The Kitchen God's WifeRating: 5 "The Kitchen God's Wife" serves a feast!
...Thankfully, "The Kitchen God's Wife" is just moreof Ms. Tan's amazing ability to weave a spellbinding story, whiletransporting the reader into a different time and culture.
This book should be a "must-read" for all mothers and daughters, in helping them to appreciate one another and the love they possess. I highly recommend this book. But be forewarned, you will fall in love with Winnie. She tells it like it is! END | Rating: 2 532-page bitchfest
I'm reading the other reviews and shaking my head. Did I just read the same novel as everyone else? The novel I read was a very boring and whiny book with a very boring and whiny protagonist. In fact, I could summarize the plot in a few words:
1. Winnie tells her story about her life in China
2. Winnie meets and marries Wen Fu
3. Wen Fu beats Winnie
4. Winnie cries with self-pity--"Woe is me!"--but does nothing to change her situation--"Why doesn't anyone help me?"
5. Repeat steps 3-4 50 times, with minor variations.
6. End story.
C'mon, ladies, open your eyes and stop finding books to justify your own self-pity and sense of victimhood. Wen Fu has to be the most 2-dimensionally evil character since Superman's Lex Luther or Batman's Joker. He is a flat character from beginning to end. And Winnie? Ohh, please, she is hardly sympathetic; in fact, she is a bitter, unhappy woman like all of Amy Tan's mother characters.
In the end, the novel's a comic book, albeit one that's 532 pages long. Watching the latest Jackie Chan movie, you'll get more of a sense of Chinese culture and people than this cliched and tedious pseudo-feminist tract. | Rating: 4 A Book That Touched My Heart!
I'm a very finicky 17 year old. What I find in a book must be very intriguing and interesting for me to finish it. I've read Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses. Unfortunetly I found them to be poorly written. However, The Kitchen God's Wife struck me hard! It was extremely emotional and contained a theme that really got to me: Human Nature. | Rating: 5 A Captivating Book
I think this is the best book Amy Tan has ever written. When I first read it, I couldn't put it down and I love this book! It's one of those books that you can read again and again even though you know the story by heart.
This story is based mainly on the life of Winnie Louie, an immigrant from China and the tragedy of her past when she was in China. Her past consists of her first marriage to an abusive man who never respect her, her misfortunes and how she finally find a man who loves her. The background of this story is set according to historical records - especially during World War II, and how Winnie fled from places to places. The core of this book is her relationship with her daughter, who was totally Americanized, and how difficult it was for both to communicate and to understand. Her daughter totally have no clue of what her mother had been through, and at the same time, she could never fathom the superstitions her mother believed in.
It is an extremely touching book, and as you read the book, you will feel like you realy know the characters, their beliefs, and a special bond will sort of developed. I would definitely recommend this book anytime to anyone. | Rating: 5 A compelling and true-spoken narration
Though it's beginning isn't exactly engrossing - at least not to me, as the main character seemed a married, middle-aged woman with boring family problems - the story really picked up when the woman's mother tells her story of life in China during World War II. It is really a different perspective, for all you who read about wars, and those that don't even like to. It is a story most heartfelt and so very realistic. ...There's something about Amy Tan's style - she doesn't dress up her story, everything is plainly told, and yet the work is just full of details and I find myself reading word-for-word unconsciously.
"The Kitchen God's Wife" refers to Winnie (the mother's) life being in the shadow of her corrupt and malicious husband, herself helpless and overlooked. In my opinion, this book is a much better plot than The Joy Luck Club, and has a more dramatic theme. And while it may be long and seemingly tedious, it is worth every word!! | Rating: 2 A Disappointing Tome
It was with great anticipation that I picked up this book, having read the author's first novel. It was a great disappointment. An overlong story, written as if the writer were being paid by the word. The character as victim becomes quite tedious and so, unfortunately, is this over-rated book. | Rating: 4 A Great Book!!!
I really enjoyed reading this book. I have also read The Joy Luck Club, and was glad to see Amy Tan continue to explore the mother-daughter bond, which is so strong and complicated - no matter the race, creed or color.
I have decided that I am a big fan of Amy Tan's; her stories are so well written that I sometimes feel like I'm eavesdropping on the characters conversations, and seeing what they are seeing. And what characters she creates!! While Wen Fu was one of the most despicable characters that I have read about in a while, Jimmie Louie was an absolutely great guy, and his love for Winnie was heartwarming (she SO deserved it!!!).
Winnie was right, she was like the Kitchen God's wife; she was a very good wife to an evil man, who was loved and admired by people for all the wrong reasons. But good always wins in the end! | Rating: 4 A great novel ... insight into China, its people & history
This is the first book of Amy Tan I read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was totally captivated by the mother's story in China. It is mostly the story of a Chinese woman growing up in Shanghai and rural China and then living the war years in different parts of China. Amy Tan vividly captures the images of China and the Chinese character in a thoroughly enjoyable and very readable way. It makes them accessible in a way where you can actually develop a real understanding of the Chinese obsession with luck, superstition and manners.
I particularly enjoyed the fascinating account of the preparations for the marriage and a wedding with war approaching fast in the Shanghai background. I couldn't help recalling the images of 'Empire of the Sun', even though that dealt more with the super privileged lives of the colonials rather than the merely privileged lives of the well off locals.
The tale of many years of a bad marriage at a very difficult time intertwined with friendships and adventure flows so naturally. The 'suspense' is never reduced even though you know the outcome. The brutality of thoroughly dreadfull man, the husband is in the background all the time, even in later days in America.
I really enjoyed the description of the situation in Shanghai following the defeat of the Japanese and in the period prior to the KMT collapse. Amy Tan paint a picture of ciaos and confusion again in natural way, in a setting the scene way so you can actually picture the background and develop an understanding for why and how historic events took place. You never get the impression that Tan set out to give a history lesson, and there is never the dryness of a long section setting the scene; it is just there.
The story eventually returns to America, to the San Francisco China Town and to the life of an Americanized daughter, also in the Bay area. The dialogue and the continued saga of the two old 'friends' from China in America was beautifully 'ethnic'. There is fair bit about the mother - daughter relationship and the daughter's view of her relations. This was fine, but frankly just very distant background that I did not think added much to the book. I don't believe it detracts from it either.
Being found of Asia in general and having reasonable first hand knowledge of China, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think Amy Tan is a gifted novelist with great insight and a fantastic ability to create thriller like suspense of ordinary lives. | Rating: 5 A great novel for mothers and daughters of all ages!
Amy Tan's second novel, The Kitchen God's Wife, is as entrancing and fulfilling as her first, The Joy Luck Club. The relationship of mother to daughter is often complicated, nationality aside. Misunderstanding characterizes the relationship of Chinese-born Winnie and Chinese-American Pearl, until Winnie begins to unravel a story which reveals a world formerly unknown to Pearl, a world of abuse, heartache, mystery, war, and friendship. Anyone interested in relationships between mothers and daughters will enjoy this novel. It's the kind of book you'd want your mother AND daughter to read with you | Rating: 5 A great read!
I loved this book, it is one of my all-time favorites. It is a gripping story of a daughter who does not know her mother at all until her mother tells her the harrowing story of her early life in China. Also, the mother-daughter theme is universal. Don't miss this book! | Rating: 2 A much stronger dose of Joy Luck Club
Amy Tan is a strong advocate of placing her craft before her heritage. This makes her a feminist writer who is Chinese, not a Chiense feminist writer. Even with this in mind, I still find a strong racial bias in her books.
Even though men only play secondary roles in her works, her preference of American males as protaganists to Chinese males is apparent in her debut novel, the Joy Luck club and more blantant in the Kitchen God's Wife. I used 'American' instead of 'white' because, this time, the male protaganist is a second-generation Chinese American who, aside from his blood, has very little Chinese left in him.
For those who are interested, Tan devoted quite some pages writing about how Chinese men have small genitals and cannot satisfy the 'itch' of a WWII Chinese 'relief woman'. Whether this is based her observations or opinions, or just something to please the American audience, it represents a fundamental problem in her attitude. She got away with it simply because, in the face of feminism, racism becomes a lesser evil.
I read this book (and the Joy Luck Club) when I was in my last year of high school (that's almost 12 years ago), thinking that reading the works of a Chinese writer would make me understand more about my own people. At that time I was unaware of the implications of her writing. The more I think about it, the more I got angry, because she has just sold us (Chinese men) out in the name of feminism. | Rating: 5 A Sad Story, But Still A Goodie
This story is about an abusive relationship, that's true. And Wen Fu is 'two-dimensional'. Also true. (Aren't all bullies?) But it's more than that. It's a story about sharing secrets. The daughter has a secret she SHOULD tell her mother. The mother has a secret she SHOULD tell her daughter. But neither one of them likes to communicate to the other--until a third party threatens to reveal their secrets FOR them should unless they do it themselvss.
Again, Amy Tan's books are about mothers and daughters, so the relationships of the men are put on the backburner. If stories about women and 'woman power' just 'isn't your thing', put it down and move on.
Still an amazing book! | Rating: 4 A story for the heart
No mattter how much you love your mother, this will help you to appreciate her more. my family is not chinese, nor are we immigrants, however, after reading this book, I learned to appreciate the sacrifices my mother made in her life to better mine.
