1984, Joy Luck Club
Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
I read the Joy Luck Club after Oliver Twist. I needed a bit of modern English to ease my brain. The book was actually a present from my friend Matt when I left for Korea, him saying that he didn't know any Korean books, but he went for an Asian theme. Good enough for me.
In the same vein as most of the books I've read lately, I really enjoyed it. Pairing mother and daughter relationships with expectations and history from a new world and an old world, respectively, is quite an undertaking, yet Tan does it with ease and a conversational voice that is easy to read and enjoy. I don't know how guys would feel about reading this book, but as someone who close to her mother and grandmother, I loved it. So many emotions, and those only get stronger when you couple in older Chinese customs up against new American daughters.
Quite a good read, and interesting for the perspective of immigrants, their reasons for immigrating, and the joy and heartache of raising children in country far removed from the cultural background you have been brought up in, as hard as that life was. The difficulty of trying to give your children a better life in a new country, while still instilling in them your Chinese customs, beliefs, and ethics, is astounding.
1984 by George Orwell
Orwell is another author that has scared me, just like Dickens. I've heard the phrase "Orwellian thought" (which I'm assuming came from this Orwell), so that makes me think of philosophy, and philosophy just scares me. Also, Animal Farm was an advanced reading for some of our winter intensive classes, and when our Head Instructor introduced it to us, I was embarrassed that I had never read any Orwell. I actually bought this book at Powell's before leaving the States, but it sat on the shelf until now because I was scared of it.
Which was ridiculous to think, because I loved it. I've never been a big fan of science fiction or fantasy books, but I've always been interested in utopia community books (which I guess this falls into that category?). One of my favorite books is The Giver by Lois Lowry, which is really a book for teenagers, but a classic story and well told, and is readable for adults (I highly suggest it). Now that I've read 1984, The Giver seems a lot the same, yet not quite as advanced, and much more geared toward children.
The one thing that surprised me about reading this book, was the flow of it. I flipped through and saw very little dialogue and freaked out. I'm a dialogue person, and large paragraphs that are neverending frighten me. But, I was relieved to discover that it all flows, and the descriptions are easy to read AND easy to imagine what they are describing. Although you might think the story will go slow, I was surprised at how fast it actually went, and halfway through the book I looked back and said "wow, I already read that much?", which I believe is a a mark of a good read.
So I enjoyed 1984. I couldn't wait to find out what Room 101 was. I was sad at the ending, yet relieved.
I read the Joy Luck Club after Oliver Twist. I needed a bit of modern English to ease my brain. The book was actually a present from my friend Matt when I left for Korea, him saying that he didn't know any Korean books, but he went for an Asian theme. Good enough for me.
In the same vein as most of the books I've read lately, I really enjoyed it. Pairing mother and daughter relationships with expectations and history from a new world and an old world, respectively, is quite an undertaking, yet Tan does it with ease and a conversational voice that is easy to read and enjoy. I don't know how guys would feel about reading this book, but as someone who close to her mother and grandmother, I loved it. So many emotions, and those only get stronger when you couple in older Chinese customs up against new American daughters.
Quite a good read, and interesting for the perspective of immigrants, their reasons for immigrating, and the joy and heartache of raising children in country far removed from the cultural background you have been brought up in, as hard as that life was. The difficulty of trying to give your children a better life in a new country, while still instilling in them your Chinese customs, beliefs, and ethics, is astounding.
1984 by George Orwell
Orwell is another author that has scared me, just like Dickens. I've heard the phrase "Orwellian thought" (which I'm assuming came from this Orwell), so that makes me think of philosophy, and philosophy just scares me. Also, Animal Farm was an advanced reading for some of our winter intensive classes, and when our Head Instructor introduced it to us, I was embarrassed that I had never read any Orwell. I actually bought this book at Powell's before leaving the States, but it sat on the shelf until now because I was scared of it.
Which was ridiculous to think, because I loved it. I've never been a big fan of science fiction or fantasy books, but I've always been interested in utopia community books (which I guess this falls into that category?). One of my favorite books is The Giver by Lois Lowry, which is really a book for teenagers, but a classic story and well told, and is readable for adults (I highly suggest it). Now that I've read 1984, The Giver seems a lot the same, yet not quite as advanced, and much more geared toward children.
The one thing that surprised me about reading this book, was the flow of it. I flipped through and saw very little dialogue and freaked out. I'm a dialogue person, and large paragraphs that are neverending frighten me. But, I was relieved to discover that it all flows, and the descriptions are easy to read AND easy to imagine what they are describing. Although you might think the story will go slow, I was surprised at how fast it actually went, and halfway through the book I looked back and said "wow, I already read that much?", which I believe is a a mark of a good read.
So I enjoyed 1984. I couldn't wait to find out what Room 101 was. I was sad at the ending, yet relieved.
posted by Meghan at 7:37 PM
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