Review: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'd avoided reading this for awhile because of my reservations about what I kept hearing about Amy Chau's parenting practices. I wasn't sure that I was interested in reading an entire book about that. But, I didn't find it to be nearly as disturbing as I'd expected. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about ... yeah, she's a nut & I think much of her behavior as shown in the book is borderline abusive but I don't find it quite as egregious as many seem to find it. I felt for her children and her husband but I didn't feel the need to call Child Protective Services or something.

I was disturbed more by her attitude throughout the book - the self-satisfaction and the complete and utter inability to be in any way self-reflective. I also just kept wondering what the point was of the book ... it never clearly demonstrated to me what the point of the entire thing WAS. It's not a parenting book, its not quite a memoir, it's not a cultural analysis. I'm still not 100% sure what it is exactly. But, it was a fairly quick and easy read. Nothing difficult about it. I just didn't find it to be life changing or as disturbing as so many seemed to find it. Not sure that I can recommend it unless you have a strong connection to that particular parenting style and want to explore it further.

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