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Dec 17, 2009

Julia rated it:

great story about a relationship between a mother and daughter. we all, to some degree, struggle with our relationships with our mothers. this book made me look deeply at my own relationship with my mom and got me thinking about how much about my mom and her life that i still don't know. my mom is reading this now and we've had some great conversations about this and what it means to our own relationship.

this is a wonderful story about (1) the incredible love of a mother; (2) More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Jun 04, 2008

Julie rated it:

This is my favorite of Amy Tan's books. I loved it!

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2009

Hollie rated it:

Maybe its because I just finished it, but I really liked this book. This is a story of a Chinese woman named "Winnie" and the secrets she keeps from her daughter, not only to protect her daughter, but to protect herself and her best friend. As with many of the books we read, Winnie has had a hard life, almost horrific in some respects but the reason I love her is that the story isn't tragic, she doesn't complain about it (too much), or make herself out to be a hero, well except maybe i More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 18, 2008

Joyce rated it:

I decided to re-read this since it had been at least 15 years since I first read it and I remembered it not one whit (that says more about me than it does the novel). Yet there are Cliffs Notes on it now?! Arrgh! A friend of mine who teaches with me also admitted that she got tired of teaching the Joy Luck Club, so she started teaching this one instead because many of the same themes are explored.

I'd agree it's every bit as satisfying as the Joy Luck Club, although if I had to choose More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 11, 2010

Erin rated it:

Reading a book by Amy Tan is like getting back in touch with a old friend. Because her characters and plots tend to be consistent from book to book, there's a constant feeling of familiarity and predictability - but in a good way. If you liked the Joy Luck Club or the Bonesetter's Daughter - you're definitey going to like this book as well.

Let’s face it, it’s difficult to find a more dramatic backdrop for a novel than China during WW2 – with the Japanese invaders, the Kuomintang, th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 31, 2009

Deryl rated it:

I really liked the story of this book. This book takes you through a journey from 1920's China through today. Although the story line was difficult to read because of the hard life of the main character, I thought that the journey she took was very interesting and explained a lot of why she acted as she did towards her daughter later in life.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 22, 2007

Hyun Jung rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 23, 2007

Karschtl rated it:

I enjoyed this book very much! One of the rare cases where I gave the full 10 stars at Bookcrossing. Here with only 5 stars I give them a little tiny bit more often.
Anyway, very well written, easy to read (because of the 'simple' language Winnie uses) and an absolutely interesting tale. Shocking at times and I felt sorry for Winnie more than once. I was glad that I knew from the beginning that at some point her life changed for the better.

Bought my own copy later on, after this More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Brandon rated it:

My 2nd Amy Tan novel after being forced to read Joy Luck Club (and liking it) my freshman year in college. A bit different in focus than I expected - I thought it would follow the daughter's relationship with her mother, husband and own children, but follows Winnie through her own rough life in China. Wen Fu certainly is a villain to root against. But, after reading about how horrible Wen Fu is, and how horrible men are in Isabelle Allende's House of Spirits, I need a positive male role model More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 02, 2007

Heather rated it:

This book is really amazing. For anyone who liked Amy Tan's "The Joy-Luck Club," this is the perfect counterpart. I always enjoy the world and relationships that Tan creates of first and second generation Chinese immigrant families in the U.S. "The Kitchen Gods Wife" is not a sequel, but a piece that stands on its own. Some of the situations and thematic elements do seem to mirror "Joy-Luck" at certain points in this novel, but not to the point that it's annoy More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 07, 2009

Antof9 rated it:

I really really liked this book!

First, I'm always interested to read what I would call "ethnic" books, where neither the author nor the story are about white-bread Americans. My dad came to America from the old country (The Netherlands), and even though this mom comes from China, there are still some similarities in their stories. I was also intrigued by Pearl's relationship with her mom. These types of relationships are always interesting, and although my exposure to A More...

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May 20, 2011

Cyndy rated it:

I've been a fan of Amy Tan's writings since I first read The Joy Luck Club. While her books tend to focus on China and the lives of Chinese immigrants, their focus on the complex relationships between mothers and daughters is universal, and I've given some of her books to my mother to read after I've finished with them. Why, then, did I have no recollection of ever reading The Kitchen God's Wife when I know that I've had it for years?

::: Mother? Check. Daughter? Check. Chinese Backgrou More...

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Sep 05, 2010

Diana rated it:

The Kitchen God's Wife
By Amy Tan
The Ballantine Publishing Group
532pgs $7.99
ISBN: 0-8041-0753

Imagine yourself as Winnie, a single mother who took care of her daughter, Pearl, with secrets she's been hiding away to keep her daughter living happily, without letting Pearl know about her past. Winnie only had her best friend, Helen, and Pearl, but there are some secrets that Winnie kept to herself that even Helen doesn't know about. Before Pearl was born, Winn More...

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Jun 19, 2010

Kasia rated it:

I adore the way Amy Tan intertwines more than one story line into her books, at first glance it seems that the tale centers on Pearl, the daughter of a Chinese immigrant, who has morphed into the modern American culture and who finds her mother annoying and old fashioned at times. Once the reader gets familiar with Pearl the story then turns back to her mother, Winnie and her childhood friend Helen. Winnie's story is sad and beautiful at the same time, her suffering and struggles to overcome an More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 05, 2010

Mimi rated it:

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 More...

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Feb 06, 2010

Manman rated it:

The author used the 'story w/in a story' approach. Imagine a movie with lots of flashbacks, that's how this story was presented. story-wise, i can say this book was good. words used were very simple. straight. conversational. however, there was one downside on the author's style (i sometimes got annoyed of). Amy Tan in this book had the tendency to bore [her:] readers. bore them w/ too much details. some of these details (i can really say this) were immaterial to what she's really getting at.
More...

