Day One Hundred and Fourteen

7/25

The Book: The Bonesetter’s Daughter

ISBN: 0-8041-1498-6

Suggested By: Sissy Vaughn

Where: Home

When: 2-3P

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 296-403 (107)

The Lead In: This book has been a really nice read. Really sparked my interest in Chinese culture and the language. Seriously considering a trip to the country. The country just sounds so fascinating.

The 411 on the 55: Well, the Japanese decide to kill all Communist sympathizers and LuLing’s husband is one. Pow, he’s dead. She’s heartbroken but decides to not kill herself and help in the school. But things begin getting worse and finally they decide to pack it in and move all the kids into the city.

In the city, an opportunity is given to the sisters, LuLing and her sister, to go to the U.S. with one of the missionary teachers. LuLing pushes her sister to go, and she does, hoping to send for her when she is settled. But things stretch further and further out, and Luling begins to lose hope.

In the present again, Ruth puts her mother in a nursing home and things begin to even out. Art turns into a not horrible guy and LuLing gets settled in her new digs. A scholar from China starts hitting on the old lady and they have old people romance (you know, no sex, but lots of googoo eyes). Turns out her family name, that she wanted desperately to remember was Gu. Eh, in the book, it is really pretty because it has a multitude of meanings.

The 20/20: A very good book. I will definitely recommend it to those that are looking for a “heart-warming book.” Too often, snobs like me look down on a book that has that effect, but, if done well, why can’t a book of that type be good? This one certainly was.

Line of the Day: “And then I realized what the first word must have been: ma, the sound of a baby smacking its lips in search of her mother’s breast.” pg 299

Fact on the Fiction: “Some readers will not agree with Tan's decision to tie up all the loose ends of the novel's plot as neatly as if Glinda the Good had waved her wand over everybody's problems. Fortunately, this does not mar the real ending, for which Tan's superb storytelling has amply prepared us.” Better said than I ever could. NY Times Book Review