Quite enjoyed the book although I found the tiger mom extremely ridiculous and perhaps bordering on insanity. The book's main focus strangely was on music lessons and not eg schoolwork, grades, etc. she did say though getting an A- was unacceptable and taking part in eg school plays is a waste of time. Her children were not allowed to learn any other instruments except for the piano and violin. I am not sure why this is so... neither do I understand why excelling in music was her topmost priority for her kids. To me music is a hobby, something that's meant to be enjoyed. However, for the tiger mom music was a source of pride and ego. Making her kids practice 6 hours a day is just insane. It's funny though how Sophia, the elder daughter could tolerate such harsh drills and still enjoyed the instrument. For her younger daughter, lulu, however, things turned awry. The hatred that was building inside her came to blows while on a family holiday in Russia- Lulu threw a glass and screamed at Amy Chua in a cafe- a totally brattish behavior that Amy Chua thought would never happen in her children. It was striking when Lulu told Chua one day not to ruin tennis for her the way she ruined violin.
Lulu had loved the violin and was enormously talented at the instrument-auditioning at Julliard and obtaining concertmaster status at a young age. Unfortunately the hours of practice she had to put in finally made her give up playing the violin. What a pity...
After reading the book, it was hard not to think that her daughters would turn out to be socially awkward weirdos but thankfully it was not so. Whether they are successful individuals or not, I can't say as success is truly subjective. What defines success? Bring on top of the social ladder? Being in an Ivy League school? Being kind? Being happy? Being rich? Being popular? Being Famous?
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