Rating: 
Summary: Easy to read, deep and not gloomy
Review: A professor in my college recommended this book, when I picked it up and saw a topic - a suicide of one of the sisters - I was taken aback, I am not into depressing, gloomy books. But I am glad I read it - it's one of the best books, after reading it the order of the chapters does not confuse you any more. I thought it was a bit made up how the author tried to mention 'bones' in several contexts just to tide it to the name of the book, and it was still puzzling why the sister did it - drugs, pressure? but the rest of it is great, simple, funny, and not pretentious. Grade : A
Rating: 
Summary: Quite a Timewarp
Review: Bone is a very effective story with dynamic characters (especially Leon). This book a good representation of Asian American Literature. What I didn't like about it was how Ng decided to present her story. Would it really have killed the author to tell the story in chronological order? This book's timeline was more confusing than Falkner's The Sound and the Fury. If you really work at it, you can eventually figure out the order of events. I didn't like was how the book concludes at a point in the near beginning of the storyline (before Ona's death). The conclusions that the main character comes to about her life had no impact on me because I knew that something devastating happens right afterwards that will inevitably alter Leila's opinion. Also, there are a few anacharisms in Ng's storyline, proving that the chopped up time frame even tripped her up a little.
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing, yet profound
Review: Bone tells the story of Leila and her two sisters, as well as that of bickering parents, Mah and Leon. Each of the daughters is trying to escape from their struggles of life on Salmon Alley in San Francisco, but each chooses a different way to do it. Leila, the oldest, tries to balance her life between family obligations and her desire to escape Chinatown and live with her boyfriend, Mason, across town. Nina, the youngest, runs to start a new life for herself in New York City, while Ona, the middle child, finds no way out but through suicide.
While from reading other reviews, it seems that many complained about the backwards timeline, but I did not find it difficult to follow. Instead I found it creative, and once you got to the end of the book, extremely appropriate. I also enjoyed the end, but for spoiler's sake, I won't tell you about it here. It really brought the book around full circle and gave the book a deeper meaning for me.
Ms. Ng is quite skilled with her usage of metaphors, but her book does not seem overly abstract or out of reach. That can't be easy to do, so I applaud her for making the book readable while still maintaining deeper levels for those willing to look for them.
Rating:
Summary: Emotionally moving novel
Review: I disagree with the criticism from other reviewers about the timeline, the one-dimensional characters, and the plot. Having just finished this book myself NG does a superb job of creating delicate, emotional characters and weaving them through a story that unfolds itself in a way that reflects the disorganized thoughts of the narrator as she attempts to explain her sisters suicide to herself. A linear novel would not have the same sense of emotional searching as what NG does in this cleverly crafted novel. This is not a novel about actions and plot, but about people, generation gaps, and emotions.
Rating:
Summary: Life in Death in Chinatown in its Most Poignant Recantation
Review: Ng's portrayal of a death in the family hits really close to home. The story moved me so much to the point that I read it three times in order to absorb all the emotions and feeling that it drummed up inside of me. The characters live and breathe in San Francisco's Chinatown all as real as you and me. This is a masterpiece of writing, which clings to your heart and never lets go. As an Asian American writer myself, the challenge of capturing such angst and pain to pen is not an easy task. I look forward to reading upcoming pieces from Ms Ng.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written tale of tragedy
Review: Poststructuralist claptrap notwithstanding, the structure of this book is perfect for its intended purpose; to explore the psychology of a dramatic and tragic event from the perspective of several of its participants. Told quickly about the central event, each successive pass brings you closer, allows you to feel the depth and inevitability and to experience both its attraction and revulsion until you arrive at the brilliant depiction of the tunnel vision of coping and performing ordinary tasks under extreme stress. I found this book hard to read precisely because it is well written, the characters vividly drawn and the events all too plausible. And in the end you understand; all of the pieces fall into place, but to what purpose? Is the cost of your enrichment really worth it, or is your attempt to derive meaning from pain convincing in the end?
This book is in the same class as "The Bonesetter's Daughter" in terms of a fine portrayal of individuals and cultures.
Rating: 
Summary: Bone
Review: There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.
-Carl Jung
The story of Bone written by Fae Myenne Ng is a dramatic story that takes place in Chinatown of San Francisco. It is based on the lives of a Chinese American family that has lost the life of a family member. The family is frowned upon because Mah the mother of Ona, Leia, and Nina had 3 daughters. To have a female child is to have bad luck, because they are useless, they show no bravery, they serve no purpose but to have children and they disrespect the families' name. The book touches upon all different aspects of Leia's life in no chronological order, she relives each story through incisive memoirs. You learn that Mah had an affair, with a man and he left her when he knew she was having a daughter. Then she met Leon; Leon worked in the shipping industry and Mah at the baby store. Mah and Leon fell quickly for each other. But when Leon was out at sea she was secretly in love with Tommie Hom. He had hired Mah for her looks, even though she could not sew at all. Tommie taught Mah how to sew beautiful dresses almost as fast as the patterns were printed. She became the best sewing lady Tommie had ever had.