I am currently trying to read The Joy-Luck Club right now, but it is nowhere near as good or as fast of a read. Many people who read the book with me came to the same conclusion that I did. This book is not about the outcome, it is about the jouney. The road we take in life determines the kind of person we will become. | Rating: 4 A study of the Chinese culture toward the new generation
The Kitchen God's Wife is not only the insistent storytelling, but the details of Chinese life and their own special traditions; not only how people lived, but how their sensibility cover all the notably little stories. The Kitchen God, a name that you can really find out in the Chinese belief from Taoism. A common poor young man who gets its god position because of a brzzard reason, stupid enough that you will laugh your stomach until breaks into half. Becuase of this country story which can be the best refer to how Amy Tan use it as a skill to develop it can creats her own little fantasy. It is an absorbing narrative of Winnie Louie's life, which she tells--offers--as a gift to her daughter Pearl. Much happens in the telling; a long held secrets are revealed, and a family's myths are transfered ceremoniously to the next gerneration. Amy Tan returns to the richly textured world of the California's immigrant Chinese with its brilliant taspestry of characteristic in multifarious emotions, over sea toward to America and starts a new page of a deep Chinese human touch. She is a wonderful writer with rare power reach to the botton of people's heart. Mark Lin | Rating: 4 A theme that will remain in your heart
This is one of the best book I've ever read. Amy Tan is my favorite aurthor and I've read every about a secret between a mother-daughter. It intervenes both of their relationship after book she published. The Kitchen God's Wife is Winnie told Pearl the truth. A book that went back to WWII. A book with many interactions, vivid description, and a Chinese culture everyone can learn about. There are many characters in this book with different charactersitic. Amy Tan tries to put life into every character, and I think it was well done! So - pick up this book and start reading - because you wont be dissappointed! | Rating: 4 A very enjoyable reading
If you want to put your feet up and read a good book, I would strongly recommend Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife. She is a masterful storyteller and makes her characters come to life. This book takes you to a far away land and culture with a different set of rules and values, and one cannot wait to know how it all ends. | Rating: 5 A wife's view of marriage from China to the US
Amy Tan's book "the Joy Luck Club" was about the relationships between mothers and daughters. "The Kitchen God's Wife" is about the relationships between husbands and wives. Amy Tan writes of the joys of newlyweds, the tragic death of children, the death of love from brutality and abuse, and 10,000 year old marriage laws. The heroine has courage, determination, bravery, and common sense; all the traits men never acknowledge. Favorite line: "We had hot and cold running servants." | Rating: 5 A Wonderful novel with rich characters
I can't compare "The Kitchen God's Wife" to any other Amy Tan's novels since I haven't read any besides this one. This heart-felt and touching novel about a mother-daughter relationship moves every reader's heart, including mine.
I never like reading novels with too many pages, and the first time I picked up this book, I thought, "Oh no, I am going to stuck with a 500 pages story. This is going to take me a several weeks to complete." As the result, I finished reading this book in four days.
Tan's story-telling is wonderful in this book. I especially like the way she divides the book in parts, and each part has a narrative of different characters.
I am a chinese immigrant myself, reading Tan's book makes me feel so close to my own Chinese cultural. Somehow, I feel that I can actually relate myself Pearl, the daughter in the novel.
I highly recommand anyone who read this review to read this book. It's very inspirational, touching and well-written. | Rating: 5 A wonderul book fulll of humour and emotion
The displacement that comes of being brought up in two diametrically different cultures and societies is the underlying theme running though the Kitchen God's Wife. Through this Amy Tan weaves a touching often tragic story of a woman's life, her relationships with her husbands, her friends and most importantly her daughter. For anyone who has ever had to grown up torn between two polarised worlds this book is a must. It is about love and communication, about strength through adversity and above all hope. At then end of the novel Pearl learns to give in to the brand of love and support her mother has to offer and by doing this learns much about herself. Mother and daughter go through a healing process and reach a better understanding of each other. I read the last page, eyes blurred with tears remembering how many times I shrugged off my own mothers attempts to get close to me, to comfort me in the name of what?. No man is an island and certainly no woman. When I finished this book I understood my own growing pains. This book struck a chord with me and I urge all, women especially to read this. You will see the world and yourself so much clearer. | Rating: 5 Amazing!
This is truly a wonderful story. It tells each of us not to take anything for granted and that we can all live through life's stuggles and prevail at the end. Winnie is a strong character whom I respected throughout the book. I could not put this book down. A must read! | Rating: 5 Amy Tan has done it again!
When a michievous aunt supposedly gets ill, a mother is forced to reveal to her daughter her deepest secret: the life she led before she left China for the U.S. of A. This book is spellbinding and compelling to children and adults of all ages. If you enjoyed THE JOY LUCK CLUB you will definetly be mesmerized by this enticing tale of amother and her daughter. Amy Tan's writting is definetly deserving of more than five stars. | Rating: 5 Amy Tan Scores Again with a Beautiful Tale!
Now that I've read 2 of Ms. Tan's novels (THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE and THE BONESETTER'S DAUGHTER) and seen the movie THE JOY LUCK CLUB, I can honestly identify her as one of my favorite authors. Her wonderful story-telling ability, believable characters and fascinating exploration of Chinese culture and history make her stories some of the best I've read in a long time.
The story begins when both Winnie and her daughter Pearl are put in a position whereby they both have to reveal their secrets to each other. The novel, however, is dominated by Winnie's autobiographical account of her life in China before Pearl was born.
Winnie Louie told a fascinating tale of her life - a tale which included a strong focus on Chinese culture and history from a very human perspective. She was a very strong individual who was able to survive and prevail through terrible hardships ...And she was still able to pass on a strongly feminist message about self-repect to her daughter despite the emotional and physical abuse inflicted upon her by her first husband in China.
This is such a powerful story dealing with the mother-daughter bond, friendship, loyalty, cultural differentiations, personal choices, courage and self-respect. The story left me with a lump in my throat - feeling sad, touched and uplifted all at the same time. I can't wait to read THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES next! | Rating: 5 Amy tan's best
I don't give many 5's for anything in this world, but this book (inaccurate or politically incorrect as it may be) is just fantastic. I'm probably biased by the WWII setting, but the characters are knowable, and you can try to understand them. The writing is very well done. Unlike some of her other novels, this one doesn't bore you halfway through. Most people may say that 'Joy Luck Club' was Amy Tan's best work. I think it was this book. | Rating: 5 Amy Tan's Best Novel
I have read all of Amy Tan's novels and this is truely the best she has written. The captivating story will draw you in. Amy Tan's villians and heros are so deep and multi-dimensional! This book is like a painting, look at it one way and you see the colorful story of a young woman trapped in a bad marriage during World War II, look at it another way and you see the beautiful relationship between a mother and daughter and their efforts to understand and love each other. | Rating: 4 Amy Tan's second novel, good but not as good as 'Joy Luck Club'
Amy Tan is best known for 'Joy Luck Club' her first book, which was later made into the 1993 movie by the same title ( which I totally recommend peopel! ). The book starts out with Pearl, who never really had a close relationship with her mother, Winnie. When Pearl goes to visit with her 'non-american' husband, and her two kids, for a wedding. At the wedding, an argument surfaces up between Pearl and Winnie. Later on, Winnie decides to tell Pearl her life story. From the '20s to the '30s and to the '40s, Winnie endures many tradegys and losses at the hands of her first husband ( who was meant for Winnie's cousin, Peanut ) and later overcomes them. We learn how Winnie came to America, and met the men who would later be Pearl's father.
I would have to say, this was quite an enjoyable book. Not as great as the 'Joy Luck Club.' It's slightly slower, and told mostly through the past, and hardly switches. Winnie, is quite a woman for putting up with what she put up with. Pearl, through the story wasn't my favorite character...but she was hardly in the story. A pretty good read. :) | Rating: 5 An Easy Read
i really enjoyed reading this book, even though it was assigned for english class. i felt connected to the characters and the story was very compelling. this is the first Tan novel i have read, and i plan to read her others now. i recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books about characters with real emotions just like us. | Rating: 5 An Emotional Roller-coaster Ride
This is the first and only book of Amy Tan that I read so far and I must say that I look forward to reading more of her books.
What fascinates and captivates the reader to the mesmerizing and at times tedious details of the story telling is the undertones of the Chinese culture and customes. The story telling in itself is intriguing; story telling is part and parcel of any ancient culture. The more ancient the culture, the more invigorating the storylines become. I myself come from India and I know an ancient culture of India has produced so many stories. Chinese culture is also very ancient and so there is no scarsity for the gems of stories in that culture.
The natural flow of the story and its rich treasures of chinese customs, beliefs and superstitions are such as to make any reader believe that Amy Tan is truly Chinese in her heart however Americanised she is or she has become. Even though there are glimpses of American culture here and there in the story, they fade in comparison to the treasurehouse of the oriental culture amply presented. A longing for the ancestral land cultivates its own dreams and hopes and they are hard to die even in the minds of someone who has got assimilated to a different culture.
I must confess that I have not read many novels with Chinese Cultural underflow. The only other author I have been fortunate to read is Pearl S. Buck who is an American who lived most of her life in China. Her books are rich treasurehouses of Chinese customs, beliefs, superstitions and they brim with compassion. Probably only her unique mindset can perform dissection of complex human nature and present them to average reader in a golden platter of easy comprehension.
I cannot help thinking that there is an eerie similarity between these two authors in their ability in tackling complex human psychology, in their ability in tackling formidable circumstances that befall and turns every one's life topsy-turvy and yet being able to find a practical solution to get out of the loop, in their ability in finding compassion that overpowers the extremities of human nature, in their endearing embrace of the good old optimism that comes and redeems us like a peaceful night at the end of a long turbulent day!
