by Amy Tan
Mary Verbick's copy, hardcover, 358 pages
genre: relationships, mysticism, Chinese culture
Mary lent this to me quite a while ago, after we had talked at school book club about how depressing so many Chinese stories are. This was when we talked about Shanghai Girls. Though Tan's book is more upbeat, it still made me feel sad. Olivia's frustrations with her mother, Kwan, and Simon were all portrayed very realistically. The writing is beautiful and I found myself drawn in, especially by Kwan's stories of her previous life as Miss Moo. The ending felt unresolved, but hopeful. Kwan was an amazing character, albeit bizarre. I'm glad I read it.
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Inside the dust cover of "The Hundred Secret Senses" is written: "...this is a tale of American pragmatism shaken, and soothed, by Chinese ghosts. What proof of love do we seek between mother and daughter, among sisters, lovers, and friends?... Can love go beyond 'Until death do us part'?"
I love the way Amy Tan delivers her characters. They have so much color, strength and frailty. Rather than unresolved, I thought the final events in the book seemed true to the messiness of life and relationships.
On the last page of this book, Olivia says, "I think Kwan intended to show me the world is not a place but the vastness of the soul. And the soul is nothing more than love, limitless, endless, all that moves us toward knowing what is true. I once thought love was supposed to be nothing but bliss. I now know it is also worry and grief, hope and trust....If people we love die, then they are lost only to our ordinary senses. If we remember, we can find them anytime with our hundred secret senses....And we dance, joy spilling from sorrow." A bittersweet and beautiful ending!
Mary Verbick
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