 10:32 AM
Ooh, I read this one as soon as it came out - it's marvelous! Definitely on par with the rest of Amy Tan's books. I'll gladly read it again  !
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yeefan Head of the House |
posted 04-29-2002 10:36 AM
Okay, all, here's where you can go to buy The Bonesetter's Daughter and help support digs !
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bali Housemate |
posted 04-29-2002 11:14 AM
I really liked this book - I got to meet Amy Tan and I have an autographed copy of the Bonesetters Daughter. YEA! I got to the lecture 3 hours early and sat in the front row, perfect center. I think I annoyed her
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ragazzina Housemate |
posted 04-29-2002 03:56 PM
perhaps the asian-american viewpoint will be interesting.. IP: Logged |
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kena Housesitter |
posted 05-07-2002 05:52 PM
Just to say I really loved The Bonesetter's Daughter. I bought it last week-end and read it in one sitting. (I hope it's not becoming an habit, otherwise the Digs bookclub will have to become a weekly event )I read The Joy Luck Club a long time ago, but my english was not as good then and I struggled through it for weeks, which kind of spoiled the fun. (I still liked it a lot though. But I prefer to immerse myself in a book and read it very fast) More feedback in two months, if I continue I'm going to say too much... IP: Logged |
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Dewgirl Housesitter |
posted 06-03-2002 08:13 AM
Just bumping this up, I picked up the book this weekend and read it all in one sitting. I don't want to wait till June 24!! But I will.... IP: Logged |
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PB&J Housemate |
posted 06-08-2002 07:37 AM
I'm glad I'm not the only one who is excited about the book club. I almost feel like I could read the book again...just in case there was stuff I missed. Wonderful story!!! I love Amy Tan. (The Hundred Secret Senses is another good book if anyone needs another "Amy Tan" fix) IP: Logged |
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bassoongrlspam Housemate |
posted 06-08-2002 12:30 PM
I think I'm gonna hafta read this again, I can't wait for the discussion to start! IP: Logged |
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BionicGirl Housemate |
posted 06-09-2002 09:01 PM
quote: I love that one. I haven't finished the Bonesetter's Daughter yet, but so far there seem to be some interesting parallels between these two books... I guess I'll see once I get further into it. IP: Logged |
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Dewgirl Housesitter |
posted 06-24-2002 09:55 AM
Discuss!!!! IP: Logged |
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SLourdes Housemate |
posted 06-24-2002 12:56 PM
What did everyone think of Part 3 of the book? I was really loving this book- the first part with Ruth learning about her mother's alzhiemers, and then the second part, with Liu Ling's amazing childhood. Both were sad, compelling, fascinating. But after the papers are translated, and everything ends up so tidy in part three, I felt a little unsatisfied. I mean, I was happy that everything turned out good for Ruth, Art, and her mother, but I also felt that it was all a little too sudden. I wasn't sure if she would so easily fall in love with Mr. Tang, and enjoy living at the senior citizens home. What do you guys think? Am I just too cynical? [This message has been edited by SLourdes (edited 06-25-2002).] IP: Logged |
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BionicGirl Housemate |
posted 06-24-2002 01:02 PM
Oh Holy late book club leader! Sorry, guys... I was distracted this weekend. I'll prepare some questions tonight. Please go ahead and discuss! ***running out of here before anyone throws their books at me*** IP: Logged |
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bassoongrlspam Housemate |
posted 06-24-2002 01:42 PM
I agree I felt it was all too neat, to tidy at the end, I wanted more conflict! (I won't be able to discuss for the next few days do to a funeral in the family ((my grandpa)) so I am getting my discuss in now, and will join in again later, I hope no one minds) IP: Logged |
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BionicGirl Housemate |
posted 06-24-2002 07:13 PM
Alrighty then... the question that has already been posed is a good one. Did anyone else feel the ending the ending was too tidy or otherwise ineffective? The thing that struck me most about this was the complicated relationships between the many characters. Did you guys feel that those relationships were well-defined or did they leave any loose ends for you? How about LuLing's relationship and attitude towards "Mother" after she found out that Precious Auntie was her real mother? And what about the bond between LuLing and GaoLing after thr truth came out... was GaoLing's devotion believable or did it seem forced based on the way their relationship had been portrayed up until that point? What did you think about Ruth and Art's relationship? Which characters did you find most effective or which did you identify most with? Or did you identify with any of them? I'll throw those out there for now, and then jump back in. IP: Logged |