The natural flow of the story is such that I was at times fooled to believe that the author is writing her own life story! This is an unforgettable roller-coaster ride through seemingly uncharted areas of the darkest ebbs of evil that human mind is capable of parenting. The fortitude displayed by an innocent chinese wife in putting up with these atrocities probably knows no parallel. It is heartbreaking for the reader to witness this torture chamber of cruelties, especially to witness an innocent baby getting beaten over and over again by her father. The concept of faith takes a new meaning here; only faith and hope can probably enbolden human mind to endure this unspeakable array of events, to make us believe that somewhere over the rainbow there is a dream as bright as tomorrow morning!
She finally realized that dream in getting rid of her husband and starting her life anew in USA. Years later, she probably would be making a pilgrimage in search of chinese medicine to alleviate her daughter's malady. She probably would be coming a full circle in returning to her motherland that beckons her like a comfortable cradle and promises a medicine to her daughter's disease.
Of course, there is nothing like home! | Rating: 4 An entertaining story
The Kitchen God's Wife is the most interesting, but the longest book I've ever read. The book is about a mother-daughter relationship which starts off rocky. The daughter, Pearl, has no understanding of her mother, and therefore, thinks her mother hates her. The mother, Winnie, had a bad past that took her a long time to get over. Their relationship was not mended until Winnie told Pearl the truth about all the hardships and pain she went through- rape, oppression, abuse, and rejection. Overall, this book was very good and I recommend it to everyone. | Rating: 5 An Outstanding Book
I am an avid reader and 57 years old having read at least a thousand books in my lifetime. This book stands out at the top of the list. It transports the reader to another time, yet the main character's strength is timeless. I am in awe of the way each character was developed so real I can almost see them standing in front of me. Not being Asian I had no idea of what this experience was like in China. I was moved very deeply by this book. The book involves all the senses. It did not take long into the book before I felt I knew Winnie Louie on a deep level. I highly recommend this book to all readers. | Rating: 5 Be emotionally transported by the writings of Amy Tan.
Amy Tan has the power to transport her readers to another time and place with the depth of her descriptive writings. As I read this book, I was actually able to smell the food cooking and feel the weather as I became one with the characters. I read this book during a very difficult time in my life. I am grateful for the masterful writing skills of Amy Tan as I was able to escape into the story and forget the real world for a time | Rating: 5 Beautiful Book
This book was so powerful, that I found myself in class longing to know what was going to happen next. Of course I couldn't just pull out the book in front of my professor and read it, but whenever I got a break I was reliving the past of 'Winnie'
This book starts off in the point of view of Pearl, who is Winnie's daughter. Peal's Aunt Helen (Winnie's 'sister') is someone I came to really dislike in the book. She told Winnie that if Winnie didn't tell Pearl her secrets that she would. And that's when the story changes.
So now, we're seeing Winnie telling Pearl the true story of her life and all the horrible things she had to endure. It is such a beautiful story that takes place during WWII. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to hear stories of the past and why people are the way they are now. | Rating: 5 Best book I've read all year!
A touching story of a mother revealing her past and life to her adult daughter. You'll read paragraphs that make you laugh and pages that make you cry! The chinese culture used in the stories told by Whennie (The Mom) will grasp your mind and not let go until weeks after you've finished reading it! | Rating: 1 Boring!
ALTHOUGH MANY MAY FIND THIS BOOK INTERESTING, I THOUGHT IT WAS TERRIBLE. I HAD TO READ IT FOR SCHOOL AND THIS IS THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. THE MAIN PART OF IT IS JUST BORING, REDUNDANT DETAILS ABOUT WINNIE'S LIFE-SOMETHING NO ONE REALLY CARES ABOUT. HENCE THIS BOOK IS JUST PLAIN BAD AND NOT AT ALL INTERESTING! | Rating: 3 Compelling; Chinese culture unfolded
The KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE is an epic tale that will be remembered history as well as the evolution of a traditional Chinese-American dealing with inner-family tragedies. Throughout the story Tan speaks of her own life and her own inner struggles through Winnie sruggling to develop a relationship with Pearl. This book also deals with the magic and superstition that is only found in Chinese culture. Tan is a master storyteller | Rating: 5 Couldn't put it down!
Amy Tan has done it again! She brings the reader into another world to explore the difference a generation can make between parent and child and how love can transcend the distance. I'm a finicky reader when it comes to "pop" fiction novels yet Ms. Tan never seems to violate the "suspension of disbelief" a book lover needs to make the story and characters real. A generous, spell binding work. | Rating: 3 Culturally illuminating
A well-written story that exposes the cultural hardships of life for women in 1930's and 40's China through the story of Winnie. Winnie has kept many secrets of her life from everyone she loves -- everyone except her friend Helen who now suddenly decides to tell these secrets to Winnie's adult daughter, Pearl. Faced with being exposed, Winnie sits Pearl down and tells her the truths of her life, her sufferings and hardships and misfortunes.
This was an interesting and well-written book, but my experience of it was interrupted by Tan's switching of narrators. Tan begins the novel with Pearl as narrator and then shortly into the book she switches to Winnie as narrator. We only hear her daughter's voice again at the end. So she sets the reader up for one voice but then she abandons that voice in favor of another. The other difficulty I had was that the further into the story I read, the more emotionally excruciating the experience of reading it became. There was nothing but misery everywhere for its characters. It was really more than both Winnie and I could take. Tan never lets up and by the end you just get tired of misfortune after misfortune after misfortune -- the story almost loses credibility because of it. | Rating: 5 Does Tan ever fail?
I read the Joy Luck Club years ago, and to this day it is still one of my favorite books. Both novels were centered around a strained mother-daughter relationship. I started reading this novel because I thought it would have a ton of simalarities, The Kitchen God's Wife has some simalarities but not many.
The story is centered around Winnie. Winnie is from China, and now lives in California. She does not have a good relationship with Pearl, her daughter. Pearl has MS, and has not told her mother even though she has had the ailment for a few years. Pearl is struggling with how to eventually tell her mother, and how her mother will take the news. Pearl looks at her mother and does not understand her customs or her way of life. She only sees her mother as annoying but she stills loves her. Auntie Helen is related to Winnie. While the woman lived in China they made a pact not to tell anyone about certain aspects of their lives. They have kept each others secrets for decades, leading all the way back to the beginning of World War II. At that time Winnie was married to a monster named Wen Fu. Auntie Helen tells Winnie she is dying of a brain tumor, and can no longer keep their secrets. Winnie is now forced to tell her daughter all of her secrets, including the secret about Pearl's real father.
This story reads like a memoir. It's beautiful description and Tan's gift of developing characters makes everything seem so real. You feel for Winnie, and the difficult choices she had to make. Would she stick with tradion that belittled women in China, or would she find help through progressive ideas? Could she get away from her abusive husband who continually raped, and threatened to kill her? Could she find love, and self worth. All of these questions are asked, and answered in The Kitchen God's Wife. Amy Tan is a gifted writer, and each time I read a novel of hers I continue to love each character and story. Tan writes about the ties that bind all women together. Mother and daughters, sisters and friends. Women have something that binds us that can never be explained. Tan writes about mothers and daughters who have a strained relationship because of the unwillingness to understand one another. As daughters, we tend to forget that our mothers had a life before us. Through their storytelling we can understand the choices they made, and the hardships that our mothers encountered. Daughters can see a little of themselves, and their actions through their mothers. This is what Tan writes about, and this is why I love her novels so much. | Rating: 2 Don't bother
If you like slow, painfully detailed stories told by whiny, negative characters, you'll love this book. Otherwise, don't bother. I have to say that the last few pages were pretty good. However, it's not worth it to plod through the preceding 500 pages just to get there. | Rating: 2 Engrossing but tedious, plagued with typical Tan flaws.
This book will really get you feeling for the main characters. Amy Tan is gifted with the ability to evoke strong emotions from her readers. However, the martyr tone throughout the book does wear on the reader. As an author, I think Tan tries entirely too hard to cram in as much 'Asian-ness' and melodrama into her stories, thus her novels suffer and take on an ingratiating attitude. "Like me! Feel sorry for me! My oppressive and backwards Chinese heritage is sooo cruel! Someone get me a US Green Card or a white husband. Boo-hoo" This is what all of Tan's characters seem to say. She definitely gears her works towards a decidely non-Asian and white American audience. Therefore, her interpretations of what is China, Chinese, Asian, or Asian-American is heavily contrived and cliche. If you approach 'The Kitchen God's Wife' purely from an entertainment stand-point and view the story and characters as representative of 'humanity' (where race, gender, and nationality have no meaning) than this is a terrific novel. However, I do not enjoy works where race and identity are disengenuously represented and merely used as commercial spring boards to make money. I give it two stars. Mostly because it is marginally better that 'The Joy Luck Club' which really plays the race card to no end. | Rating: 3 Entertaining, but Not as Good as Joy Luck Club
Authors probably get very tired of seeing their books compared to their others. I can understand that. But I've only read two books by Amy Tan: 'Joy Luck Club' and 'The Kitchen God's Wife.' I absolutely loved 'Joy Luck Club,' so I expected to fall in love with 'Kitchen God' as well. But this time it just didn't happen for me.
There was a good amount of detail about Shanghai and Chinese history, which I thoroughly enjoyed. And the characters (especially the Chinese women, of course) were likable enough. The plot (mother has secrets/daughter has secrets) was okay too. But the secrets weren't all that astounding, so I felt the book let the reader down slightly in the end.
Bottom line: Good book, but if you had to choose only one Amy Tan, read 'Joy Luck Club' instead. | Rating: 4 Entertaining, Irritating, and Shocking
I enjoyed this book but not as much as The Joy Luck Club. But again I felt that both books ended poorly. I wanted to know more about what happenes to the charaters but you cant always get your way.
