Book Review: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Author: Amy Chua
Genre: Non-fiction, Parenting
Rating: 2.5/5
Verdict: Too strong to handle and incredibly boring. If you must read, borrow it, don't buy.

I had heard a lot about this book and the wave it was creating among parents. I have a special admiration for people who have been successful in academics and who are Ivy league graduates and the likes. Honestly, that was one of the reasons I wanted to read this book to see how one mother drives her children towards success with the Chinese parenting style, which I have heard is pretty close to the Indian parenting style. I was looking forward to read about the approaches she took, how to cultivate the habits of working hard, perseverance, resilience and take aways like these that I can apply to my own parenting. 

Here are some things Amy Chua, a Chinese mother of two (Sophia and Lulu) would never allow her daughters to do: 
- have a playdate 
- be in a school play 
- complain about not being in a school play 
- not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama 
- play any instrument other than the piano or violin 
- not play the piano or violin 


The list above pretty much also sums up how I grew up. I was allowed to be in a school play only until 8th grade, I did not participate in any sports nor after-school activities which didn't involve learning/reading. 

Up until then, I was hooked to the book and I was looking forward to the methods of Chinese way of learning/academics. But, oh my! When I got to the part where Amy threatens her younger daughter, Lulu for not playing the violin and constantly abuses her, I felt so sorry for Lulu for having to deal with a maniac mother.  The Indian parenting style totally pales in comparison with how Amy does it - I am careful not to generalize the Chinese parenting style because I believe not all Chinese mothers are so hard on their kids. I felt like Amy just used the Chinese parenting model as an excuse for her insane behavior and parenting. I am sorry to state this - But I can't help but wonder if her kids even love her after all that she put them through just for them to be "successful" in life. She constantly says throughout the book that all she does is for her kids' sake but I do not believe that a zilch - Rather, it is the contrary.  It it for her own bloated ego so she can boast about her kids to others and derive a sadistic pleasure out of that!

After the first few chapters, I found the book incredibly boring and it pretty much seems like the book completely revolves around Sophia's piano and Lulu's violin. At some point, I was like - "Ok, I get it. Sophia is great at playing the piano and Lulu at violin. Now what?!". I may be undermining the accomplishments of the girls here, but seriously, it was just about how Amy drives them 4 hours back and forth to practice every weekend, how she would tie them down every single day for practice and all that page after page. And what was the part about Amy's sister about? It stands out like a sore thumb. I was shocked to see Amy's husband being a silent spectator to all the harassment she inflicted on her daughters.

All I can say, after reading the book is I would never even imagine putting my kids through like what Amy did. I am a stickler for routines and a very strict mother, but this book was way too strong. There is a difference between being tough and abuse. Amy totally falls into the latter category. The only good thing about this book was that, it made me introspect my own parenting so far and how not to parent the way Amy did even inadvertently. There I said it. 

Book Review: Me Before You

Author: Jojo Moyes
Genre: Fiction, Romance
Rating: 4/5
Verdict: A tear-jerker with a bittersweet ending. Totally loved it.

I don't think I have mentioned before that red is my favorite color and there is something about anything red that I am immediately attracted to it. I am a sucker for all things romantic and the goodreads blurb along with the cover of the book was totally enough for me to start reading this book. But, boy was I mistaken - The cover gives an impression that it is an out-and-out romantic story, but the romance is only a very small part of the story. It is all about emotions, pain, life and deals with a fairly controversial issue.

The story revolves around a 35-year old wealthy, angry and miserable man - Will Traynor whose once adventure-seeking life has been constrained to four walls now after an accident that left him a quadriplegic and a young woman Louisa Clark, who lost her job at a cafe and has taken up the job of being Will's caretaker out of desperation to support her family. Predictably, Will and Louisa gradually get along and become friends, and I was expecting Jojo to lead us to a different storyline that would be apt for any romantic story. But, here is where the plot begins to take a twist and all that follows is a painful, emotional and heart wrenching series of events. The ending was totally unpredictable for me, up until the last page, I kept hoping the ending wasn't what it was going to be, as naive as that may sound.

Of all the characters, I totally admired and could relate with Will and his behavior towards anyone he encountered. The story opens with a glipmse of what Will's life was before the accident and there are incidents all through the story about his life before. After all that, I could totally understand his anger, misery and acid remarks to anyone trying to cheer him up or help him. Although I kept hoping for a happy ending, I did like the way the story ended and I wouldn't change a thing about it. On the other hand, Louisa's character didn't click quite well for me and seemed a bit unrealistic. But, who cares when the story is as emotional as it was and how Will pushes Lou to broaden her territory and spread her wings and fly! Some of the quotes will stay with me forever:

"You only get one life. It's actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.” 

"Push yourself. Don't Settle. Just live well. Just LIVE.” 

Will's final letter to Louisa was the last straw for me. I broke down after that and wept like a baby. 
Will and Jojo - I will always hate you for that!

A story that will keep you turning pages until the very last word. I bet you cannot put this book down. Hats off to Jojo for dealing with an extremely difficult and disturbing topic with great poise and balance. I cannot forget this book.