Generations Flowing from the Mouth of the Mountain

These are the things I know are true...

Amy Tan has had my undivided attention since I first picked up a copy of The Joy Luck Club years ago. She does not capture her readers' hearts and minds with building suspense, senseless murders, cops and robbers or any of the other standard "best seller" formulas. Instead, she chooses to expose a piece of her heart and traditions with every book, drawing you into her stories by sincere writing that sings from the page. That her stories center around women of individual strength only adds to their appeal.

As is usual in Tan's work, the story centers around both the bringing of understanding between generations and the relationship of mother to daughter in Chinese and Asian-American culture. Women of all nationalities, races and creeds can empathize with Tan's characters as they struggle to overcome differences in age, beliefs, cultures and traditions. The mother-daughter relationship is hard enough without the issues that arise in Tan's novels when "old" Chinese traditions, superstitions and teachings come face to face with "new" American traditions, values and teachings in the form of an unruly younger generation.

This novel, like Tan's previous work, does not fail to be intimately personal in it's grief and joy. Even while being transported into the vivid world of China at the turn of the century through the memoirs of character LuLing Young, mother of ghostwriter Ruth Young, we are firmly rooted through the constant sense that we are privy to someone's intimate family secrets. Perhaps that is one of the things that make this novel a success - the sense of voyeurism you have while reading the story behind the lives of these women.

LuLing, getting on in years, has begun to write the story of her life as she remembers it. At first both Ruth and the reader believe the story is for Ruth's benefit, but it soon becomes apparent that in her growing senility she is writing the story of her life down as much for herself as anyone else. The tragedies that befell her from an early age in China rule her still, and she believes that only by remembering the name of her mother can she be at peace.

LuLing's Chinese superstitions regarding ghosts are ironic when you realize that her daughter is a ghostwriter for other authors. Throughout the novel LuLing continues to attempt to exorcise her own ghosts by catching their words and wishes, while Ruth tries to exorcise the ghosts of others' words. Eventually Ruth must face her own superstitions and beliefs in order to come to terms with her mother's declining health.

The beauty in Tan's work lies in her portrayal of each character as an individual and as a part of the other characters' whole. In The Bonesetter's Daughter we are treated to two stories simultaneously, one set in the present through Ruth, the other set in the past through LuLing. The other characters in the novel are whole, well-rounded and interesting, but they mainly serve as background or white noise against the rich tapestry of the lives of these two women.

Ruth

Ruth is a ghostwriter with a complicated sense of her relationship with her mother. In general, her memories are of a sharp-tongued woman who was ever critical of Ruth as a child, never satisfied with anything less than perfection. We are allowed glimpses of the mythic mother of Ruth's memories through brief flashbacks showing instances of her harrangues, her perfectionism, her vast array of ancient superstitions (mainly an obsession with ghosts, especially the ghost of Precious Auntie), her desire to move up the social ladder to a better station in life, her well developed sense of competition. As Ruth develops more compassion and depth as a person, and as she reads her mothers memoirs and deals with her own life issues, the picture she paints of her mother changes ever gradually. We are slowly allowed to see Ruth's other memories of her mother: the artist who did such beautiful calligraphy, the loving mom, the friend. Tan does a beautiful job showcasing Ruth's personal growth even as she shows LuLing's decline.

LuLing

Convinced her salvation in this time of declining memory lies in finding the name of her mother, LuLing writes the book of her life in hope that it will revive a memory long since past. Her struggle with dementia, portrayed side by side with her revelations about her origins, create a poignant picture of the decline of an incredibly strong woman constantly faced with and overcoming adversity. A child of misfortune in China, she is left to be raised by an aunt as if she were her aunt's own daughter. When her aunt has a daughter of her own, LuLing becomes the forgotten child, comforted only by her Precious Auntie, and even that is not to last. LuLing's tale is what drives this novel in compelling, near-voyeuristic fashion. As time passes and she finds love and companionship via the translator hired by her daughter, plus a renewed relationship with Ruth, we can see her character grow in spite of her declining health.

Ruth and LuLing are the leaders of a rich and varied cast of characters in Tan's novel. The view into the lives of this fractured family is compelling. I highly recommend this book to those who appreciate the pageantry of life in all its forms, both misshapen and beautiful. Tan's prose will sweep you away into the world of the Youngs, and you won't regret the voyage.