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yeefan Head of the House |
posted 06-25-2002 08:28 AM
I thought part three was the least compelling of the three sections as well -- while it was nice to see some resolution for Ruth and her mother, the Mr. Tang romance seemed unnecessary to me, and sort of out of the blue, and the whole assisted living home transition went way too smoothly, considering how notoriously difficult LuLing is as a person. And I just felt sort of nothing about the Ruth and Art situation -- I think because he was painted in a not particularly appealing light in the first section of the book, I never particularly cared about him as a character, and was certainly never convinced that he was actually good for Ruth anyway. I'm actually not sure I identify with any of the characters in this book -- it's sort of a problem I have with Chinese American writers whose body of work consists wholely of writing about their Chinese-American existence that there's always this huge difference between my experiences as a Chinese-American, and what they're describing. With Amy Tan, in particular, I suppose, a large part of it is the generational difference, but I always feels like for her characters, the fact of their Chineseness is the sole defining characteristic of their personalities ... their immigrant parents are always so exoticized as being so stereotypically Chinese (speaking in pidgin English which to my ear, is always missing the things that most characterize the English speech of Chinese native speakers, the way they can't get their prepositions right and always confuse he and she, his and her) and it seems like ALL of their problems can be traced to the fact that they have these nagging, exasperating Chinese parents, in particular moms, who can't express their love directly and whose passive-aggressive behavior results in deep bitterness on the part of the children. IP: Logged |
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NYCrystal Housemate |
posted 06-25-2002 08:37 AM
oooohhh....finally a book that i've read..Yay, Will post opinion/comment later
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BionicGirl Housemate |
posted 06-25-2002 09:31 AM
Yeah, I agree with you guys about the third section of the book, and with yeefan about the relationship between Art and Ruth. It seemed like it was only there to show us some sides of Ruth that we might not have seen otherwise... like how incapable she was of expressing her feelings. I found her to be really frustrating actually. I can't quite pinpoint the reason for that frustration, but I just wanted her to open up and be done with it. LuLing was the character I most enjoyed, especially in the second section of the book. I didn't really get the bond between she and GaoLing though. Her descriptions of the two of them as kids were always competitive and she didn't show us much else between the two. Then suddenly when everyone found out about Precious Auntie, GaoLing was all into their sisterhood... it seemed abrupt and out of place to me. Maybe this is not fair in this discussion, but I can't help comparing this to her other books. I am now wondering if Amy Tan is going to keep writing the same story over and over. There are differences, but the themes are way too similar. The books make me kind of sad because they are so much about people's inability to relate to each other openly... I can't help but wonder if in real life she struggles with this over and over, but there's no resolution like in the books. It just keeps repeating. Like I said, sorry because I know that's not fair to people that haven't read her other books. It just crept into my mind one too many times to ignore it. IP: Logged |
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BionicGirl Housemate |
posted 06-25-2002 10:08 AM
Oh, just remembered I was going to ask this in the earlier post... but does anyone want to volunteer to lead the next round? IP: Logged |
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yeefan Head of the House |
posted 06-25-2002 10:26 AM
I didn't have as much of a problem believing the relationship between GaoLing and LuLing ... I don't have a sister myself, but in the women I do know who have sisters who are close to them in age, it always seems to me that the competitiveness and the closeness frequently go hand in hand, with the closeness generally winning out as they grow older. Hey, where are the other book clubbers anyway? IP: Logged |
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BionicGirl Housemate |
posted 06-25-2002 10:54 AM
I was wondering that too! Hello out there... I have a sister close to my age, and I see what you're saying about the competion/closeness going hand-in-hand sometimes. I don't know though. She never showed us anything to their relationship other that jealousy between the two, unlike in some of her other books where we see the sisters not only being competitive and argumentative, but sharing that closeness. (I think even if I hadn't read the other books I would have still felt this way.) In their adult relationship, in the first segment especially, I totally accepted it, but by the time she got into the background on the two as girls it didn't gel for me. IP: Logged |
