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Title: The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan ISBN: 0-8041-1109-X Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: 30 October, 1996 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.36 (163 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Very Good
Comment: I read this book a few years ago now. I actually picked it up as a "Rock Bottom Remainder" at the local supermarket. I had already read Joy Luck Club. Once I started reading, I enjoyed The Hundred Secret Senses, and had such a difficult time putting it down, that I returned to the supermarket the next day to buy the remaining five copies, which I gave to friends. I normally read Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Steinbeck, etc. (aka Dead White Men). So, in an effort to expose myself to both contemporary fiction and fiction from a woman's voice, I first read Joy Luck Club. I am currently reading The Bonesetter's Daughter. I am just about halfway through and enjoying it very much. I am especially impressed with Tan's ability to take me from the Present Tense to Flashbacks. I often don't even realize that I've read several pages of flashback until she brings me smoothly back to the present. Reading Tan's books, for me, is a free trip through space & time, seeing other cultures, other times. As I said, I read this book a long time ago, so I cannot relate any specifics with authority.
Rating: 2
Summary: Disappointing....
Comment: Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club" and "The Kitchen God's Wife" are two wonderful, wonderful novels -- I stayed up late into the night reading both of them, and crying plenty.
"Senses" is nothing like those two. As I said in my title, it's disappointing.
I'm currently half-way through Tan's fourth novel, "The Bonesetter's Daughter." Much better than "Senses," but still not as sublime as those first two books by Tan.
Rating: 4
Summary: Beyond the Five Sense
Comment: The world is full of many superstitions. Some people believe that breaking a mirror leads to seven years of bad luck. If a black cat crosses your path, then you'll have bad luck. Putting a hat on the bed can bring bad luck. And oh yea, standing chopsticks in a rice bowl is a sign of death. Of course, I don't believe any of these things, as they have no sound basis for belief. Yet, many people hold these things to be true, for whatever reason. One of the most widespread beliefs that people have is that the spirits of the dead survive in a spirit world. Not only do they reside there, but they can also take trips to our world, the world of the living. Different lands have different concepts of this idea. Isn't it odd though, that only some people get to see these ghosts?
Amy Tan's book, The Hundred Secret Senses, is a tale about the living, the dead, and the connections they share. The main character is a woman named Olivia. When she is nearly four years old, her life takes a turn; she loses one family member, but learns that she has another that lives across the world. Well, sort of. She learns that her father had a daughter before he married her mother, and that she lives in China. Two years later, her half-sister, Kwan, arrives in America and begins to live with her. Olivia doesn't quite like that idea. Why? "I would have preferred a new turtle or even a doll, not someone who would compete for my mother's already divided attention and force me to share the meager souvenirs of her love," she says. Yet, she eventually realizes that her fear was unnecessary, as she and Kwan are the ones that become close, almost like mother and daughter. They become so intimate that Kwan decides to tell Olivia a secret: she can see dead people, because she has "yin eyes."
As the story develops, it becomes evident that the relationships between Olivia and Kwan and Kwan and her ghost friends from the World of Yin are central to the story. The narrative is actually split; Olivia narrates the primary portion, talking about her problems, be they with her mother, her half-sister, or her husband. When her sister first came to live with them, Olivia didn't like her, because she was the source of much humiliation. "Kwan asked so many dumb questions...She'd say: 'What M&M?' 'What ching gum?'" In addition to this, Kwan constantly talks on into the night about the dead people she sees, of whom Olivia doesn't believe in. She grows to have feelings of resentment toward Kwan. However, she too does Kwan harm, but Kwan seems to always be merciful, and never takes count of the injury. Whatever her problem, Olivia usually ends up going to Kwan (be it intentionally or not), who in turn ends up telling her a story. This leads into the parts where Kwan becomes the narrator. She takes us into the year 1864, telling the story of a girl who later took on the name Nunumu after an accident. Kwan's claim on how she knows this girl is quite interesting, as they were as close as can be. The accounts that she gives us are very adventurous, interesting, and (unlike her broken English) grammatically sound. This may be because she actually tells these stories in Chinese, but Olivia translates them for us.
I think that Amy Tan did an excellent job writing this story. The main characters are very well developed. Each of their personalities is shown vividly and their motives in acting the way they do are clear. There are some characters that I would have liked to know more about, like Olivia's brothers and their families, who all but fade out of the picture by the end. Tan uses a very extensive vocabulary, as I found myself taking note of unfamiliar words almost constantly. I'm sure that after reading this story, many readers will have learned a few Chinese words as well. She also used some specific four-letter words a few times, which I thought were unnecessary, because the depth of the characters' emotions could have been displayed without them. If I could sum up the entire story in four words it would be easy: guilt, forgiveness, loyalty, and ghosts. Don't worry; this is not a horror book. It is a book that people with different types of taste will like, largely due to its two narrative format. I personally like the misadventures of Nunumu much more than the mundane dealings of Olivia. Some people may feel otherwise. Yet, near the end it is evident that one part cannot be appreciated without the other, for they both begin to relate to one another.
Where do these women's stories cross paths? Will Olivia be loyal to Kwan, as she has been nothing but loyal to her? What are "the hundred secret senses"? And will Olivia ever begin to accept Kwan's Chinese superstitions? Will she ever get to see the ghosts for herself? Or, are these "yin people" even real? Why can only Kwan see yin people? For the answers to these questions, read The Hundred Secret Senses.
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Title: Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan ISBN: 080410753X Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: 22 April, 1992 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan ISBN: 0804114986 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 29 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan ISBN: 0804106304 Publisher: Prentice Hall (K-12) Pub. Date: 30 April, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings by Amy Tan ISBN: 0399150749 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 27 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Moon Lady, The by Gretchen Schields, Amy Tan ISBN: 0689806167 Publisher: Aladdin Library Pub. Date: 01 November, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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