As a kid Ona loved to wait for Leon's ship to come in, she cried for days after he left for sea. She was the type of kid that became emotionally wrapped around anyone she met. Ona loved to be around people all the time, she spent her days at the butcher shop with the owner, and he taught her how to wrap the raw meat to be sold. She also liked to hang out in the laundry room with Leon. One day Tommie Hom decided to hire a women by the name of Rosa she was a lovely woman that Mah quickly become attached to when teaching her how to sew. They became such good friends that Rosa's husband Luc and Leon liked to be in each other's company. When one day they decided to close up the baby shop and open a Laundry Mat in their name. It was a good success but it did not last long. A few months after they opened and all the bills were just being paid off Leon and Mah went in to open up the shop and to their surprise they could not open the door, the lock had been changed. They called Luc but no one would answer. That's when they learned that they had been taken advantage of. Ona had fallen in love with Luc and Rosa's son Osvaldo. Leon was furious with her but the more he hated there relationship the more they fell for each other.
The story touches upon death, Ona whose troubled life ends tragically in early adulthood when she jumped to her death at the top of the Nam because she was prohibited from marrying the man she loved.
The book episodes all different aspects of Leia's life in no consecutive order, she relives each story through incisive memoirs. Through out much of the book you learn about Ona and how the family deals with the guilt. Everyone wonders why she jumped, they ask over and over how they could prevented this, but the family learns in time that your fate is determined by the choices you make. Leia makes her way from feeling guilty to parting the ways between sadness and being truly happy like a ship liner on the open sea. The sea is life and the liner is the awakening.
I believe to get the most out of this book you must look for a deeper meaning. The author is Chinese American and they are traditionally instilled with a form of emotional meanings. While reading this book I realized that I saw what the Leong family endured was incredibly sad and that is had a unfortunate effect on the family. I did not allow myself to become emotionally surrounded by what the Leong family was faced with. They encountered death, and pain, sadness and defeat but they still moved on to support each other and they moved on with life. They learned with every life there is death and with every affliction their will be gallantry.
Fae Myenne Ng describes each moment with descriptive language each sentence takes you to a sidewinding conclusion. In her memoirs you get a strong feeling of deep emotion, from guilt, to love, pain, and grief are completely described in a narrative perspective. The type of memoir used was very serious it gave the story line a very mysterious title. You can tell how Fae pictured Ona, she was like a blossom she was radiant and sweet, full of life and loved. When Ona was stopped from marrying the man she wanted dearly she could not subside from such a cold-hearted decision from the traditional Chinese family.
Birth and Death are the two noblest expressions of bravery. --Kahlil Gibran
Rating:
Summary: Reminds me of home
Review: This book was an easy read. Out of all the books I've read this one contained a literary character, Leon, which made the book enjoyable to me. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because I thought the ending was a bit abrupt. This book really made you feel for the characters. Leila was torn between family responsibility and wanting her own life. I feel that this book was really about identity. As I said before, Leon is one of the best literary characters I read about he's both simple and complex. The kind of guy that can't seem to catch a break and constantly keeping busy. Other than that it's worth picking up the book because I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: encountering dislocation and difference
Review: This is a great book about how ordinary people trying desperately to live with dignity and the tragedy that associates with such desperation. The story unfolds slowly and keeps you suspended until the very last moment. It is written beautifully and poetically. You don't have to be Chinese to read this book. The psychological drama plays out in this books is so universal and genuine and at times reminds me of that in "A long day`s journey into the night."
Rating:
Summary: encountering dislocation and difference
Review: This is an exceptional book that I would categorize generally under postcolonial writing. Writers who have emerged from histories impacted by colonization such as Salaman Rushdie and Leslie Marmon Silko often use a non-linear, form-twisting style that has taken the standard Western 'novel' to new heights. This is not just an artistic, aesthetic statement but also a highly political one as well that speaks to different cultures, different histories and continuing effects of of dislocation, relocation, and oppressions. Ng is clearly an heir to this type of writing, and implements it superbly. With deceptively simple prose, her characters reveal the impacts of racism against Chinese immigrants to the US, and the despairs of working class immigrant life in San Francisco Chinatown. At the same time her characters show that what keeps a family together is sometimes love and loyalty, and sometimes the ever-present effects of history. If you are looking for a book that reproduces comfortable mainstream standards for novels -- for example A to Z linearity, universal humanist themes and cultural familiarity -- then you may not be interested in this book. However, for those of us whose lives and minds are not so simplistic, and are willing to face unfamiliar realities due to differences of culture, history, class, race and gender (or perhaps for those who can identify with the realities revealed in this novel), then this is an excellent work whose beauty will stick with you after you are finished reading it.
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