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SLourdes Housemate |
posted 06-25-2002 10:54 AM
There were times when I identified with Ruth, and there were times I identified with Lu Ling throughout the book. I think that the times I felt the characterization was the most "real" was when Tan was writing about the girls childhoods. I think the parallel between Ruth's relationship with her mother and her mother's relationship with Precious Auntie was very interesting. I liked the struggle between love for the mother figure, and rebellion on the part of the young girl. It felt very true to life, to me. I think as an adult though, Ruth's character was just a little too flat. And I wanted there to be more of a family dynamic between her, Art, and Art's daughters. It would have been interesting to flesh out this mother figure/daughter relationship a little more. GaoLing and LuLing made sense to me. I think they were competitive and not nice to each other until they realized what they were missing when LuLing was sent away. I think their realtionship seemed realistic enough. Yes, where are the other bookclubbers? IP: Logged |
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BionicGirl Housemate |
posted 06-27-2002 06:18 AM
***bump***
quote: Again, I ponder. IP: Logged |
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suzette Housemate |
posted 06-27-2002 06:27 AM
Um, I didn't read the book because, well, I suck IP: Logged |
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Dewgirl Housesitter |
posted 06-27-2002 06:28 AM
I'm here, just don't have anything to add yet - I read the book right at the beginning of the time frame, and don't remember enough to contribute yet
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yeefan Head of the House |
posted 06-27-2002 08:38 AM
Sorry if I take a slight tangent here, BG ... do people think we're waiting too long to start the bookclub discussion after choosing the book? Like Dewgirl, I read the book over a month ago and probably would have had more to say just after finishing it ... IP: Logged |
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yeefan Head of the House |
posted 06-27-2002 08:48 AM
I totally agree with Slourdes comment about Ruth's character not being fleshed out enough ... again, I think this is particularly a problem in part 3 of the book, where we're suddenly expected to feel something about the fact that she has this major life revelation about how she's always sort of let things just happen to herself rather than really make her feelings known outright. LuLing is a much more vivid character in my mind than Ruth -- everything she does in the story always makes sense to me, because I really feel like I get to know who she is, whereas with Ruth, her actions sometimes don't feel fully believable to me. Like when Art brings up the assisted living idea, I just didn't buy that Ruth would cave in and concede that it might be a good idea so easily, given how much guilt she's always felt regarding her relationship with her mom, and the fact that I think the problem of how to take care of the elderly generation is a very, very, tricky issue especially for people from Asian cultures, where it's traditionally expected that the family will be the one to take care of the older folks, not some strangers. IP: Logged |
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PB&J Housemate |
posted 06-28-2002 07:21 AM
I am one of those "strangers" who looks after patients on an Alzheimer's unit in a personal care home. I was happy to see how accuately Lu Ling's condition was conveyed. (a bit sugar-coated, but this IS fiction after all). Amy did not have me completely convinced of Ruth's moral dilemma. I also felt like her relationship with Art was kind of an afterthought, to pad out the story a bit. Does anyone else feel the same? IP: Logged |
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BionicGirl Housemate |
posted 06-28-2002 07:43 AM
quote: I agree with that too. Taking care of/dealing with an older relative with a degenerative disease can take the breath of out of you... it's one of the most emotionally stressful things you can go through. I didn't really think she did an adequate job of showing how this experience was more trying for Ruth than the rest of her life had been. IP: Logged |
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ro419ro Subletter |
posted 06-28-2002 10:51 AM
I agree with PB and J also. I never felt she was connected to Art and his daughters tended to be an annoying distraction to the reader rather than an addition to the plot. It was hard to maintain a connection to the characters, a level of emotion was missing form each of them to draw us in deeper. IP: Logged |
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NYCrystal Housemate |
posted 06-28-2002 06:00 PM