This book is about a mother and her daughter who like so many have always been sort of divided. Never agreeing on anything, never seeing the same point of view, always tension between each other. Winny and Pearl have lived like this forever with no success on patching up there broken relationship. Until Winny's life long friend Helen sort of forces the mother and daughter to revile there secrects to each other or She (Helen) would do it. Winny's secret is about her pervious husband and life before she moved to the u.s. And Pearl's secret is she has multipul scolois and feels that her mother's sympathy would be too much of a burden on her.
With this ultimatum, Winny feels that she must be the one to tell her daughter about her past and who she really is. Winny begins her story from the begining, when she was a child and ends when her first husband dies. Revileing the greatest secrect of them all, but I wont tell you lol you have to read the book.
Winny's story is so heart-breaking and pittysom that you begin to feel that whatever can go wrong does go wrong. As a child Winny is sent to live with her aunts were she is more like a servent than a member of the family. She is forced to marry a man who she thought was kind and gentel but turns out to be more of a monster. He abusis her and the children they have who later die. You begin to feel sorry for her but at the same time you dont because She was choosing to stay with him. But then again she was living in a communist and war torn country and her chooses were very little. But a ray of hope comes and winny meets her furture second husband who later on becomes the love of her life and takes her to the u.s but dies while pearl and her brothers are still children.
Durring the book Pearl breaks in and begins to tell her story about her childhood and her illiness (which she has kepted from her mom until now).
In the end, Winny and Pearl are closer and can begin seeing eye to eye on things. But like I said before, it just sort of ends there with the two of them talking about visiting Winny's home country to find a cure for pearls diease and then nothing. But I still enjoyed this book and I recomend it to anyone who enjoys Amy Tan's books and to those who havent read her work. I strongly suggest you get to it! | Rating: 5 Entrancing
I really appreciated this book, and found it one of the best works of fiction I read this year. This was surprising since when I was first into it I said to myself if I had a policy of not finishing a book I start if it did not seem worthwhile, I'd quit reading. I am really glad I did not quit reading this book. The dialogue, by the central character, with her daughter Pearl is priceless. | Rating: 4 Even a die-hard fan finds fault with this one.
I liked this book, but in comparison to her other works, this book suggests that Tan maybe needed a few more revisions. There were some parts where I felt I'd seen this all before, and I don't mind variations on a theme but if I want to read one of her other books over again, I'll get that book and re-read it. I also didn't feel like Pearl's disability was very realistic, the portrayal of that. It doesn't get picked up and carried throughout the book well enough. Despite these criticisms, I liked it. However, if you've never read Tan before or if you have but you want something different from Joy Luck, try 100 Secret Senses. It's much better. | Rating: 5 Excellent
This is the first book I have read of Amy Tan's and it is the best book I have read in many years. I was drawn to read her because I saw the movie " The Joy Luck Club" and loved that story. Highly recommend. The characters were easy to become intwined with. | Rating: 5 EXCELLENT THO SOME MEN MAY NOT LIKE IT
I won't describe the plot since many more have already done so. Some men may not like the book, since it is all from the viewpoint of women. But some men may like that as an insight into the female mind, as well as a culture they may know nothing about. No one says everything Amy Tan writes is fact, but I'm sure most of the situations in her books have happened to someone in China (and even all over the world). How much do we really think of what has happened to many immigrants all over the world? Not much, we cannot imagine. My own mother's father came to America before WWII, planning to work and to save money to bring over his wife and young child (my mother). They were Armenians, escaping from the oppression of being Christians who were driven out of their land and forced to live in Muslim countries. Many of my ancestors (both my father's and my mother's side) were killed in massacres. (My own father, as a little boy, hid on a rooftop when the Turks came to town and watched in horror as many in the town were run through with swords. There's another story, never told in detail.) Then the war broke out, and the wife, child and father were not reunited till seven years later. Can you imagine the pain and suffering in all of their lives? When they finally came to America they knew no English, had little if any money, and never saw the family members they left behind again. Can you imagine that? By the way, later the mother and father had two other children; the the mother was killed by an automobile. The father had to raise the 3 children by himself, and never married again. Can you imagine that too? Yet these stories happened by the thousands, by the millions. Only there were few Amy Tans to fill in the details of the stories so that you COULD imagine what happened.
What sets her writing apart is the deeply insightful, touching, emotional, and sensitive way she has of saying things. ALL women should like this book, most kids and some men, in my estimation. And young people, read the book, not the Cliff notes! Or you will rob yourself of a fantastic literary journey. | Rating: 5 EXCELLENT!!!
Amy Tan is one of my favorite writers. Her books are so full of emotions, love and humors. "The Joy Luck Club" is my favorite, but this book has a different aspect on family relationships. I REALLY enjoyed reading this book! | Rating: 5 Fantastic novel - my favorite by Amy Tan!
I have really enjoyed all of Tan's novels, however this book I have not been able to set down. She uses a style of a master story teller often ending a section which you've had your breath heald through with a sentance like "and after that my luck changed for the worse..." Then you just have to keep reading to find out how it got even worse! I often found myself craving Dim Sum after reading her description of their meals. You get to know the people in the book so well it's like loosing touch with a friend when you finish. | Rating: 5 Fantastic!
When you read any of Amy Tan's books it makes you feel like you are a part of the story. This book was a great read because it evokes emotions of excitement and sadness for the main character all at once. | Rating: 1 Fetishy
Is this Joy Luck Club Part II? If not, she sure fooled me.
I understand Tan is a commercial writer, but too many non-Asians misconstrue her to be Asian American LITERARY fiction. I won't deny that Tan opened many doors for the Asian writers of my generation, however her stories are just...so...the word "fetishy" comes to mind. | Rating: 5 Fine Novel from Amy Tan that's close to 'The Joy Luck Club' expectations
Amy Tan has certainly done a great job in raising the stature of Asian-American literature. Having enjoyed reading 'The Joy Luck Club' years ago, I knew that I would find 'The Kitchen's God Wife' yet another engrossing saga. Truly, I was not disappointed. In Winnie Louie Amy Tan may have her most intriguing, and sympathetic, character; one who is forced to endure marital slavery and the depredations of the invading Japanese before finally finding happiness and a new life for her surviving child in the United States of America. I was intrigued with Tan's scenes of war-torn Nanking and Shanghai during World War II and the Chinese Communist Revolution. Although I concur with another reviewer that 'The Kitchen God's Wife' does not end strongly - more with a whimper than a bang - it is still one fine novel that deserves some comparisons to Tolstoy's best work, most notably 'Anna Karenina'. | Rating: 4 Go Amy Tan!
I first read this book when it was assigned to me to read as an English project, I liked it so much that I then read the book again with my mother, who thought that the book was as good as I thought. This book has brought the two of us together and I'm so excighted to read the rest of Amy Tan's books. I recomend this book to any high school woman and her mother. | Rating: 3 Good
This is an interesting book. I learned quite a bit about China's history, although insight into culture appears to be tainted. The characters appear so full-blown and over exaggerated that it felt more like I was reading a Batman comic than a genuine human events story. Her writing style is clear, but it is too cute. Short, cute little phrases, and cute little sayings. Like she's been living on a cream puff for thirty years. | Rating: 5 Great book for english project on realism
me, i'm a junior in high school and i had to read this and compare it with kate chopin's the awakening since both had repressed females breaking out of their little niche. the book KGW was kinda long and sometimes i was wondering when the long descriptions would end but most of the time i thought the book was really good. it was intriguing and held my attention for the most part. i do agree with people that this book is a bit on the long side (i fell asleep reading it as i did when i read pride and prejudice) but KGW is worth the time. ~angie | Rating: 5 Great story from a great author
Amy Tan is one of the greatest author's I know of. She has written many great books one of them being 'The Kitchen God's Wife'. When i read the book I could not put it Down. The twsted tale of a brave girl going thourgh al those trials in life and still standing strong is a great example how much faith and detrimnation can get you in life. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes a book that is not predictable and easy to read. | Rating: 4 Great story that left me sad and mad
I like this book (not as much as the Joy Luck Club), but it had to much sadness and tragedy for my taste. I felt angry at the author by the end. | Rating: 4 Great storytelling!
This is fiction that comes alive through vivid details, realistic dialogues, fast-paced storytelling and credible characters fleshed out by Amy Tan. Through the description of the life story of the protagonist Winnie Louie, Amy convincingly conjures up the situation in China in the early part of the 20th century, with its wars, chaos, political uprisings, customs and traditions. Although generally accurate in her depiction of China, there were some glaring errors in the explanation of Chinese terms. For example, Amy translated 'tang jie' as sugar sisters, when in fact, the term just means female cousins of the paternal side with the same surname. She also explained 'Open the door, you can already see the mountain' as grabbing all opportunities and turning them into something big, when it just means getting straight to the point and not beating about the bush. However, these factual accuracies are extremely minor and they do not affect the flow of the story.
The use of different voices to tell the story is indeed a smart move on the part of Amy, for it spices up the story and better enables the reader to follow the storyline. It is evident that Amy took pains to craft the dialogues such that the voices of Winnie and her daughter can be easily distinguished. While her daughter speaks with a more contemptuous and superficial tone, Winnie's was more stolid and mature.
