Total Page : 448
Publisher : Vintage
Publication Date : 1996 08 27
>> On Gold Mountain by Lisa See
I like Lisa See s books especially the ones that talk about the Chinese culture On Gold Mountain is very interesting and also sad because of the way the Chinese were treated when they came to the U S I would recommend this book
>> A Book Only a Mother Could Love
On Gold Mountain is the history of the See family and like most histories it is most interesting to the one telling it For me this book club choice was boring with a capital B Approximately 400 pages of family history from Lisa See s great great grandfathers immigration to work on the transcontinetal railroad to her latest sojourn to the small Chinese town of Dimato to meet her great grandfathers and great uncles third and fourth family relatives from their concubines left in China Make your head spin Keeping the memebers of the original See family straight was tough but trying to keep up with the second wives third wives and fourth wives and their children was frustrating and boring It seemed to me that this was in essence the American story It told about the lives of immigrants who came to a new place to find wealth and happiness and instead found discrimination back breaking work and in the Fong See s case success Lisa See interjects throughout the book facts regarding Chinese discrimination and hardship through the years as this group of immigrants struggle to become citizens with equal rights in this country In all the most amazing part of the book for me was the marriage between Fong See and Letticie Pruitt This was an unheard of union at the time and must have required a bravery on both their parts The fact that this couple produced four sons and one daugther and two successful import companies is no small feat As the book went on it was heartbreaking to read about the distance petty differences and shortcomings between the five original See children I suppose that their story is also the story of every family As children grow up they often grow apart What original immigrant parents value their children often turn against In the end Lisa See provided a very detailed account of her families joys hardships success and failures For me it was about 200 pages too long and in the end bittersweet
>> Good Read
This book was required for a class It was nice because I actually enjoyed this book
