Fifth Chinese Daughter

Rating:
Summary: Jade Snow Wong's Fifth Chinese Daughter
Review: "You must have confidence that I shall remain true to the spirit of your teachings. I shall bring back to you the knowledge of whatever I learn." Fifth Chinese Daughter is an inspiring autobiography that traces the life of Jade Snow Wong from childhood to adulthood in San Francisco's Chinatown. In her book, Jade Snow describes the numerous hardships and rewards that shaped her life. Through her vivid descriptions, the reader is immersed in the Asian culture of early twentieth-century America. Looking through Jade Snow's eyes, the reader is able to experience the conflicting cultural experiences of the middle daughter of a large family of Chinese immigrants.
Conforming to Chinese tradition, Jade Snow felt that her worth as an individual was dictated by her family. Although Jade Snow's father took pride in educating his daughters in both Chinese and American customs, he valued the future potential of his sons over that of his daughters. Jade Snow's childhood is tainted by unjust punishment and suppressed emotion. Such experiences led her to pursue independence and acknowledgment in a country that offered numerous opportunities for well-educated young woman. However, from her difficult childhood, Jade Snow learned discipline and respect, qualities that allowed her to succeed and gain respect from her family. It is fascinating to witness her transformation from a submissive child to a woman of integrity and perseverance.
As Jade Snow tirelessly worked her way through college, she came to understand the injustices of Chinese tradition. Ironically, at this time, she also developed a greater appreciation for her Chinese heritage and through it discovered her life's passions. Despite the heavy skepticism and criticism of her family, Jade Snow pursued her dreams with optimistic determination, suffering many hardships along the way. In each of her life's stories she proves to us that great rewards come from hard work and unfailing belief in one's self. If you ever feel hopeless or just want to be inspired, Jade Snow's story will lift you out of your darkness.

Rating:
Summary: Superficial, poorly-written and patronizing
Review: I usually don't write negative reviews, but I really was surprised by all the glowing reviews here. I truly think this is a terrible book and here is why.

1). The characters are only skin deep. We never really get to know them beyond their attitudes toward Jade Snow. And Jade Snow herself is very opaque as well, we don't get to know more of her except that she is filial, hard-working and eager to please people. The insides of these characters are not alive and they resemble dull automatons carrying out the actions of a pre-determined script.

2). The prose is very flat, so the end result reads like a very long summary of the plot rather than the book itself. The author crammed in many minutae of her life into the writing, with a emphasis on the details of food preparation. but most of the details are not evocative and fails to enrich the world she is trying to portray.

3). A streak of very patronizing attitude to Asians Americans run through out the book. It culminate with a cringe-inducing climax of self-hate at the very end of the last chapter, in a scene meant to be the big emotional pay-off for the whole book. Jade Snow's father tearfully confess that he had done wrong by raising her under the backward Chinese culture, and that he should have raised her in the superior, freedom-loving Christian way.

Rating:
Summary: Superficial, poorly-written and patronizing
Review: I usually don't write negative reviews, but I really was surprised by all the glowing reviews here. I truly think this is a terrible book and here is why.

1). The characters are only skin deep. We never really get to know them beyond their attitudes toward Jade Snow. And Jade Snow herself is very opaque as well, we don't get to know more of her except that she is filial, hard-working and eager to please people. The insides of these characters are not alive and they resemble dull automatons carrying out the actions of a pre-determined script.

2). The prose is very flat, so the end result reads like a very long summary of the plot rather than the book itself. The author crammed in many minutae of her life into the writing, with a emphasis on the details of food preparation. but most of the details are not evocative and fails to enrich the world she is trying to portray.

3). A streak of very patronizing attitude to Asians Americans run through out the book. It culminate with a cringe-inducing climax of self-hate at the very end of the last chapter, in a scene meant to be the big emotional pay-off for the whole book. Jade Snow's father tearfully confess that he had done wrong by raising her under the backward Chinese culture, and that he should have raised her in the superior, freedom-loving Christian way.

Rating:
Summary: San Franciscan Chinese Gal
Review: The book 'Fifth Chinese Daughter" was a wonderful book. I recomend it to everyone out there who has not read it. Jade Snow tells about her life story in vivid details throughout the book. One of my top 10!

Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Story
Review: The Fifth Chinese Daughter is an excellently written noval about a Chinese American girl growing up in San Fransiscos Chinatown. When this book arrived in the mail the last thing I wanted to do was read it when I could play my X-box and watch T.V. After a week I finaly got around to reading a chapter and was surprised to find myself reading it all day. Unfortanently I didn't pick it up again untill I was in Sedona with my Dad. There I read all but forteen pages. It wasn't a for another week untill I finished.
This story was expertly written and fun to read. Dispite my early protests I enjoyed hearing about a young oriantle girl change from a well disaplined chinese daughter growing up in Chinatown to an artist who finally achived the recognition from her family she had longed for since childhhod. It gave a sense of evolution, struggle, and triumph, as the book progresses. It explanes a childs need for aceptece, respect, and material riches as Jade Snow Wong progresses through school, odd jobs, collage, and adulthood.
This book is obviosly a book I would recomend to others because it always has the main charecter striving to survive in a sterotypical world. It shows Jade Snow's personality being that the harder it got the the harder she would try. This is shown many times in the book, like when she went to the employment agentsy and found jobs in houseworking. Also when she got into Mills Collage, that she wanted more then just to clean houses and end up as a house wife like she had been raised and become somthing more.
Unlike other novals i've read this summer this one sticks out by it's great writing style and many twists. An example of witch is when she gets a job at a shipyard and works for what seems might be the whole war when she gets only one job option, to be a secretary. She turns it down when she gets an idea to shape pottery and then to sell it. Her acomplishments as an artist finaly drive her family to recognize her. The book has many unexpected twists and turn and was a joy to read.

Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Noval
Review: The Fifth Chinese Daughter is an excellently written novel about a Chinese American girl growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown. When this book arrived in the mail the last thing I wanted to do was read it when I could play my X-box and watch T.V. After a week I finally got around to reading a chapter and was surprised to find myself reading it all day. Unfortunately I didn't pick it up again until I was in Sedona with my Dad. There I read all but fourteen pages. It wasn't for another week until I finished.
This story was expertly written and fun to read. Despite my early protests I enjoyed hearing about a young oriental girl change from a well-disciplined Chinese daughter growing up in Chinatown to an artist who finally achieved the recognition from her family she had longed for since childhood. It gave a sense of evolution, struggle, and triumph, as the book progresses. It explains a child's need for acceptance, respect, and material riches as Jade Snow Wong progresses through school, odd jobs, collage, and adulthood.
This book is obviously a book I would recommend to others because it always has the main character striving to survive in a stereotypical world. It shows Jade Snow's personality being that the harder it got the harder she would try. This is shown many times in the book, like when she went to the employment agents and found jobs in house working. Also when she got into Mills Collage, that she wanted more then just to clean houses and end up as a house wife like she had been raised and become something more.
Unlike other novels I've read this summer this one sticks out by its great writing style and many twists. An example of witch is when she gets a job at a shipyard and works for what seems might be the whole war when she gets only one job option, to be a secretary. She turns it down when she gets an idea to shape pottery and then to sell it. Her accomplishments as an artist finally drive her family to recognize her. The book has many unexpected twists and turn and was a joy to read.