I enjoyed reading the last few chapters of the book for they gave the story an unexpected twist and did a good job in tying the loose ends of the story. You will also discover for yourself why this book is named 'Kitchen God's Wife' - though the reason is really quite subtle. My attention wondered off the book occasionally but was swiftly recalled, thanks to skilful storytelling by Amy. More than just a story about life in China, the atrocities of war, soured marriages, themes of infidelity and perseverance, the book is about the unspoken bond between mothers and daughters. Steering away from the usual heart-wrenching and tear-jerking narrating, Amy employs a light-hearted approach to portray a potentially serious theme of mother-daughter love. Pretty inspirational. Kudos to Amy.
| Rating: 4 Heartbreaking family story
Just when you thought that nothing can match 'Lucky Joy Club's' powerful story plot, Amy Tam comes and suprises you with beautiful and sad story about woman with a lot of courage and determination. Do not miss this wonderful read. | Rating: 5 Heart-rending and hopeful
This book moves on so many levels that it is amazing. The book is about spousal abuse, family relationships, true friendship, human strength, despair, and above all, hope. Anyone who enjoys a book that requires some emotional involvement will love this book. Amy Tan never seems to fail. | Rating: 1 Horrible
Maybe its because I'm quite traditional but I hated this book, it made me feel bad about myself. Tan writes in a way that makes Asian men atrocites to society in a way thats very derrogatory.Furthermore, she deifies Caucasian men in a way that makes me throw up. Not a good read...NEXT!!!
Yet, there were many things very prevelant to the asian culture that did help me understand certain things. Overall, the book really flowed expect when i wanted to stab myself at the end. +) | Rating: 5 How can her life be worse?
The truth is that the first couple of chapters are not very exciting at all! Yet I can not put the book down when Winnie, the narrator of her own life in the book, began to reveal to her daughter, Pearl, that her mother disappeared, might have died, or ran away with another man, when she was at a very young age. When Winnie was about seventeen, she married Wen Fu, whom she discovered later to be a cruel, spoiled, and power thirsty man. The marriage turned out to be the worst nightmare of her life. She made the decision to gave up all the children from Wen Fu by abortion because she didn't want them to live under such a father. Then came the Japanese invasion into China, and this war gave her the chance to meet someone who truly loves her, and a chance to escape to a better life. The part I liked the most was the message behind Lady Sorrowfree. We should always keep in mind to have our "happiness winning our bitterness, no regrets in this world." | Rating: 4 How do you sum it up in one line?!
This book was FANTASTIC! Not only did it incorporate facts of WWII, but also about life in China BEFORE the war. It was very easy reading in both the structure and plot. We were really pulled in and just COULDN'T put it down! It sounds kinda fluffy, but it's true. Amy Tan truely forces the reader to identify with the trials and troubles of both the young and old Winnie, even if the reader has no knowledge of Asian culture. "The Kitchen God's Wife" shows the straining relationship that can occur if lies are told and secrets are witheld. So in conclusion, we highly recommend this book! | Rating: 5 I love this book!!
This was on my school reading list and this was not even the book I planned on reading. I wanted to read Joy Luck Club but it wasnt at the library so I picked this up instead. Personally I think this is much better. This is definitely one of my favorite books and I cannot even count how many times I have read this book. If anyone wants a book that is filled with emotion this is definitely a book you would want to read. | Rating: 5 I thought the book was a very emotionally and touching .
I thought the book was very interesting and it kept me going every time i put the book i just want to pick it back up. the story is bacially on dealing with the hardship in life.how unhappy her life was in china | Rating: 4 Intruiging
Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife is an intruiging book... Pearl's Chinese mother, Winnie, is rooted in life, and in her past. The story tells of Winnie revealing her secretive, unknown past to her daughter who didn't seem to care ~ in an attempt to bring them closer together.
Tan's words are earthy, and have a way of wrapping themselves around her readers like whispering winds. Her prose continues to echo in my ears even weeks after I closed the last pages. The book was glued to my fingers for hours at a time, while I enjoyed the fact that I was learning more about Winnie's life, but at the same time dreading that the book was coming to an end. This book seems to have many oxymorons... but they tie in together in an endearing way.
Tan's talent is enviable: her words paint out scenes in her reader's minds, and she is able to bring out tastes, scents, touch from paper. And there is an explanation for it all: she is a magician with her words.
Maybe you have a misconception that the only people who enjoy Tan's books are Asians... but that's just what it is. A misconception. I am not Chinese, but I found Winnie's Chinese background to be very interesting, alluring, romantic, and mysterious. Anyone who is interested in reading a great book would enjoy this... it transcends all culture differences and it makes a person feel that in the end, we are all the same. | Rating: 5 It gets better every time
I've read The Kitchen God's Wife five times, and each time it has only gotten better. I've always found the beginning part where Pearl is narrating to be a bit tedious, but I've read this book so many times that now it just flies by. This is a book for women of all ages. | Rating: 5 It tells of female emotional strength and maternal love
Amy Tan does it all the time. She knows exactly how to make your heart sing, cry, sympathize, wonder etc. all at once. Winnie is just such a strong individual and I really wonder how she managed to survive, but I think every battered wife and every fearful female should read `The Kitchen God's Wife'. As in `Joy Luck Club', the mother-daughter relationship plays a vital role in the book and I must confess: it is Amy Tan who made me think so much and so hard about my relationship with my mother. Chinese mothers can really be so puzzling and unpredictable because their culture brings in so many supernatural forces, superstitions, beliefs which may sound completely absurd to Westerners and other unthinkable aspects which are very much alive in their traditions. Even if you don't have a Chinese mother, `The Kitchen God's Wife' still digs deep into your thoughts and makes you reconsider just how well you know your mother. Just read it. If you open your heart to it, it will change your life. | Rating: 3 It was a interesting book that kept my attention.
A good story of the trials and tribulations of a woman life story of struggles through a life of secrets and lies. It teaches a good lesson about beign truthfull to the people who are most important in your life. Winnie's struggle from her childhood to adulthood shows how being strong and following what you believe in will eventually become a reality. | Rating: 4 It's a real sad, but good book to read
The Kitchen God's Wife is a good book to read. It's a real story of how Amy Tan's mom was struggling from her terrible life to a new happy life. It keeps me want to read on to find out how she got out from the threatening life from Wen Fu, her evil first husband. She was a strong woman who had struggled a lot in her early life, but she didn't give up on her hopes. Finally, she got out from her terrible life to live in a new happy life. It's so happy to see that she had left from a bad life to a good one, because it was so terrible to have a life like her before. | Rating: 4 It's the characterization that gets me
One thing I love is when a character or cast of characters captivate me. I can see them, I can hear them and I can sympathize with them. Amy Tan always produces this for me. As I understand it, this novel was loosely based on Amy's mother's life, making it all the more interesting and intriguing. I've read it at least 5 times and come away with something new and different with each reading.
| Rating: 3 'Joy Luck Club'-light
I was very disappointed by this novel. After having read 'The Joy Luck Club', I sought out other Tan novels. I expected there to be some similarities between the books, but I didn't expect this book to be a duller version of 'The Joy Luck Club.'
Tan does sensitively explore the relationships we have with our families, particularly mothers and daughters. I know that she has received criticism for her perceived less-than-flattering portrayal of Asian and Asian American men. I don't particularly agree with this point of view.
Nevertheless, despite Tan's clear gifts for storytelling and creating families with whom we all fell a connection, this novel just falls far short of the magic and pathos of her much greater achievement, 'The Joy Luck Club.' | Rating: 4 Kitchen God's wife a tale of a woman's hardships
This is one of Amy Tan's better works. This book seemed to relay to the reader of the hardships that a women went through prior to world war 2. It also distinguished the cultural differences between two very different generations. It allowed the reader to identify with the culture and the relationships between family. This book is recomended for those interested in chinese culture and why the older generation is different from present chinese americans. | Rating: 4 Kitchen God's Wife-a must read
The Kitchen God's Wife starts out differently than you would have expected. The start and the end share a bond being told by the daughter but the middle, that is where the true story comes in. A tale of a mother whose life was as good as she made it out to be. Winnie always thought less of herself and higher of others. She was brought up to believe that she was always wrong and that her evil husband was always right and if she disagreed that she deserved to punished. An amazing story filled with chinese culture that does not sound like a history lesson, this book keeps the readers attention and is wonderfully written. You become part of the story as you read it and therefore, seem to be living Winnie's life along with her. Along with all of the hardships and all of the joys. If you have a heart you will be drawn into this book. I had to read this book for an assignment but it turned out that i actually enjoyed this novel and other works by Amy Tan. A book for those who have lost all hope, but somehow still find enough to keep going and remain strong throughout their entire lives. Enjoy! | Rating: 4 Life does go on (Sue in Flemington, NJ)
I didn't actually 'read' Kitchen God's Wife, however, I listened to it on an audiotape version. I started 'listening' to books when I had a long commute to work and sometimes it is difficult to get your head programmed into the audiobook but not so with this read. I actually think that listening to this story is actually a benefit - not that Amy Tan needs any help with describing events. The only downside is I found myself in tears behind the wheel of my car! However, the background music and Amy's beautiful voice - really make the characters come to life even more.
This is such a powerful read and one need not be of Chinese heritage to appreciate it. Love, loss, survival and pain are a universal theme and Amy Tan surely hits on each in this novel.
The heroine, Winnie, has overcome such incredible loss and hurt -it is amazing she has anything left to give in her later years. I believe her loss made her want to love even more. Her incredible spirit and huge capacity for giving - especially to her daughter Pearl is beautiful.
I must admit that at one point I thought 'how can she take one more thing', but she does.
