c**i
发帖数: 6973 | 1 Elizabeth Chang, Amy Chua's "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother," on Chinese-
American family culture. Washington Post, Jan. 7, 2011.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/07
(book review on Amy Chua, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Penguin Press,
February 2011)
My comment:
(a) The cover of the book says, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother[.] This is
a a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs. This was SUPPOSED to
be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western
ones. But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting tsate
of glory, and how I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old."
(b) Chua is 蔡 in Taiwanese/South Fujian pronunciation.
Amy Chua
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Chua
(蔡美兒; born 1962 in Champaign, Illinois; is the John M. Duff, Jr.
Professor of Law at Yale Law School; has also written two books, Day of
Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance - and Why They Fall (2007)
AND the New York Times bestseller, World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market
Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability (2003))
(c) The reviewer Elizabeth Chang writes, "As a hopelessly Western mother
married into a Chinese family living in an area that generates immigrant
prodigies as reliably as clouds produce rain, I was eager to observe the
comeuppance of a parent who thought she had all the answers."
So she is an American (whatever the race) who married a Chinese man named
Chang and changed her last name.
The review later says, "For a mother whose half-Chinese children played
outside while the kids of stricter immigrant neighbors could be heard
laboring over the violin and piano." That was Chang, not Chua (although I
did not know who Chua is married to, until later in the review).
Note: BJ's Wholesale Club
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BJ%27s_Wholesale_Club
(headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts; The [BJ] company was started by
Zayre, a discount department store chain, in 1984)
has Laura Sen as CEO.
(i) Laura Sen, A Happy Return. New York Times, Apr. 25, 2009 (in the Sunday
column The Boss).
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/jobs/26boss.html
("My mother and father met when they worked in the Massachusetts highway
division. She was a secretary, and he was a highway engineer. They married
when she was 23 and he was 40. It was unusual for a white Irish girl from a
small town to be married to a Chinese man")
gofer (n; alteration of go for; First Known Use: 1967): "an employee whose
duties include running errands : LACKEY"
Sen is a Bengali Hindu surname in India (Amartya Sen earned the 1988 Nobel
Prize in Economic Sciences).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amartya_Sen
I did not know it could be a Chinese surname also, like 森 (which is not
found in Taiwan).
(ii) I have great respect for Ms. Sen. She is unpretentious.
Frank Quaratiello, BJ’s CEO discusses Pine Street Inn work; Dedicated to
helping the homeless. Boston Herald, July 30, 2010.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=
(d) The review uses teh word "imagine!" because Jewish parents are known to
hover around their children.
(e) Lulu is a pet form of Louise, originally a reduplicated nursery form.
(f) Knossos is a ruin in island of Crete.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knossos
The letter k is silent.
(g) Chang, the reviewer, comments Chua is "compulsively honest." I agree.
(h) stripe (n): "a distinct variety or sort : type
political stripe>"
Both definitions are from www.m-w.com.
The word "stripe" used here is menat to be a pun--Chua is tiger mother.
synonym in this context can be (the same) persuation. | c**i
发帖数: 6973 | 2 I just added the following to the original:
``````````````````
P.S.
Amy Chua, Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior. Can a regimen of no playdates,
no TV, no computer games and hours of music practice create happy kids? And
what happens when they fight back? Wall Street Journal, Jan. 8, 2011 (book
excerpt).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870411150457605971
Note:
(a) Hokkien is the same as Fujian--the former is spelled in accordance with
local dialect.
(b) Jed is pet name for Jedidiah, which was an alternative name of King
Solomon (2 Samuel 12: 25), meaning “beloved of God”. Jedidiah was apopular
among Puritans. | c**i
发帖数: 6973 | 3 I just added the following under P.S. They are responses, reactions about
the new book. (Also, I fixed two URls in my original postings, Thanks for
tolerance of boardmasters here.)
(2)
(a) In Defense of the Guilty, Ambivalent, Preoccupied Western Mom; Ayelet
Waldman on the virtues of letting kids quit, have sleepovers and find their
own way. Wall Street Journal, Jan 14, 2011.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405
2748703333504576080422577800488.html
My comment:
(i) The online photo shows the face of the writer is all smooth, but the
photo in the print shows it is like turkey skin, full of UNNATURAL wrinkles.
(ii) while in this web page, click the following two reports which are
published in print on the same day as (i).
(b) The Tiger Mother Talks Back; Amy Chua responds to readers' questions
about happiness, relationships and tips for teaching toddlers. Wall Street
Journal, Jan 14, 2011.
(c) Our Readers Roar: What Makes a Good Parent. Wall Street Journal, Jan 14,
2011.
Excerpts in the windows of teh print:
'Western parents adopt the Chinese approach in its entirety will come to rue
the day.'
'The majority of today's children are allowed to run amok, and the results
are visible and audible every time you got out in public.'
(3) Kate Zernike, Retreat of the 'Tiger Mother'; Cultural Studies; An Asian
mother whose motivational techniques included calling her young daughter '
garbage' says she is surprised at the hostitle reaction from other parents.
New York Times, Jan 15, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/fashion/16Cultural
.html?scp=1&sq=Retreat%20of%20the%20'Tiger%20Mother&st=cse
Note:
(a) The article says, "A law blog suggested a “Mommie Dearest” element to
her tale (“No. Wire. Hangers! Ever!!”). "
(i) A few review has looked at the book from the angle of Mommie Dearest."
But the way the words and punctuation marks are used is found in
David Lat, Yale Law Professor Amy Chua Writes in Praise of Crazy Asian Moms.
Above the Law, Jan 10, 2011.
http://abovethelaw.com/2011/01/yale-law-professor-amy-chua-writ
("Also, Lulu, NO… WIRE… HANGERS!!! EVER!!!")
(ii) Mommie Dearest (film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mommie_Dearest_(film)
(a 1981 American film; based on the 1978 autobiography of the same name by
Christina Crawford;
Christina Crawford)
Quote: "Joan's tantrums grow more bizarre and violent. * * * After Joan,
cross-eyed and slathered in cold cream, stalks into Christina's bedroom in
the middle of the night and discovers one of the child's dresses hanging on
a wire hanger, she launches into a tirade, screaming at the girl, 'I told
you! No wire hangers, ever!.' She tears apart her closet and hits the girl
with the hanger.
(iii) Christina Crawford
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Crawford
(best known as the author of Mommie Dearest, an exposé of alleged child
abuse by her mother, actress Joan Crawford)
(b) obtuse (adj):
"1b(1): of an angle : exceeding 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees
* * *
2a : lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility or intellect :
INSENSITIVE, STUPID
b : difficult to comprehend" www.m-w.com
It is definition 2(b) that is the meaning adopted here. |
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