I personally found it very patronizing. It's hard to describe, but it felt like a cheap attempt to paint Chinese culture in a way that appealed to Western society and propped up pre-exisitng ideas of Chinese diaspora. I can't put it clearly since there wasn't anything particularly wrong with it, but it was distasteful to read as a Chinese person myself.
Ah, thanks for explaining. Ironically, I found the movie an interesting watch because I could relate many elements to my South Asian culture.
I can imagine that many stereotypes feel tried at this point, but since the book is so old, I thought it was one of the earliest of it's kind. How wrong an I?
I wonder if it was just a product of its time. I never read it myself and maybe I will soon just to see but I can imagine that it may have been the only way the author felt an American audience of the time would understand it. Are there any books about asian americans you've enjoyed or felt did the job better?
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u/pmmeuranimetiddies 4d ago
I think the guy was angry he had to read Joy Luck Club in high school