“The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan – Life Goes On

Being an immigrant certainly isn’t easy, as for most people it is a process which entails with itself some kind of loss, whether we are talking about people, objects, or even territory.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan tells the story of four Chinese women who have recently immigrated to San Francisco (the story begins in 1949).

Though each one of them has experienced loss and tragedy on a certain level, they all decide to meet together to raise their spirits and try to find the silver linings to their lives, all while eating dim sum and playing mahjong. 

As forty years pass, the four women reveal more about themselves, the lives they have left behind, and the demons that haunt them, finding wisdom in their tragedies as well as reasons to keep moving onwards.

As you can already guess, this is the type of novel which requires a certain amount of patience in order to be finished, regardless of how much of a classic it is. The way I saw it, there are two main factors in this book which encourage you to keep on reading: discovering the stories of each of the four women and their families and seeing what it is they learn about life, and what wisdom they have to share with us. 

Indeed, each of the four women has her own, unique story about life back in the homeland and the process of immigration, giving us a true taste of the whole experience. Though the women certainly do not speak in riddles or poems, much of their dialog is consecrated to short teachings one can pick up from a long and tumultuous life.

Another very important topic covered by this book is the relationship between mothers and daughters. We get to see both sides of the fence, as mothers try to steer their daughters on what they believe to be the right path, all while the latter roll their eyes at them, secretly knowing and feeling that their time to become a matriarch will soon arrive.

All in all, The Joy Luck Club is a very heartwarming and inspiring book, teaching us about family relations, how to navigate the tough passages of life, and that no matter how bad things may be going, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. I definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn’t shy away from a slower read.

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Amy Tan Personal site Amy Tan, is an Asian-American writer who has largely dealt with social and spiritual topics in her works, most notably being revered for her worldwide sensation, The Joy Luck Club which was even adapted into a motion picture which made it big at the box office.