Margitte's Reviews > The Hundred Secret Senses

Pablo Picasso also had his periods: African, Blue, Cubism, Modern, Rose and Analytic cubism.
And so have I. Have periods: Russian, Jewish, American, Middle-East, African, you name it.

One of my favorites is Amy Tan. Amy Tan-Period. This one is lasting a few years now and most of her books have a central theme: mothers and daughters. Amy Tan did not have a good relationship with her mother, or grandmother, for that matter. It could have been different if she had children of her own to really understood how mothers' minds worked( and find some closure for herself). So with this opinion in mind, I indulge in her books. And I always find what I am expecting: rich, informative, compassionate tales on Chinese culture, the family relationships, the cultural modus operandi, and the endearing characters filling up the spaces in the stories. Of course, there are always subtle cat-scratching and kitty yowling like alley cats on garbage night, raging throughout her tale, ripping any notion of womanly bonding apart. The women seldom love or even like each other, but there is always something strong keeping them connected. It becomes the mainstay of all her books.

Five-year-old American-born, Olivia Lee suddenly meets her Chinese half sister, K wan Li, from the Chanmian village in the Thistle mountains, China. She brings her dreams, ghosts, myths and messages with her, bombarding Olivia in her sleep. A love-hate relationship develops over a period of thirty years, with K wan, who calls a spade a spade in any situation, including Olivia's separation from her husband, Simon. Kwan becomes larger than life, interfering in everything Olivia does. Love and bonding is mainly one-sided with Olivia always trying to keep a physical, as well as emotional distance between herself and K wan. She becomes used to K wan not minding her own business, keeping on top of practically every move Olivia makes.

However, K wan sees what Olivia doesn't and she's patient with her little sister. During a visit to China, K wan opens up about her personal feelings for the first time (feelings that Olivia never cared much about). (view spoiler)[ " Before I left for America, I raised three birds, not just one, so I could make three wishes at the top of the peak (of the mountain where their village is located). I told myself, If these three wishes come true, my life is complete, I can die happy. My first wish: to have a sister I could love with all my heart, only that, and I would ask nothing more from her. My second wish: to return to China with my sister. My third wish' Kwan's voice now quavers - 'for Big Ma to see this and say she was sorry she sent me away.'

This is the first time Kwan's ever shown me how deeply she can resent someone who's treated her wrong. 'I opened the cage,' she continues, 'and let my three birds go free. 'She flings out her hand in demonstration. 'But one of them beat its wings uselessly, drifting in half-circles, before it fell like a stone all the way to the bottom. Now you see, two of my wishes have already happened. I have you, and together we are in China. Last night I realized my third wish would never come true. Big Ma will never tell me she is sorry.'

She holds up the cage with the owl. 'But now I have a beautiful cat-eagle that can carry with him my new wish. When he flies away, all my sadness will go with him. Then both of us will be free.' (hide spoiler)]

The story is told with subtle wit, humor, endearment, and compassion, particularly the relationship between the two bubbly, sprightly sisters and their shared history of thousands of years. Two family secret are included. The prose, always, and alone, inspires me to stick to Amy Tan's books. The stories are always both heart wrenching and gripping. Both lugubriousness and buoyant. I have never read a book of Amy Tan in which I did not feel like family in the end.

In this book, love is a central theme and presented in prose of pride. (view spoiler)[ " A suitable Hakka bride from our mountains had thick calluses on her feet and a fine, high-boned face. There were other Hakka families living near the big cities of Yongan, in the mountains, and Jintian, by the river. And the mothers from poorer families liked to match their sons to hardworking pretty girls from Thistle Mountain. During the marriage-matching festivals, these boys would climb up to our high villages and our girls would sing the old mountain songs that we had brought from the north a thousand years before. A boy had to sing back to the girl he wanted to marry, finding words to match his song. If his voice was soft, or his words were clumsy, too bad, no marriage. That's why Hakka people are not only fiercely strong, they have good voices, and clever minds for winning whatever they want."

We had a saying. When you married a Thistle mountain girl, you get three oxen for a wife: one that breeds, one that plows, one to carry your old mother around. That's how tough a Hakka girl was. She never complained, even if a rock tumbled down the side of the mountain and smashed out her eye." (hide spoiler)]

Love, not romance, snakes through the narrative from beginning to end. "Too much happiness always overflows into tears of sorrow". But distant, emotionally-challenged Olivia will finally understand her own history, with a few unexpected surprises in the works, the role of her sister, and the real meaning of hope and love, when she gets to know the Chinese connection in her own life and her bond with some of the characters in K wan Li's dreams and visions.

My Amy Tan-period comes to an end with this book. It is almost as though a blueprint was used for all of them and ensured predictability in the pattern it followed. I did find this book a faster read, with lighter, and more humorous moments than the others.

Similarities:
The main character is the same than in the other books, with similar issues;
The mothers are as bad as all the rest of the mothers in her books, with antagonism ruling the relationship from the daughter's side;
There is always a broken relationship in America that needs to be patched up, etc.
So, it gets a bit déjà vue.

The suspense is created in the reincarnation and paranormal aspects of it. She never loses control over the characters. It is still an enjoyable, entertaining read and certainly worth the time to venture of into the mystical world of Chinese culture, folklore and village life. I just love that aspect of her books. This book did not disappoint. However, I had enough of ghosts and reincarnation for a while, though, and in any book for that matter. But yes, I enjoyed it.