My Take - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan surely lives up to its label as the modern classic. Reading it has been sheer pleasure and a wonderful experience. It is the story of Chinese immigrants in U.S.A told by four Chinese women and their American born daughters. Also, reading The Joy Luck Club has been a novel experience for me because of its novel structure. The book does not fit under the label of ‘novel’ in a strict, traditional sense, because it is constituted of sixteen seemingly unrelated vignettes which can easily be read separately as short stories. The book is divided into four parts each part consisting four sections, and each of these sixteen independent sections are narrated by the eight primary characters. This unique structure gives voice and adequate space to each of these eight primary characters to tell their own stories.

However, these sixteen vignettes are not altogether disparate rather they share a connecting link, albeit feeble with each other. Through their stories the characters try to make a sense of the world around them, and I am glad that the author allowed each character to tell their own stories. The novel explores the relationship between mother and daughter, though it focuses on the experiences of immigrant women yet I feel the emotions explored are universal. These are the stories of courage, resilience, heart-break and hope, which I am sure, will speak to everyone.

I also loved the fact that each character is allowed to tell their own story without being judged, there is no authorial intervention which passes judgement on these women’s character and morality. There is no linear narration rather the story-line meanders through space and time and presents multiple points of views. Through the seemingly mundane and domestic stories, the author brings forth several serious issues such as war, displacement, alienation, gender-discrimination, class oppression, etc. The mothers through their stories paint the picture of a bygone era of China while their daughters present the perpetual tension faced by them due to the clash between their Chinese heritage and American upbringing. Due to the barrier of language and culture differences the daughters merely listen to the words spoken by their mothers without understanding their actual meanings. Therefore, the daughters drift away from their mothers, eventually being sucked into the whirlpool of meaninglessness. However, can a daughter really drift away from her mother? Isn’t a mother always present within the very bones of her daughter? As An-Mei says, “All of us (mothers and daughters) are like stairs, one step after another, going up and down, but all going the same way.”

I absolutely loved the writing. The author truly gets into the skin of each character while narrating their stories. Reading the novel seemed like eight different women have written their own accounts of life. The author also explores the issues of language barrier and the meaning lost in translation. Language forms an essential component of one’s identity but the novel also presents that hearts don’t always need a shared language to communicate their feelings. Sometimes, when the emotions are intense enough the heart just knows, especially the hearts of a mother and daughter.

I, however understand that this novel is not an accurate presentation of China and perhaps it paints China in an oriental light to cater to the Western audience. Nevertheless, its portrayal of the immigrant experience is very poignant and I can’t help comparing it with The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri which also explores the immigrant experience of Indians in the U.S.A. Overall, it was a beautiful experience reading The Joy Luck Club, the pace never slacked for once and it kept me hooked on till the very end. I really enjoyed reading the extraordinary stories of seemingly ordinary characters. It once again reminded me that each one of us have within ourselves numerous tales waiting to be told. Each one of us fights our own battles, sometimes we win and sometimes we lose, but the real challenge is not to give up on life and hope. No matter what, the show must go on.

I will end my review with one of my favourite lines from the novel:

“Then you must teach my daughter this same lesson. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to laugh forever.”

My Rating – Perfect 5 ⭐