Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I finished this book in one go, so I felt that Amy Chua’s writing was simple and easy to read. She obviously wrote the book with a goal in mind, which was to highlight the differences between Chinese and Western parenting styles, and she does achieve this through her narration of how she brought up her two daughters, Sophia and Lulu.
The book itself did not inspire any emotion in me while I read it, which is perhaps what Amy Chua wants from the reader. This is not a book where the writer is pleading to the emotional side of the reader, or asking the reader not to judge her or her choices. I’m pretty sure Amy Chua was well aware of the kind of reactions she would get from people who didn’t share her style of parenting, especially “Western” parents. This is evident because she does occasionally comment on how another kind of parent would have made different choices than the ones she has. She acknowledges that but she is never apologetic or defensive about the ones she made.