This story is a testament to human spirit and I missed the characters one the book was finished. This is the first Amy Tan novel I've read and do plan on reading more. | Rating: 4 Lovely story
I have read all books by Amy Tan and I can't decide which one I like best. They're simply beautiful; the stories are as glittery and fascinating as a Chinese silk gown and the characters are so real I can hardly believe they don't exist. I felt very dissapointed abut the fact that Winnie's horrid jerk of a husband wasn't punished as he deserved, but overall this is an excellent book. | Rating: 2 Melodramatic & unreal
As a native Chinese, as I read it, I find the story could not have been written by a native Chinese cause she made blatant mistakes about languages, customs. if they were minor, i could overlook them.
I also get an impression that she really does not like Chinese male. in all her books i've read, there's no single positive Chinese male characters. they're either abusive or kind but wimpy fools. most of her heroines just passive accept their fate & do not fight. they just until some Chinese American to rescue them.
I also think she gave a wrong impression that Chinese family really do not cherish their daughters & like to marry them as concubines. Well, this was somewhat true that most Chinese did (a lot still do) prefer sons to daughters. But even in the old days when polygamy (multiple wives) was legal, _good_ families would rarely marry daughters as concubines except in extreme condition like poverty.
I'm also bothered by her political view. she seems more pro-Communist than Nationalists (KMT), from her description on KMT vs Communists. But this, in my opionion, does not add to the story at all cause it's irrelevant to the story she wants to tell. | Rating: 2 Melodramatic & unreal
As a native Chinese, as I read it, I find the story could not have been written by a native Chinese cause she made blatant mistakes about languages, customs. if they were minor, i could overlook them.
I also get an impression that she really does not like Chinese male. in all her books i've read, there's no single positive Chinese male characters. they're either abusive or kind but wimpy fools. most of her heroines just passive accept their fate & do not fight. they just until some Chinese American to rescue them.
I also think she gave a wrong impression that Chinese family really do not cherish their daughters & like to marry them as concubines. Well, this was somewhat true that most Chinese did (a lot still do) prefer sons to daughters. But even in the old days when polygamy (multiple wives) was legal, _good_ families would rarely marry daughters as concubines except in extreme condition like poverty.
I'm also bothered by her political view. she seems more pro-Communist than Nationalists (KMT), from her description on KMT vs Communists. But this, in my opionion, does not add to the story at all cause it's irrelevant to the story she wants to tell. | Rating: 2 Melodramatic & unreal
As a native Chinese, as I read it, I find the story could not have been written by a native Chinese cause she made blatant mistakes about languages, customs. if they were minor, i could overlook them.
I also get an impression that she really does not like Chinese male. in all her books i've read, there's no single positive Chinese male characters. they're either abusive or kind but wimpy fools. most of her heroines just passive accept their fate & do not fight. they just until some Chinese American to rescue them.
I also think she gave a wrong impression that Chinese family really do not cherish their daughters & like to marry them as concubines. Well, this was somewhat true that most Chinese did (a lot still do) prefer sons to daughters. But even in the old days when polygamy (multiple wives) was legal, _good_ families would rarely marry daughters as concubines except in extreme condition like poverty.
I'm also bothered by her political view. she seems more pro-Communist than Nationalists (KMT), from her description on KMT vs Communists. But this, in my opionion, does not add to the story at all cause it's irrelevant to the story she wants to tell. | Rating: 5 My favorite Amy Tan
This is my favorite Tan novel--I have read the Joy Luck Club and the Bonesetter's Daughter. As usual, Amy Tan explores the mother daughter relationship which is further complicate dby the cultural diffenrences and generational gaps. What makes this book better than the rest is the believability of the mother and daugher characters.
Compared to her other novels, the mother here is a more complete and understandable character. Since the majority of the book contains her story, we get to know her motives better--something that is usually not so well explored in the otehr novels. Similarly, while the antagonism between Peral and her mother is still there, it is not as sharp and as unreasonable.
This is what makes The Kitchen God's Wife not only a good read (all of Tan's novels are) but also a more realistic story that sticks with you long after you finish the book. | Rating: 5 My favorite Amy Tan book
I have read all of Amy Tan's books and this one ranks as my favorite. I grew attatched to Pearl and Winnie over the course of the book. I enjoyed that it dealt with family and superstitions, good and evil. Amy Tan always weaves and interesting tale. Joy Luck Club is probably her most famous work, but I think this one outshines it by far.
This is definitely one of the books that I will re-read in the futre. When the story ended, it kept me wanting more. | Rating: 5 My favorite Amy Tan book!
I love the way this story is told. The reader finds out what the mother and daughter have gone through in their lives and what has shaped their personalities. Amy Tan writes first person narratives that are exciting, poetical, and dramatic. The struggles the mother faced in her life are revealed one piece at a time and lead to the final resolution. The differences that once pulled the two women apart bring the mother and daughter together. | Rating: 5 My favorite Amy Tan novel
I have enjoyed all of Amy Tan's books but this is by far my favorite. I found it easier to read and less confusing than The Joy Luck Club. It was easier for me to keep track of who was who. Not so many characters and Chinese names. A beautiful story about a mother and daughter relationship. When I finished it, I wanted to start all over again. | Rating: 5 My favorite tearjerker novel
For some reason, I liked this novel the most out of all the Amy Tan novels I've read (I've only read two others: The Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses). I actually read this novel about two years ago, but it still has lasting impressions on me. Tan brought me to tears quite a few times in Winnie's life, which did not happen for some odd reason during the reading of The Joy Luck Club. Tan kept me spellbound for the last half of this book. I loved the sweetness of Winnie's second husband. I wasn't as enthralled about Pearl's story, but their stories together made for well-balanced view of their relationship. | Rating: 5 Never-ending Hope
I loved the Joy Luck Club and decided to read this book never expecting to identify so much with Winnie. There were passages near the end of the book that I highlighted because the message was so provoking and inspirational. Hope seems to be the driving force for Winnie and I cried when I realized that Pearl was the living manefestation of the love Winnie had for her past children. There was no resentment for Pearl because of who her father was and how she was conceived, on the contrary, loved all the more because of who Pearl's brother and sisters were. There is no comparison to the depth of a mother's love. Amy, please write another book soon! | Rating: 2 NOT AS GOOD AS "JOY LUCK".
It starts great, but then it starts to linger off and it just doesn't have the same "hold" as "joy luck" did. I don't want the same story as "joy luck" but I wanted a little more interesting characters. And it seems the story is repeated constantly regarding the characters, "Wen Fu" and "Winnie Louie" their awful marriage. A little disappointing. | Rating: 1 Not happy
This book was not satisfying to any of my class mates. After reading this book I found it very dissatisfying and the book did not mortovat a young reader to read on. Obviously Amy Tan has put alot of time into this book and it carrys alot of valuable messages, but it is not suitable to people my age. (I am 16 years old). | Rating: 5 On Kitchen God's Wife
I could not put that book down. A masterpiece in conflict, character development, and poetic language, this book was wonderful. I particularly enjoyed the use of narration implmented to keep the story line going. | Rating: 5 Once you start, you can't stop reading it!
The Kitchen God's Wife is a very good. It is one of those that make you wanting to read page after page after page. The book is about Winnie, the mother of Pearl, who reviewed her stories to her daughter, Pearl whom didn't understand her own mother at first. Pearl sometimes protested or rebeled againg her mother because she doesn't understand the ways her mother deals with things. Later, she came to understand that her mother had gone through a lot in her life in China, and she tried very hard to raise her (Pearl) differently from the ways she was raised. She tried to give her the best and teach her the proper ways as being a Chinese. I enjoy reading Amy Tan's books because they reflect my own cultures. Many things she mentioned in her books are imaginable and sensible, for I understand the ways in the Chinese culture. Overall, I will recommend this novel to anyone who enjoy the pleasure of reading. You would have a great time. | Rating: 4 One of the greatest books a child can be forced to read!
I am a 14 year old girl who was forced to read this book for school. I want everyone to know that "you should not judge a book by its cover." I didn't like the title of this book before I began reading it, however once into the book I learned that, dispite the title, it was a wonderfully emotional story. I felt that I could relate to Winnie when she was a shy and secretivie child, I think the same thoughts as a growing woman, and I pity her for going through such a terrible life. The character of Winnie was a very bright woman and I envy her courage. I pray that I don't have to go through such terrifing experiences as she did. Although forcing a child to read a book discourages them, I believe my school picked a winner with this book. It is the one of the best books a child can be forced to read! | Rating: 5 Page Turner
I recommend this novel to everyone because the author filled every page with exciting events that no one can stop flipping the next page until he or she finishes the book. The author wrote other events besides the Chinese background and a story between a mother and a daughter's relationship. The author talks about the history of World War Two also. Moreover, the author talks about how most husbands in the past mistreated their wives and how women gain their power as they grew stronger and as they experienced many things as time past by. | Rating: 5 Personal tragedy that matches the Greek
It's great to note that this book manages to capture the hearts of so many people including mine. I could relate to this book rather easily because of the similar culture that we share. I'm feeling sorry for Amy for having to put up with harsh criticisms of her exploiting her own culture to make money, or for not having depth comparing with old classics. For goodness sake, we are in the new century now & we shall move on with time rather than lingering upon the past. What's the point of writing a novel that is so complicated that nobody is able to grasp? Shouldn't we reserve those classics to the libraries & varsities? With due respect, the mean of a book is to be able to communicate with the readers. Isn't it the book was in the best-seller's list? That means Amy must have done something right. Look what's got the last laugh here. Keep up the good work. | Rating: 4 Poor communication is the greatest tragedy
I enjoyed reading Tan's "The Kitchen God's Wife." Although I am not too familiar with Chinese or even Chinese American culture, I was struck by the universal theme of how heartache wears people down, causing them to shield their feelings and strain even their most precious relationships rather than risk being emotionally open and connected to one another. The story revolves around a Chinese mother and her American born daughter, and the way they've retreated from this relationship to numb the suffering each has experienced...which is definitely the wrong antidote. The book unfolds the life story of Winnie, the mother, who grew up in China in the early 1900's and left for the United States sometime shortly after World War II. I don't like to think the harsh treatment she endured, especially as a child, could be true, although cruelty has never been limited to one time or place. At times it seemed the plot got a little convoluted or perhaps repetitious, but Tan is a skilled storyteller and manages to follow through to a credible ending. Her book makes me curious to know more about Chinese culture--to this end, I enjoyed the historical references and observations of customs as seen through the eyes of her various characters. | Rating: 3 Pretty close to the 'Joy Luck Club' stories...
