CBBC Week Three: The Joy Luck Club, Part III

Past discussions:
Week One, Part I
Week Two, Part II

Welcome to Week Three of Cool Bloggers Book Club (CBBC) for The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. This week we'll be discussion Part III. 

******************

What happened in these chapters?

We begin with another parable in which a mother visits her daughter's new home, but doesn't like that there is a mirror at the foot of the bed because happiness will deflect away. The mother has a second mirror and the mirrors now reflect at each other bringing "peach-blossom luck" and both women see the daughter's future child in the mirror.

Lena and her husband Harold split all of their expenses equally. Harold started his own business with Lena's support, but Harold does not promote her because he doesn't want to look like he's favoring his wife. When Ying-ying comes to visit, she notes the list of expenses that Lena and Harold keep on their fridge and Ying-ying says Lena should not pay for the ice cream since Lena will never eat it. Ying-ying knocks over a vase that was on a wobbly table Harold had made in his student days.

Waverly is meeting Lindo for lunch and she remembers how after their fight in the street, Lindo no longer polished Waverly's trophies or cut out the notices in the papers about her victories. Waverly's confidence ebbs and she gives up chess. Waverly's first marriage ends in divorce and now she's going to marry a man named Rich, who she thinks her mother hates.  It turns out this is a misunderstanding and there is some consideration of Waverly postponing her wedding so they can do their honeymoon in China. Maybe Lindo will go with them?

Rose finds divorce papers and a ten thousand dollar check in the mail from Ted. She ignores the papers for weeks until Ted calls to find out what's going on. He tells Rose that he wants the house because he now plans to marry someone else. Rose laughs and tells him to come to the house to pick up his papers. When he arrives, Rose gives him the papers still unsigned and announces that she will not be leaving the house. She refuses to allow him to uproot her and throw her away.

A few months before her death, Suyuan cooked a crab dinner for ten people to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Suyuan and June went to Chinatown to buy crabs. While the two women were choosing crabs, the leg of one of the crabs became detached, and the grocer demanded that Suyuan pay for the creature. Suyuan bought eleven instead of ten, stating that the damaged crab would be extra. The people at the party all pick the best crabs until there are only two left - Jing-mei tried to take the defective crab, but Suyuan insisted she take the better one. Suyuan then sniffed her crab, and took it into the kitchen to throw it away.

Waverly is terrible to June telling her she's going to get AIDS from her gay hairstylist and that work she did for Waverly's company is not good enough to use. Suyuan gave June a jade pendant, telling her that it was her “life’s importance.” She advised June not to listen to Waverly, whose words always “move sideways” like a crab, and explained that June could and should move in a different direction. 

******************

Diane's used copy of the book that she snagged at a library sale for $1!

Last week's homework:

Was anyone able to strike up a conversation with an immigrant about cultural relationships in their family? What did you learn?

******************

Lines of note:

I had been talking to too many people, my friends, everybody it seems, except Ted. To each person I told a different story. Yet each version was true, I was certain of it, at least the moment that I told it. ("Without Wood")

I guess this is one justification for lying.

My mother once told me why I was so confused all the time. She said I was without wood. Born without wood so that I listened to too many people. ("Without Wood")

I know someone like this. She always calls lots of people to find out their opinions on things before making up her own mind. It's kind of crazy that she doesn't have opinions on her own life. 

Over the years, I learned to choose from the best opinions. Chinese people had Chinese opinions. American people had American opinions. And in almost every case, the American version was much better. 

It was only later that I discovered there was a serious flow with the American version. There were too many choices, so it was easy to get confused and pick the wrong thing. ("Without Wood")

I've talked about it many times on this blog how dumbfounded I am by the selection of PopTarts, cereal, and coffee creamer at the store. And don't get me started on the car shopping thing.

Then, one by one, she grabbed the crabs by their back, hoisted them out of the sink and shook them dry and awake. The crabs flexed their legs in midair between sink and stove. She stacked the crabs in a multileveled steamer that sat over two burners on the stove, put a lid on top, and lit the burners. ("Best Quality")

Gross. 

******************

Things I looked up:

"A psyche-atricks will only make you hulihudu, make you see heimongmong." ("Without Wood") 

Hulihudu is a Chinese word that means confused, vague, or muddle-headed; describes a state of being lost. Heimongmong a Chinese term that translates to "dark fog," representing a state of confusion, vagueness, and a lack of clarity, often associated with a feeling of being lost (emotional fog). 

Hymn number 335 ("Without Wood") - I don't know. Seems like #335 can be a lot of different hymns based on sect and hymnal used. *shrug* 

Steuben crystal strawberry ("Without Wood") - Exactly what it sounds like!

For the low, low price of $1400 on Ruby Lane.

Color of jade having to do with quality ("Best Quality") - High-quality jade color is judged by intensity, evenness, and saturation, with the most valuable being a deep, vibrant, and consistently distributed green, known as Imperial Jade. Other factors include high translucency, which allows light to penetrate, and a pure, even texture. There are colors of jade other than green that can also be valuable. 

******************

Questions to ponder:

1) What's with the parables at the beginning of each section? Do you find them useful as framing devices?

2) Why is Tan so insistent on graphic depictions of food preparation? 

3) Why is Waverly so terrible? That's a real question. She seems like she has a good life - a child she's happy to have, a new significant other, loving parents, a good career, no money worries - and yet she's terrible to everyone in her life. Why?

4) How do you think this is going to wrap up? Is June going to meet her Chinese siblings? Is Waverly going to get knocked down a peg? Is Rose going to be able to stay in her house?

******************

Homework for you:

Pick a theme before you read the next passages - weather, color, food, animals, etc. - and note it when you find in in the book. What is the importance of that theme in context of the book?

I'm going to pick color as my theme and when it comes up, I'm going to analyze it!

******************

Upcoming CBBC schedule:

November 3: Part IV - Queen Mother of the Western Skies

November 10: Wrap up!