The Joy Luck Club

By: Amy Tan

Narrated by: Gwendoline Yeo

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Four Chinese women, drawn together by the shadow of their past, meet in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks, eat dim sum, and to "say" stories to each other. Nearly 40 years later, one of the women has died, and her daughter arrives to take her place. However, the daughter never expected to learn of her mother's secret lifelong wish - and the tragic way in which it has come true. The revelation creates among the women an urgent need to remember the past. What is lost between generations and among friends - and what is salvaged - resonates throughout this novel of friendship among women and the relations between mothers and daughters.

Jacket Illustration ©1989 Gretchen Shields; Copyright ©1989

Critic reviews

"Amy Tan effortlessly mixes tenderness and bitter irony, sorrow and slicing wit. The Joy Luck Club is a fabulous concoction." (Louise Erdrich)

nice read

i was recommended to read this by my Chinese girlfriend who shared that while it could be an exaggerated set of stories from one perspective, it was enriching nevertheless. i agree.

Wonderful!

I loved the book and the audio was good as well. This was my first book on tape, so I have to say I'm not 100% used to heading someone else's voice while listening to a story but generally she did a good job. She pronounced Chinese words (which I could never have done) and had at times a believable Chinese accent that wasn't too much to take away from the story, but she changed her voice to pretend to have a mans voice and this was very strange. That's why I knocked off a star because her "man's voice" was very distracting and unnecessary. But over all it was good.

Why did I wait so long to read this?

I loved this book. I loved how the stories were told and each chapter changed characters. I have known of this book my whole life when my mother had it in her room for her book group in the 80s. It's a book that has followed me through life, seeing it in libraries, bookstores, and on friends shelves. I wish I read it years ago, and am so glad I finally did.

Amazing Dialogue and Voice

Amazing dialogue. w w w w w w w w w w w w w a b a c d

LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS BOOK!!

Beautifully written. Touching. It made me wonder about my own mothers move to the states 34 years ago..

The best audiobook I’ve listened to

This is truly an amazing book. I have read it and the audiobook was like discovering it again. The book reader is an amazing vocal performer and creates wonderful voices for each character. I will listen to this one over and over again.

read the book

The story is truly wonderful but the narrator is terrible in many parts of the story

A necessary read

This is truly a pleasure to read. It was wonderful learning about the miscommunication of generational experiences and values between first and second generation Americans.

amazing touching storey

this story is not only beautifully and skillfully put together but it makes you think about your experience and what other generations experienced before you. lots of fascinating perspectives of 4 different generations. worth a read, listen, or watch the movie if you can't handle it all worth your time.

A must read for all immigrant females.

I am surprised that this book does not have a stronger readership or following. It is beautifully written, extremely poignant and masterfully explores the often difficult relationship between mothers and daughters.