THE VALLEY OF AMAZEMENT

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL #4

        THE VALLEY OF AMAZEMENTBY: AMY TAN


AUTHOR

Amy Tan is a Chinese-American novelist who wrote the New York Times-bestselling novel The Joy Luck Club.

Synopsis

Amy Tan was born on February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California. In 1985, she wrote the story "Rules of the Game," which was the foundation for her first novel The Joy Luck Club. The book explored the relationship between Chinese women and their Chinese-American daughters. It received the Los Angeles Times Book Award and was translated into 25 languages. Tan lives in San Francisco and New York.

Profile

Writer. Born February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California. Tan grew up in Northern California, but when her father and older brother both died from brain tumors in 1966, she moved with her mother and younger brother to Europe, where she attended high school in Montreux, Switzerland. She returned to the United States for college, attending Linfield College in Oregon, San Jose City College, San Jose State University, the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of California at Berkeley.

After college, Tan worked as a language development consultant and as a corporate freelance writer. In 1985, she wrote the story "Rules of the Game" for a writing workshop, which formed the early foundation for her first novelThe Joy Luck Club. Published in 1989, the book explored the relationship between Chinese women and their Chinese-American daughters, and became the longest-running New York Times bestseller for that year. The Joy Luck Club received numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award. It has been translated into 25 languages, including Chinese, and was made into a major motion picture for which Tan co-wrote the screenplay.

Her other two books, The Kitchen God's Wife (1991) and The Hundred Secret Senses (1995), have also appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Her latest novel, The Bonesetter's Daughter, was published in 2001. Tan has also written two children's books: The Moon Lady (1992) and The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), the latter of which was adapted to television for PBS.

Amy Tan has been married to her husband, Lou DeMattei, for over twenty years. They live in San Francisco and New York.

SUMMARY

In the first part of the story, Violet tells the story of growing up in Hidden Jade Path, a courtesan house in Shanghai that is run by her mother, an American woman named Lulu Minturn. Violet grows up unaware of her father and unsure of her mother’s feelings for her.

When the Qing Dynasty falls in 1912, mother and daughter are separated and the young girl is sold to a rivaling courtesan house, where she is educated by an older girl, Magic Gourd, formerly of her mother's house. The two form a lifelong relationship through Violet’s marriages to former clients. Her first marriage results in a child, Flora, who is taken from Violet as a result of an unlawful marriage.

The second part of the story is told by the mother, who thinks the daughter is dead. She recalls her upbringing by remote parents in the US, her runaway with an unknown Chinese painter, and her struggle to be accepted as the mother of their two children.

Violet is eventually reunited with her mother, and eventually also her daughter Flora.

REFLECTION

              In this literary piece. I realize that we need to accept all things in our life no matter what it was. Because It is given my the lord. We are special and I also learned that we don't need to judge the person if wedid'nt know his/her personality. And also I realize that the all experiences when we're child it can affect in our present life. So our parents is also the way to have a good future. We need to know ouselves deeply. To choose what are the right ways and to have a happy life.