The+Hundred+Secret+Senses


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** // The Hundred Secret Senses// by Amy Tan **
**A Whole New Definition of American Lit.** Amrutha Kumaran //The Hundred Secret Senses// by Amy Tan 358 pages, Random House, $14.95

 Amy Tan’s //The Hundred Secret Senses// was written for audiences of all different cultures and nationalities, allowing just about anyone to take away something from its mesmerizing, intertwining story. She addresses many backgrounds and situations of life: immigrants mixed racial groups, American vs. Chinese culture, and the violent, turbulent Taiping, or ”Great Peace”, Rebellion of Manchu China. The past, present, and future are also closely woven in her story, often crossing the boundaries between each other and questioning what most people perceive as logic and reality. Olivia Laguni, half Caucasian and half Chinese, loses her father at a young age and her family discovers that she has a half-sister in China, Kwan Li, who comes to live with Olivia, her two brothers, and her mother. The book explores the significant relationship between Olivia and Kwan, which is defined by their subtle similarities and extreme differences. Tan creates profound interactions between her characters that throw light on the cultural gaps that distance Olivia from Kwan’s enthusiastic affection, as well as the sisters’ common ground of love and a sense of family. Kwan tries to give wisdom and advice, with her ability to communicate with the dead with her “yin eyes”, to Olivia, who, on the other hand, is embarrassed by her sister’s bad English and seemingly eccentric beliefs. These sharp observations of American behavior and Chinese philosophy present interesting, alternative ways of thinking about the world that challenge modern cynicism and force the reader to re-conceptualize his or her beliefs and be more open about them. The lyrical language in the book captures the essence of human emotion to really make the reader feel comfortable with the characters’ personalities and perceptions. Tan’s witty and seamless cultural understanding from her Chinese-American background shines through Olivia’s thoughts: “In spite of all our obvious differences, Kwan thinks she and I are exactly alike. As she sees it, we’re connected by a cosmic Chinese umbilical cord that’s given us the same inborn traits, personal motives, fate, and luck.” Tan provides the reader with personal anecdotes and judgments from the lives of her characters that are both satirical and solemn to bring out the vitality of their circumstances. Her style is eloquent and fluid and begs the reader to be mesmerized by the interesting fates and reactions of the characters. The diverse settings, characters, and especially the concepts of time and reality provide many strong metaphors throughout the story. The past, present and future of Olivia and Kwan become indistinct and uncertain as the book continues down its unlikely path. Kwan recounts the lives of the past incarnations of her family and friends during the chaotic, violent Taiping Rebellion of the 1860’s as the last ruling dynasty of China, the Manchu’s, begins to collapse from the Opium Wars against the encroaching Europeans. As Olivia contemplates Kwan’s stories of her previous life, she grapples with the meaning of truth and reality, if the two contradict each other, and if it really matters. Amy Tan explains, through the wisdom of Kwan, that love never dies, can traverse time, and that as long as you keep believing in your hopes, you will always find what you are looking for, even if your hopes oppose reason. Kwan also illustrates that hope and love have the immense power to give courage to people and meaning to existence, from which Olivia learns and concludes “truth lies not in logic but in hope.” The author challenges the reader to re-think the meaning of life, death, and reality with her trademark, literary technique of interspersing and weaving several different accounts, and time periods, into the same story. Her previous, highly acclaimed, cultural masterpiece, //The Joy Luck Club,// was also told in a similar fashion, and this is more of the same genius at work. This intensely profound, interesting read sends the strong message that the world is not just a stable, physical concept but everything and anything you believe, hope, know, want, or perceive it to be with your secret senses.