In ij, our secondary 4 literature book was 'joy luck club' .I don't know if my dislike for the book stemmed from adolescent subconscious rebellio because it was a text I had to study n be graded in; or if I genuinely did not favour her style of writing or the plot.

At bookstores, I veered away from her books; reading amy tan's books was not even a possibility on my list. Then one day, I picked up Ha Jin and was amazed by his literary style, which was like reading poetry, texts full of beautiful flows and powerful descriptions.
The only thing that disappointed me was the lack of a gripping plot, at least to me.

But I begun to find a new found respect and interest for chinese american literature, and I decided to give amy tan another go with 'the kitchen god's wife' and most recently ' a hundred secret senses'

And now, many years on, I realise why I was so sceptical against amy tan. It was my severe lack of sophistication and not knowing how to appreciate ! My oh my, I was so ashamed at my dismissive brush off of her books !

In the latter title, was a story so.. Wise.
It spoke volumes of deaths n living, reincarnations, debts of the past, present n future incurred and repayed. It sang of sisterhood, of bonds that transcends generations. in a novel woven through ancient china n modern america, written in words so full of truth an asian can immediately joyously identify. The characters, some I like more than others, were colourfully described, almost as though they r my friends. And ( spoiler alert!) when one of them went missing, I felt a pang and a frantic insane urge to write to amy tan to rewrite that part of the story because I didn't know what to do with the worry I felt.

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Still calming down from the rush brought about by such a great book. You know, chick lits are fun, they take ur mind off things. Crime books make up for really creative plots, but fiction .. As in general fiction like these.
man, I'm so glad these people have shared their talents with the world. And every once in a while, I come across such a fantastic tale I know it'll be on my bookshelf always.