I've had a hard time finishing this book, because Winnie's tragic life has been so alike to the stories of the mothers of the "Joy Luck Club because the basic settings of both books are an unresolved communication problem between an Asian American daughter and her Chinese mother. In this book, Pearl is afraid to tell Winnie about being, and Winnie is afraid to tell Pearl of her own secret - a bad marriage in China. "Auntie" Helen, Winnie's long time friend and foe, threatens both to reveal their secrets if they don't do that themselves until the Chinese New Year. In the next part of her book, Winnie narrates her long, "tragic" marriage to a man named Wen Fu back in China during WW2, which is supposed to be somehow connected to the Chinese myth of the Kitchen God's wife - which was a VERY good wife to a very bad man herself.
Winnie did not stir any sympathy from me. At first, being a very young and innocent girl, I can inderstand why Winnie does not run away. But after a while, it seems all Winnie wants to do is complain about Wen Fu and show to the whole world how bad he is. She can't understand why his friends don't realize who he really is - what she sometimes sees as him being mean to them, they see as a joke. Even when she does try to escape from him, it seems those tries are doomed from the start because she manages to choose the best ways to annoy Wen Fu and damage his pride.The story also seemed to repeat itself a few times (Wen /Fu is mean, Winnie tries to escape but can't), and none of the characters seemed to change much each time, except for maybe Wen Fu, who get meaner by the page, and turns into a less credible character.
We're also exposed to Winnie's vain and jealous side - in the way she treats Helen... Almost everything Helen does is bad or wrong - from Winnie's high class point of view, of course. Never mind that Helen got the better, more understanding and more superior husband...
The only thing about this book which raised its mark from 1 start to 3 is Amy Tan's superb writing. Many people who liked the "Joy Luck Club" would probably like this book too, as long as they don't expect it too be THAT different. People who didn't like the latter would probably won't like this one either. | Rating: 4 Question
Referring to the vintage cover: I was wondering if anyone can tell me what the symbol on the front cover of the book means (the one at the very bottom). | Rating: 5 Read By A Young Asian-American Girl
The Kitchen God's Wife, by Amy Tan, is a heart warming story. Telling about a mother-daughter relationship starting out rocky. The daughter Pearl, has no understanding of her mother and therefore, thinks her mother hates her. The mother Winnie, had a bad past that took her over for a long time. The mother-daughter relationship was not mended until Winnie told Pearl the truth about all the pain she went though. Overall, I hope this book will touch your heart, like how it teached mine, and i recommend it to ages 12 and up. | Rating: 4 Review for The Kitchen God's Wife
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan is a powerful book that is hard to put down. It is interesting and throught-provoking, and although part of the story is sad, Tan inculdes bits of humor in Winnie's story, so it is not as depressing to read as it would have been if the humor was omitted. Through two characters, Pearl and Winnie, the reader understands how the family interacts. What I especially liked about the book were the characters. Despite many hardships Winnnie stayed strong and eventually created a better life for herself. The story she tells about her past in China, mostly around the time of World War II, pulls the reader in and makes the reader want to cheer for her at the end. Because of the difficulties Winnie went through, she made sure her American-born daughter, Pearl, had a good life and avoided the hardships Winnie had suffered. Unfortunately Pearl had her own troubles, specifically illness, and because of that she became a strong person also. The unexpeccted ending to Winnie's story makes the book memorable and outstanding, a book the reader won't forget. | Rating: 2 Roxanne
I enjoyed the Joy Luck Club so I assumed I would enjoy this one as well. This book is merely a continuation of the Joy Luck Club-same story of mother and daughter. Identical, where each one complains about their life, except, this time it got so tedious as the mother's story went on endlessly, repeating the same thing over and over again. I finally gave up about two thirds into it. I was surprised that she hadn't come up with a fresh idea, and felt the need to continue with the mother-daughter thing. | Rating: 4 Saiho and Andrew's review from SFHS.
I think that this book, The Kitchen God's Wife, gave a pretty accurate description of the life of an asian woman during WWII. I think that the main charachters were virtually the same as the ones in the Joy Luck Club, but the structure of the book was much more organized. One of things that I did not like was the fact that the family tree was so vast and disconnected. The author totally ignored informing the reader of the internal relationships between the charachters, and this was quite confusing for one without a chinese background. Overall, this book was well written and very entertaining. | Rating: 1 Same Old Stuff
This book has the same structure and theme as the Joy Luck Club. Read the debut and end it. Amy Tan is obesessed with the melodramatic and maudlin, in the process turning her novels into potboilers read only by illiterate female homemakers. Instead of reading fiction about China, why not go there and see it for yourself? | Rating: 3 Secrets...
This is not merely a book about China, or about history, or even the attempt to speak across cultures - but, like the Joy Luck Club, it is about the mother/daughter relationship and how it is often founded on secrecy and mutual misunderstandings. It's not great literature, but it's a well structured piece of work - engagingly written, with a light touch. | Rating: 4 See below
Winnie's story of life and passion exemplified an era in Chinese history. During the begining of WWII, a woman's role was to serve her husband without any questions. Winnie gradually defied this stereotype after years of abuse.Her story is told to her daughter to relieve the stress that years of lies had laid upon her. The story directly affects Pearl, Winnie's daughter, because her father is not who she thinks he is. The two formed a bond and became much closer after all of the lies and secrets were revealed and forgiven. This book will open your eyes and your hearts to a story of a family who, through all their struggles, over came the pain and suffering that was endured throughout the years. | Rating: 5 SOO I CRY ON THE NEW.YORK SUBWAY
WOW. This is the 3rd time I have read this book, and I just start weeping. I work on Broadway, ( yes I am a performer)and this book is wonderful. I'm from the old country ( England) and I truly bloody well connect with all the people in her novels. I'm young; and Amy is me mentor. When I remember what I've gone through in me wee life, I remember charachters in her books that I can identify with ( JOY LUCK CLUB included) and then I feel I can "CARRY ON' Thanks ever soo much . You are a true genius, Cheers . A faithful and Loyal follower NATA$HA V. | Rating: 4 Still a good book
To me this book wasn't as good as the joy luck club, but it's still a good book. I felt that this book is very similar to the joy luck club. It almost didn't really change storyline. maybe it's just me but I'm one of those people who can't read the same thing twice. I can read a book twice but not 2 different books with similar storyline. anyways I think this book is good but not as good as some others. | Rating: 2 Tan shouldn't have paralleled her book to the Kitchen Gods.
Because the Kitchen God King was not a misogynist. If you read the actual fairy tale there is no hint of abuse on the Kitchen God Queen. The Kitchen King never raped or beated the Kitchen Queen. If you see many illustrations of the Kitchen King and Kitchen Queen in Chinese literature, they are always together. And the Kitchen Queen is honored because she is the Kitchen King's wife. And the Kitchen King is honored because he is the Kitchen Queen's husband. So, Wen Fu doesn't even come close as a comparison to the Kitchen King! Other than that, the only good this novel can do is help strengthen feminist causes (although Tan does it in spite of Chinese culture). But, it won't help Asian causes at all. | Rating: 5 The best of Amy Tan
The Kitchen God's Wife was more of an emotional read than any of Amy Tan's other books. The comparison between Chinese and American culture is great. But, who is the father? This part left me hanging. | Rating: 4 The Kitchen God's Wife
Another interesting and captivating fictional story by Amy Tan...
Amy writes about the character Helen Kwong and the story of how she came to America. She tells of her terrible marriage to her first husband, including the treatment that many Chinese women had to endure. It tells how she miraculously met Winnie Louie, her second husband, and how they fell in love, just after meeting for one time.