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Dec 14, 2009

Kathryn rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Oct 14, 2009

Ririenz rated it:

THE KITCHEN GOD’S WIFE
Pengarang : Amy Tan
Penerjemah : Joyce K. Isa
Penerbit : Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Cetakan : Cetakan II, Desember 1994
Halaman : 752 Halaman

Cerita singkat tentang legenda Isteri Dewa Dapur.

Pada zaman dahulu kala, di China ada seorang petani kaya bernama Zhang. Hidup Zhang sangat sejahtera dan damai karena diberkati oleh para Dewa. Zhang mempunyai seorang istri bernama Gao dan ia seorang istri yang baik karena mampu More...

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Dec 11, 2011

Harmonybites rated it:

This is a story that spans decades. Begun in the present day by the first person narrative of Pearl, the bulk of the story is told by her seventy-four-year-old mother Winnie (Weili) as she relates to her daughter the tale of her first marriage, telling of what it was like in China during and after World War II and how she came to America. The Kitchen God of the title allots luck according to just desserts. He's deified, even though his wife who had suffered because of him and had lived a life of More...

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Mar 16, 2011

Annelien rated it:

The story of how a Chinese woman tries to live her life druing World War 2. It's a novel about friendship, hardship, love for family and tradition and how all those infuence our choices in life. Even though the themes are heavy, the novel has a humorous tone and is written so beautifully, you just cannot put it down until you know how Winnie's story will end.

I adored reading this book. It was one of those books you kept in the back of your mind while you weren't reading it and it was More...

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Dec 05, 2007

Jennifer rated it:

What I learned from this book--my favorite part:

"Isn't that how it is when you must decide with your heart? You are not just choosing one thing over another. You are choosing what you want. And you are also choosing what somebody else does not want, and all the consequences that follow. You can tell yourself, That's not my problem, but those words do not wash the trouble away. Maybe it is no longer a problem in your life. But it is always a problem in your heart."

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2011

Meri rated it:

This is my second Amy Tan, and I have to say that I don't understand how she earned a place among America's greatest authors. I have not read The Joy Luck Club, so maybe that's the problem.

I did enjoy this one very much. Amy Tan has a way with characters. The story starts out from the perspective of the daughter, who has a fraught relationship with her overbearing mother. When the perspective switched over to the mother, I was unhappy with the change. I didn't like the mother! More...

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Sep 02, 2009

Sophia rated it:

The author, Amy Tan wrote this book in first person narrative starting with Pearl and then Winnie(Pearl's daughter). In the beginning of the story, Pearl who was American born Chinese was foreign from the Chinese custom and married a white American, Phil. Late on with the story, helen who's a best friend of Winnie, informed Pearl to veils that she has a benign brain tumor. Later the story changes narrative, Winnie started to tell stories before she was in America. She was abused by her husband, More...

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Jul 26, 2009

Suki rated it:

Sometimes it is easier hiding secrets than telling them to your close ones. Then people misunderstand each other because they are hiding their secrets in another behavior. After reading this book, I do not want to get marry because it can be terrifying! Winnie's husband, Wen Fu, is a really evil man because he treats his wife like a "whore" which he calls her when he's angry. He seemed nice in the beginning but he changed after they got married. He hits his own son and daughter. He rap More...

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Jul 09, 2008

Becky rated it:

My second Amy Tan book - it was a lot like the other one (The Bonesetter's Daughter) in the theme of the mother-daughter relationship and the flashbacks to the mother's life in China. I enjoyed the insights into the mother's life and the secrets she had kept from her daughter about an abusive previous marriage - I kept wondering how she remembered it all in such detail. I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 12, 2011

Diannemason rated it:

I chose to read this book because I really like how Amy Tan writes about the different cultures in her books. In this book, Chinese mother is talking about her pasts which is really harsh and suffering. Although she experienced many bad things such as divorce, she lives strong and finally she and her child become very close each other. After reading this book, I felt that I can be successful after I overcome many dificulties. However, the languages in this book is quite difficult. I could not un More...

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Jan 25, 2009

Annette rated it:

I have to say, this book probably took me more than 2 months to finish. At first I regretted picking and buying this book when I read the first 200 pages. But when I was told we had 3 more weeks before the marking period ended, I panicked! This was the only book that I read throughout the whole marking period for advisory and I still have about 200 more pages to go. So then I forced myself to read at least 10 minutes per night. Then on Friday night (1/9), I got hooked onto this book. I read at l More...

1 comment like

Oct 08, 2009

Dezra rated it:

Reading about the suppression of women and how they had little to no voice in China was the main concept that kept me reading this book. It was an interesting insight into culture during the War and how difficult it was for women to have a voice. And although this was set in China, the patriarchal dominance could be extrapolated to any culture that is based on a patriarchal society. The struggle to gain freedoms for all people is difficult. Winnie both frustrated me with her adherence to traditi More...

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Jun 10, 2008

W. rated it:

Kinda on par with the other reviewers...I liked reading about Winnie's story of her past in China and not so much the story in the present. If you read Joy Luck Club or some of Amy Tan's other novels, the tone and content is similar. I prefer a couple of her other books to this one, but it was a "goodread" for the plane ride on my way to China.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 03, 2011

Kuan rated it:

As a Taiwanese, I loved the book very, very much. It throws in Chinese words once a while and at the right place, deepening my feelings of emotional connections with the characters. This book humorously depicts some manners and thinking of the Chinese, such as refusing or protesting strongly for a long time before happily receiving a gift (people here still do it now haha) . Amy Tan also portrays the love between mother and daughter, which is not bold or straightforward, but deep and indicated More...

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