Once you get past the beginning - after meeting the narrator and understanding her past and being introduced to each of the people who go on this incredible journey to China and Burma - the story takes you through this magical, unbelieveable adventure. You get an insight into human nature with the interaction between the various people on the trip, not only among themselves, but with the people of the countries they visit. Some of the incidents are funny; some are humiliating; many are enlightning. On the whole, the story gets your attention and holds you as you want to know what happens to the travelers. Our club had the good fortune to hear a couple from Burma speak about the authenticity of the things mentioned in the book, which gave us an even greater insight on the country and the people of Burma.

While there were several book club members who enjoyed this title, the majority either did not like it or did not even bother finishing it.

Those who did like it pointed to the humor, a departure for Amy Tan. Others were lost in the ever-increasing and non-engaging cast of characters.

All in all, we had a good discussion, but it's not a great discussion unless people can actually read the book.

Yawn. That is all I can say. Who cares.

All members of my book club enjoyed this book. The beginning is a little slow, but there are 13 characters to introduce. The characters are quite well developed and there is incredible attention to details. Using a ghost as a narrator gave the book an interesting perspective. I didn't enjoy the fast pace of the wrap up, and felt it did not flow well compared to the rest of the book

This book was ok. If you want to learn more about Burma and thier culture you may enjoy it more than we did. It did give some insight into the culture but was a little slow otherwise.

Good book and beautifully written. I loved that it was written from the perspective of a "ghost". I don't want to give away the story so I'll leave it at that intriguing thought :-)