Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Nonfiction
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Nonfiction
Book Type: Hardcover
Helpful Score: 3
Its easy to attach controversy to this book. Parenting is a sensitive subject, and there are a lot of stereotypes surrounding Asians, Asian Americans, and Chinese parenting. But if youre reading BATTLE HYMN OF THE TIGER MOTHER with the expectation of analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of Chinese parenting, youre getting your reading experience wrong. BATTLE HYMN is a comic memoir of one mother and her two daughters; it is NOT meant to be read as a representation of all Asian or immigrant parents, it is NOT a parenting manual, and it is NOT trying to make any formal statements about any kind of parenting.
Amy Chua is in the unusual, unique, and privileged position of tiger parenting. She adopts the Chinese parenting modelbecause she herself is in fact American, and thus her memoir cannot be a representation of actual Chinese immigrant parenting, because it is always tempered by the girls American society and the Western freedom that Chua does give her daughters. Read the book carefully: Chua doesnt talk about demanding her daughters to be doctors or lawyers. Her love for her daughters isnt conditional to the girls success, just to whether or not they put all that they could into their efforts.
What BATTLE HYMN really should be read as is comedyand if it makes you rethink your parenting strategies, well, then, more power to you. Chua skillfully weaves hyperbole and just a tinge of the absurd into her prose, with the result that, even in the guise of SuperScary Tiger Mom, she remains utterly charming and amusing. Sometimes I couldnt decide whether to be shocked at a scene, or to nod in sympathy, or to laugh out loud.
More people than you thinkespecially children of Asians and immigrantswill be able to relate to the story of Amy Chua and her daughters. BATTLE HYMN OF THE TIGER MOTHER is an entertaining and thought-provoking look into the parenting adventures of one determined mother and her two talented daughters. It has certainly made me think more about what kind of parent Id want to be if I am ever a parentand to expect the unexpected when it comes to people.
Amy Chua is in the unusual, unique, and privileged position of tiger parenting. She adopts the Chinese parenting modelbecause she herself is in fact American, and thus her memoir cannot be a representation of actual Chinese immigrant parenting, because it is always tempered by the girls American society and the Western freedom that Chua does give her daughters. Read the book carefully: Chua doesnt talk about demanding her daughters to be doctors or lawyers. Her love for her daughters isnt conditional to the girls success, just to whether or not they put all that they could into their efforts.
What BATTLE HYMN really should be read as is comedyand if it makes you rethink your parenting strategies, well, then, more power to you. Chua skillfully weaves hyperbole and just a tinge of the absurd into her prose, with the result that, even in the guise of SuperScary Tiger Mom, she remains utterly charming and amusing. Sometimes I couldnt decide whether to be shocked at a scene, or to nod in sympathy, or to laugh out loud.
More people than you thinkespecially children of Asians and immigrantswill be able to relate to the story of Amy Chua and her daughters. BATTLE HYMN OF THE TIGER MOTHER is an entertaining and thought-provoking look into the parenting adventures of one determined mother and her two talented daughters. It has certainly made me think more about what kind of parent Id want to be if I am ever a parentand to expect the unexpected when it comes to people.
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