The Joy Luck Club Entry #2
The Joy Luck Club by Jing-Mei Woo
Summary and Quote Analysis The first story was known as The Joy Luck Club by Jing Mei Woo. I thought that this story was very well-written. As a young woman, Jing Mei Woo faces the death of her mother, Suyuan. Canning, her father encourages her to join a daily Mahjong game, in which her mother is usually invited to. Without a word, she assumes that she would be considered the "replacement" in the game of her mother. Her parents attended this party ever since they immigrated from China.
The Joy Luck Club was created in order for the women to escape reality. During the time, Suyuan was living in Kweilin, China, there were many hardships in store for her and other women. There was also an invasion of American armies. The club took their mind off the current war, and each club was a hopeful optimistic outlook on the fact that they would soon be lucky. However, an American official warned Suyuan that there would be the Japanese that would invade Kweilin. So she, in turn escaped into Chungking. She had said to her daughter that all she had left was her best silk dresses. When the daughter queried about her children, the mother did not talk about the daughters. She doesn't believe that at this club, she would ever belong or be considered as her mother. She is already looked down at the fact that she quit college. But at the end of this club, Suyuan's friends tell Jing-Mei that her mother was secretly looking for the 2 twin daughters. They had given her money, enough for her to go back to China and tell them of her mother. When asked what to tell her mother, Auntie Lin reprimands her and tells her that even her bones are her mother. She tells her to tell of her mother's life and troubles. In the end, the one club of women look at her with hope. Hope that she will finish the story of her mother to her other children.
"It's not that we had no heart or eyes for pain. We were all afraid. We all had our miseries. But to despair was to wish for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable."
I thought that this quote summed up the main theme of the story. The club was established in order to forget the hardships. In a way, Jing-Mei was relieved of her hardship of her mother dying. She was given a chance to figure more about her mother's life, and herself. The other women couldn't let Jing-Mei prolong at this situation. They had hope for her, that she could ultimately find this experience as a life-changing one. 
The Joy Luck Club Entry #1
The Joy Luck Club by Amy TanBackground Information About Amy Tan's Life
Today in Mrs.Faughey's class we were introduced to a new book, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. After we began reading Feathers from a Thousand Li away, I realized how eloquent Amy Tan was, as an author. She kept the story flowing with precision, and she kept the reader interested. We also took notes of Amy Tan's personal life. Our class discovered many things about this author.
Who is Amy Tan? Amy Tan is an Asian-American author who was born in February 12, 1952 in Oakland, California. Her parents were Chinese immigrants. Her mother was named Daisy Tan, and her father was named John Tan. John Tan was an electrical engineer and Baptist. He ran away from the turmoil in his country. Daisy lost custody of her 3 daughters because she escaped divorce and communism on the last boat to America. There, Amy and her 2 brothers lived their lives. Amy's father and oldest brother died of a brain tumor. After these sad deaths, Amy's family left to Switzerland. She faced conflict with her mother, and there was even a moment in which they did not speak 6 months after she entered college. She further angered her mother by going to San Jose College, because she had abandoned the pre-med course that her mother had expected her to take. There, she entered the study of English. She gained a ,aster's degree in 1974, and she and her boyfriend married in San Francisco. She further went on to study English at the University of California and Berkeley. She left the doctoral program at 1976, and became a language development consultant. She also was in a business firm, as a business writer. She became dissatisfied with this vocation so she began being introduced to the jazz channel and she began writing fiction.
The first story that she wrote was called The End Game. It was shown in FM magazine and printed in 17 magazine. Her second book, Waiting Between the Trees, encouraged her to write a volume. During that time, that she was embarking on a new career, her mother grew ill. She promised her mother that if she was cured they would go to China and meet her 3 daughters. This experience inspired her to write a book of stories, which later became The Joy Luck Club. She quit business at 1989, and the book was in the New York Times' best seller. There were many enthusiastic compliments, and it was translated into 17 languages. She then created The Kitchen God's Wife. She also created 2 children's books and 2 novels. The 2 novels were called The Bonesetter's Daughter and 100 Secret Senses. She was also in a rock and roll band with Stephen King and other prominent writers.
This background information about the author, helped me utilize more about the story. The Joy Luck Club was made from the experiences that she dealt with her mother. She was inspired to write from her experiences. This makes the book seem more interesting because it is from a basis of truths. It also intrigued me in a humorous light when she was in a rock and roll band. Overall, through these notes, you can realize more about the book, and more about how the author incorporated her experiences into the story.
