Tan’s books are often included as a part of the multicultural curriculum of high schools and colleges, an honor which caused her much ambivalence and led her to writing a speech, “Required Reading and Other Dangerous Subject”, which she has since delivered in universities across the country. She is also the editor for the 1999 edition of Best American short stories. Due to public demand her work has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Catalan, Finnish, Norweign, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Russian, Estonian, Serbo-Croation, Czech, Polish, Hebrew, Greek, Tagalog and Indonesian.
She was also interested in writing children’s books like The Moon Lady (1992) and The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994). The latter is now being developed into a children’s television series and is a part of symphony program of words and music produced and conducted by George Daughtery. Along with other novelist Stephen King and columnist Dave Barry. Tan is also a member of the Literary garage band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, for which she sings the Nancy Sinatra classic. Amy Tan has been married to Lou De Mattei since 1974. They live in the San Francisco Bay with pets. Since 1999 she has suffered from neurological Lyme disease and has become an outspoken advocate on behalf of people with disease.
Characters:
Olivia Laguni – Olivia is half Chinese-American born. She tries to retain a western outlook on life until the arrival of her half sister Kwan. She was arrogant and self centered and she blames all the negatives in her life on someone else. At the end, she realized the importance of her sister in a dramatic and typical preserved Chinese fashion.
Kwan Li – Kwan speaks with a Chinese accent. She was the half sister of Olivia that came from China to live with them. Kwan’s character was the opposite of Olivia, she was an optimist, warm, and mysterious mystical lady. Kwan reveals that she has “yin eyes”, she talks of the yin people and her constant contact with them, of this character of her, she becomes the “mother” to Olivia even Olivia hates her for it. Kwan holds an unconditional love for her sister despite of all the schemes that Olivia did to her.
Analysis:
The Hundred secret Senses feature the stories told by two half-sisters Kwan, a Chinese-born fifty year old woman and Olivia, the younger biracial coherione born in the US. It was published in 1995. One of the authors best love work, different dimensions of times are strongly connected with the manifold narrative. A hundred Secret Senses explores the cultural differences of the ancient east and the modern west, through the compelling characters of Kwan and her sisters Libby. Appeared on the New York Time best seller.
The story portrays the cultural differences of the ancient east and the modern west, through the compelling characters of Kwan and her sisters Libby. Kwan in the story, is the protagonist who is described as a warm, charming and overwhelmingly positive person. The story’s point of view is first person narrator. Because this is a novel, dialogues are very important which makes it more understandable and convincing, it can also reveals character. This is combinations of dramatic and an intriguing story for it centers on the behaviors and feelings of each character. There’s a touch of mystery behind the character itself, for it speaks about the reincarnation of Numumu in the personality of Kwan. The character are revealed through the description of physical characteristics and their social standing. The setting in the story is well-described. The language used is simple and understandable. The author uses many description for easy understanding because this novel is the authors reflection of her own cultural concerns. The story focuses more on the relationship of Kwan to her sister Libby and her “yin eyes”. The story is also a real in the sense that Olivia’s mother ignores her that is unfortunately a very real problem. Olivia’s father left his family in China, a problem which must have been incountered by many families.
Themes and Symbols:
The story is written in first person through Olivia’s eyes. On the first chapter of this novel there is a mention of a grasshopper, it is brought by Kwan from China as a pet. The grasshopper incident signifies the fact that Olivia has no appreciation for Kwan and her Chinese heritage. The story becomes dramatic when Kwan reveals that she has “yin eyes”. The yin eyes symbolized the ancestry of Kwan and Olivia. Kwan arrives from China following the death of their father and shakes Olivia’s world. She tries to push Kwan away, embarrassed by Kwan’s ability to make unconscious fool of her self. The fact that Olivia does not like Kwan is a symbol of her indifference toward Chinese culture. The story encounters irony in Olivia’s life experience. Olivia wants her mothers attention more than anything, but she does not received it. Kwan becomes “mother” and Olivia hates her for it. Things are not always what they seem.
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