I think that the book solves Ruth's problems too quickly and without any real solvence. She and Art had problems and then all of a sudden they're back together and all lovey dovey again, she has problems with his daughters and then again, all of a sudden they love her....kind of weird. On Lu-Ling; I think the author portrayed her life with much more detail and more feeling. I felt more attached to her while reading the book than to Ruth. I think that in Chapter 3 of the book Amy Tan just wanted to get the book over with and solved all the problems quickly. All in all i liked and enjoyed the book, it was a good read. BTW: Amy Tan writes the PBS children's cartoon named "Sagwa: the japanese cat".It's entertaining. Just a little tidbit of information IP: Logged |
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bassoongrlspam Housemate |
posted 06-29-2002 06:43 AM
I thought part three of the book was the most uninteresting for me, but I really enjoyed the interaction between Lu Ling and Gao Ling, I was trying to draw all sorts of parallels between these two siblings, and me and my brother. I do wish Tan would have delved a little more deeply into the relationship between Ruth and the girls though, being a "step child" myself, I would have liked to see how Ruth handled that relationship, instead the girls were much more distracting than they needed to be. IP: Logged |
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kena Housesitter |
posted 07-01-2002 05:47 PM
Sorry for the late contribution, the combination of warm weather and a hectic internship leave me very little computer time at night. I too felt that Amy Tan illustrated well the "daughter with a crazy life/mom with Alzheimer" relationship. My grand-mother is slowly losing mental capacities and I saw strong parallels between Ruth's experience and what my mom is going through. I think that when seen from that perspective, it doesn't seem so strange that LuLing accepts to move the care facility, even if the setup seems farfetched. My mom once had to bring my grand-parents on a vacation while my uncles cleaned and repainted their house in secret. While they would have refused any help, they seemed glad when they saw the results. I think something similar happens with LuLing: she is probably more aware of the reality than Ruth believes, but at the same time it gives her a pretext for accepting help while saving the appearances. Edited to say that I read the book two months ago, but I don't mind the long delay. I'll just buy the next book two weeks before the discussion is due, or I'll reread it. [This message has been edited by kena (edited 07-01-2002).] IP: Logged |
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Maggie Mac Housemate |
posted 07-02-2002 07:33 AM
I apologise for the late post. I am new to the boards and I now getting the hang of things. Anyhoo.. My favourite part of the book was definitely Part 2. Not only does Amy Tan describe the life of Ruth, but we also get a glimpse of the history and culture of the Chinese people and we are exposed to the harsh realities which are sometimes romanticised. I agree that the book ended very tidily. I could not understand why Art would come to the sudden realisation that he was a self-cetred idiot and that he needed to pay attention to Ruth's needs and desires. I was a little disappointed as I wanted Ruth to take control and get rid of all the selfish people in her life and do what made her happy. IP: Logged |
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SLourdes Housemate |
posted 07-02-2002 09:24 AM
Since nobody else has, I will volunteer to plan the next book club. However, I hesitated because I'm not sure which books to nominate for the voting. Could anyone with suggestions e-mail them to SLourdes@aol.com? Then I can narrow it down to about 4 or 5 and everyone can vote. I hesitate to change the two month time frame, because one month might just not be enough time for everyone. So I'm going to say, for this one, we'll have two months as well, and will begin discussing in late August/early September. IP: Logged |
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yeefan Head of the House |
posted 07-02-2002 10:15 AM
I have to go to the bookstore to look up something today (yes, I use the bookstore like a library -- the books smell nicer ) ... I'll try and make a list of books I think look interesting and email them to you, Slourdes.
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bassoongrlspam Housemate |
posted 07-02-2002 10:17 AM
yeefan I do that too, only here the library is much much closer! (and free! big bonus there!) edited to say - Though most bookstores have just as much, if not more information and the staff are generally more knowledgeable I think! [This message has been edited by bassoongrlspam (edited 07-02-2002).] IP: Logged |
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SLourdes Housemate |
posted 07-02-2002 10:44 AM
Yay! Thanks guys. I'll try and come up with a few ideas myself, and try and start the voting after the holiday. IP: Logged |
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