The Opposition…

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Amy Chua

Discussion: 2011-Jan-Feb-Mar

Why we're reading this: The Colbert Report January 25, 2011;
mentioned on The Daily Show April 16, 2011
[close] The Colbert Report January 25, 2011;
mentioned on The Daily Show April 16, 2011

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Showing 2 of 3 topics — 3 comments total

2011-Jan-Feb-Mar

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* March 2011
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 23 views

last updated Apr 06, 2011 04:16PM

* February 2011
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 16 views

last updated Mar 01, 2011 05:20PM

What Members Thought

Apr 04, 2011 Judy rated it liked it

The interesting, hilarious, and often infuriating story of how a Chinese woman married to a Jewish man decides to raise her children in the Chinese manner. Yikes! Obviously, my minimal parenting skills would have made her swoon. While I was concerned about my children being happy and engaged (as are many Western parents, to the author's disgust), Chua,s two daughters were not allowed to go to sleepovers, have playdates, be in a school play, be involved in an organized sport, or play an instrumen ...more

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Sep 08, 2011 Mary rated it did not like it

Shelves: philosophy, adolescence, non-fiction, families, memoir, weird, current-events, americana, animalia, china

I only came to read this book due to the publisher's PR storming of the media with how provocative the whole thing is. If you've read many reviews of the book, it obviously causes strong feelings in many readers - both loving and hating Chua. I'm going to go ahead and skip commenting Chua's parenting ideas, as I don't have nor want kids, and I generally don't give a shit about parenting.

If you want to know the true heart and soul of Chua's life story, it is found on page 97: "The truth is I'm no ...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Wallace rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

Type: {Impress Your Friends Read: notable; prize-winner or all around intelligent crowd conversation piece.}
Rating: {An Unputdownable: Couldn’t eat or sleep until I finished this book.}

Why You’re Reading It:
- You are curious about why Chinese children often are so successful
- You are a Chinese parent, or were raised by Chinese parents
- You have read Chua’s other works and are interested in her personal life

What I Thought:
Wow. Hmmm. Wow. Um. Hmmm.

That was going to be my review, but I figured that Type: {Impress Your Friends Read: notable; prize-winner or all around intelligent crowd conversation piece.}
Rating: {An Unputdownable: Couldn’t eat or sleep until I finished this book.}

Why You’re Reading It:
- You are curious about why Chinese children often are so successful
- You are a Chinese parent, or were raised by Chinese parents
- You have read Chua’s other works and are interested in her personal life

What I Thought:
Wow. Hmmm. Wow. Um. Hmmm.

That was going to be my review, but I figured that wouldn’t fly, so I’ll expand. Amy Chua is a Chinese mother. She and her Jewish husband agreed to raise their two daughters the Chinese way not the western way. Chua believes that children who are raised the Chinese way turn out leaps and bounds more successful, respectful, and accomplished than their western counterparts. What is the Chinese way of parenting? According to Chua it means not being able to do most of the things one associates with childhood (sleepovers, playdates, school plays, etc.) and being forced to do the things that children most likely wouldn’t do on their own (practicing one’s instrument for 3 hours a day, getting straight A’s, running home from school to do one’s homework). How might a parent get their children to do the rigorous things described in the last sentence? Chinese parenting. Chua was not bashful about admitting that she refused to accept birthday cards from her children when she thought they were poor quality, that she threatened to burn all of their stuffed animals if they did not perform a piano piece perfectly, and that she made her eldest daughter rewrite her heartfelt eulogy to her beloved grandmother over and over until it was perfect. She also isn’t afraid to admit that she isn’t sure how her daughters will recall her when they are grown women; if they will remember her as a tyrant or as a loving mother who wanted the best for her (my guess is that it will depend on the daughter — the two are represented as being quite different). She admits that “when Chinese parenting succeeds, there’s nothing like it. But it doesn’t always succeed”(212). And she claims that she’s “pretty sure…that everything (she does) is unequivocally 100% for (her) daughters”(148).While there is no doubt that her daughters are exceptional in many ways, they have reacted in incredibly different ways to her style of parenting. Sophia, the oldest, seems to thrive (though not knowing her it is hard to tell if it is because of the motivation or pure fear), while Lulu, the youngest, almost had a breakdown because of her mother.

Regardless of what you think of Chua’s parenting approach, you will no doubt find the book engaging and interesting. Though the ending is odd — one gets the feeling that Chua had a difficult time wrapping up her topic, so she basically just didn’t — the rest of the book reads like a novel. At a mere 229 narrowly cut pages, one can finish this book in a weekend, and most likely will. ...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Gina rated it liked it

I spent the majority of the time reading this book with my eyes bugging out of my head, so I almost want to give an extra bonus point/star for being so extreme/ridiculous in so many ways to the author. I am definitely not a "Tiger Mom". I think one can have high expectations for their children without insulting them or putting them through a rigorous boot-camp like childhood, but then again what would I know, I'm only a Westerner. ...more

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Feb 01, 2011 Shareef rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Excellent book. Don't let the WSJ hype fool you ... This is a book about being bullish about a certain way of parenting and adapting to the best needs of your children. ...more

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Apr 18, 2011 Karen rated it did not like it

The book does not deserve the kind of attention it got.

It just doesn't.

It is not even that controversial, and honestly for someone so brutally honest she was trying too hard to be politically correct while at the same time preaching her beliefs to your face. I don't like the style of her writing, it might be easy to read, but it feels highly manipulative. It was funny at parts, but it was nothing special. ...more

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