I found it a little hard to follow at times due to the unusual names, but there were moments when I was so absorbed in the story, I lost track of time! | Rating: 5 The Kitchen God's Wife
The Kitchen God's Wife a great first book to read from Amy Tan's wonderful collection of novels. In the book The Kitchen God's Wife, it deals with the relationship between a Chinese mother and her American daughter and the secrets that they keep from each other. The book talks about the mother's life and the things that she had to endure to get to America. In this book there are many stories to be told, not just of a mother daughter relationship, but also of two friends staying with each other till the end, or a story of how a wife struggles to free herself from an abusive husband. Reading the book has helped me to understand more about Chinese traditions and why they are traditions. While reading this book I also learned the story of the kitchen god, and now each year as my family celebrates the kitchen god I remember what his wife did for him and how lucky he is to have such a wonderful wife. The kitchen god's wife, it is just one of those books that you can't put down. | Rating: 4 The Kitchen God's Wife
This book follows the story of a young woman living in China in the middle of the twentieth century. Amy Tan portrays the situation of many women during this time throught Winnie, the main charcacter. The reality of what a Chinese wife might go through really comes through in the story. This story explores Chinese culture and how a once innocent woman can find the strength to fight the unjust and cruel unwritten laws of society. For someone who has never had to experience this, Winnie's perseverance is very admirable. The story touches on some pretty tough issues, but Tan keeps it light hearted. She brings in characters for Winnie to bond with and that help motivate her to find a way out of China and out of her marriage. The other characters also bring out qualities in Winnie that Tan writes very descriptively about. This book teaches about the damage of sexism in society and all people who read it will definitly get a sense of what it's like. I really enjoyed reading this book because Tan makes it interesting by having two narrators. I recommend this book to fun loving readers and serious readers alike. | Rating: 5 The Kitchen God's Wife
This is an excellant book, I really enjoy reading Ms. Tan's books. She is a very good writer. You feel connected to this book as you read it. It was like looking at my own life and the up and downs I have had with my own mother. | Rating: 5 The Kitchen God's Wife finally got a divorce
Amy Tan is a great storyteller. But she is also great for three other reasons. First she is able to unravel a story from at least two points of view, here a mother and her daughter. Officially it is the story of the mother told to the daughter, but in fact it is the background and underground building of the daughter's personality as a Chinese American : the Chinese side of her self is the inheritance of her mother's experience. Second she deals with women in their liberation, not the liberation of the younger generation, but their liberation as the natural outcome of the hardships and subsequent liberation of their mothers. It is the struggle of the mothers for their freedom that gives freedom to their daughters. In that respect Amy Tan is one of the very best writers on the condition of women in the US. She is at least as good as the Afro-American women writers along that line. Third she is always able to connect the traditional Chinese side of her story, in China itself, with the war against the Japanese and the coming of the Communists, to the modern Chinese American culture. She does not exorcize the Communists, nor the Japanese, though she sounds partial with the Japanese as agressors, though their task was made easy bvy the rotten Kuomintang officials and army. On the other hand she is fair witrh the Communists and shows how they were able to use deep discontent to capture their own victory. It is the case here with women and feudal marriages. The Communists are able to help the women who want to escape this fate knowing that it will start a real revolution in the country and that most women will follow suit. The divide then appears for what it is : a cultural divide, the free choice between serving one's society and serving one's interest, a communal - if not communistic - choice on one side and a personal - if not individualistic - choice on the other side. This leads to a very optimistic note at the end : the two sides are not opposed and can find a new unity, especially now that the kitchen God's wife has finally divorced her godly husband, reducing him to a hellish destiny and enhancing herself into a totally optimistic future for both men and women, for society, through equality.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU | Rating: 5 The Kitchen God's Wife is great
I think MsTan wrote a wonderful book that gives insight in to the realationship of mothers and daughters. It is so well written that it was like i was expereincing everything along with Pearl and Winnie. | Rating: 4 The Kitchen God's Wife is a cultural masterpiece.
A wonderful narrative of the life of one Chinese woman. One of Amy Tan's greatest novels of all time. It tells of the trial and hardship of one Chinese woman as she struggles for freedom from her controling husband. Through her story, she reveals much about the Chinese tradition and superstition. It is a wonderful masterpiece that will captivate the minds of young readers for a long while. | Rating: 4 The Kitchen God's Wife is a novel fulled with secerts.
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan is a novel about two women, Winnie and Helen, who kept each other secerts for a long time. Winnie was forced by Helen to tell her worst secerts out to her daughter Pearl. What Pearl don't know was how bad those secerts and the truths are. This novel is mainly on Winnie's childhood and her adulthood in China. Her good and bad memories of her life and at the end, Pearl,too had a secert of her own to revel it to her mom | Rating: 5 The story about a mother daughter relationship is truly
different than others. Their relationship was never truly strong. Hidden stories, twisted secrets, and finally death wishes to let the truth come undone has to happen in order for one mother -daughter relationship to actually be truthful and honsest. After the death of a father/husband, the family split. The daughter never got along with the mother, and the mother tried to enforce her harsh words to her daughter. The book had stories from both points of view that instantly took my breath away. The struggle the mother had with her first husband left my heartbroken and left me speechless. Parts of the stories left me wanting more, and i reccommend anyone with a huge heart to start reading THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE. | Rating: 4 The story of a woman's life in China
THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE, Amy Tan's second novel, is another story that deals with family history and relationships between mothers and daughters. Unlike her first novel, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE takes place mostly in the past.
Pearl and her mother Winnie have never had a very good relationship. Winnie criticizes Pearl often, and makes it unpleasant for Pearl whenever they come to visit. The book opens with Pearl, her non-Asian husband Phil, and their two young children making the drive to San Francisco to attend a family wedding.
Everyone in the family is there at the wedding, including close family friends and relatives that have been a part of Winnie's life since her days back in China in the early `20's and `30's. An argument breaks out between Pearl and Winnie at the wedding, but before Pearl and her family return home, she and her mother talk. The story that Pearl hears from her mother is a story she has never heard before. It is a secret that Winnie has kept from her daughter for decades, for fear of hurting Pearl. Pearl herself has a secret, but it becomes secondary as Winnie's story unfolds.
Winnie's modern day world was a lifetime away from her early beginnings in China. She was born to a woman that was one of many wives belonging to a man Winnie knew as her father. He was a stranger to her, never giving her the time of day. Winnie's mother was beautiful and educated, and together they lived the life of the pampered rich because of her mother's station in life. Winnie's life turns for the worse when her mother disappears for reasons unknown to the young girl. Winnie finds herself losing the protective life she had with her mother, the home she grew up in, and placed in the home of a distant relative, to be treated like a second class citizen. Her life is never the same again.
Because of her new station in life, Winnie is destined to never marry, but through a fluke of fate, she ends up marrying a man that should have been destined for her cousin Peanut. However, after they are married, Winnie finds out that this husband is not the romantic wonderful man he appeared to be during the beginning of their courtship. From this point in her life, she knows only unhappiness and suffering.
Winnie has to endure much during this marriage, including abuse, countless miscarriages and loss of children to sickness and poverty, and with the outbreak of war in China, she does not know what her future will be like. What finally brings her to America and to the husband that Pearl knows as her father, is for the reader to find out.
I highly recommend THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE. Although this book is not as fast a read as THE JOY LUCK CLUB, I found that the history of Winnie was fascinating, taking me to a country that I know so little about. The story of Pearl becomes second to Winnie's, but Winnie's story bridges the two stories together, as the reader finds by the end of the book. | Rating: 5 The Struggle of Chinese Women
Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan is a fascinating book. The author weaves the stories of two women: mother and daughter. The two stories of the two women contradict each other perfectly. The experieces of the mother goes through is funny and sexual. The mother goes through failed marriages in China, but then her last husband turned out to be one she loves. Her husband brought her to America and their daughter become Americanized. The book is enriched of Chinese traditions and culture about family and life. Tan expresses vivid imagery and beautiful descriptions that makes the book come alive. She puts great emphasize of being a strong Chinese woman and trying to succeed in the world of selfish men. This book almost sounds like the Joy Luck, expect the book puts more emphasize on the relation of one mother and one daughter instead of including the friends of mothers and daughters. | Rating: 5 This book is exciting and a must read.
It is about a mother and daughter relationship, which wasn't going so well. There are hidden secrets waiting to be revealed between the two characters, Pearl and her mom named Winnie. Pearl has a secret that she doesn't want her mom to know because she's afraid that her mom will be worry and mad. Winnie also has secrets she had kept from her daughter. She will later tell Pearl about her story of her life in China, how it was like during World War II, how she had a bad marriage, and many more about her past. I liked this book because it gets more exciting and interesting as I keep reading. I would recommend this book to future readers because once you read it, you wouldn't be able to get your eyes off it. Many more secrets will be lying ahead in this book waiting for you guys to open it up and start reading. This is a book you must read! | Rating: 3 This book took forever to read
I had to read this for summer reading. I love to read, but this book just dragged on forever and trying to get it done was a chore. I liked The Joy Luck Club, but this one was not as catchy. It reminded me of Madeleine L'Engle's A Live Coal in the Sea, but that book was soooooooo much more interesting. L'Engle is one of my fave authors so that makes a difference in the way I look at things. But I have to write a book review that is due this week, and I am a procrastinator, so it will never get done, until the night before. Oh well! | Rating: 4 This Book was one of the few books I've liked in high school
I really enjoyed reading this book because not only did Amy Tans writting capture me completely but the story seemed very realistic and alive. I loved it. | Rating: 5 This is a story about a women and her abusive husband
The Kitchen God's wife by Amy Tan is a fictional novel about a mother's flash back experience, Wei Wei (Wennie), who escapes from her dreaded and abusive husband, Wen Fu. The story escalates from China to America. There are a lot of drama that's very emotional, many reader tend to feel heart broken and sad. A similar book written by Amy Tan is The Joy Luck Club, which is about various types of family problems. So for those of you who have read The Joy Luck Club or are interested to read something with drama, then give The Kitchen's God Wife a try. I guarantee that you will like it. You'll probably cry or be deeply sad while reading this book. "Yep, it's that good!" | Rating: 5 This was a great book!!
If I had to chose my favorite book by Amy Tan it would be very difficult because all three are fabulous. The Kitchen God's wife was so good I finished it in less than a week. This book is about a mother and daughter that love each other but have many individual secrets about the past that are revealed. Reading the book made me think about my own relationship with my own mother, and our strengths and weaknesses. Amy Tan captued everything so beautifully on paper that in this review I can't do her justice for this book. Now that I think about it I would have to chose this one as my favorite. | Rating: 3 This was a slow-paced novel with no major conflict
The Kitchen God's Wife was an uninteresting book about Chinese traditions and superstitions. There was no major conflict but instead series of minor struggles. An example of a minor struggle was Pearl's anxiety of telling her mother about her disease. This |
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