What readers think of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, plus links to write your own review.

Wow! This was definitely not what I expected, but definitely fascinating, and not like any other parenting memoir I have ever seen. From the way the book started I was expecting self-deprecating humor; what I got instead was a story of what the author refers to as Chinese-style parenting that was so harsh and restrictive that to me it bordered on child abuse. I kept wondering - does the author realize what she sounds like? By the end it's pretty clear that for the most part at least, she does, since we end up hearing about where her techniques failed as well as where they succeeded. I was undecided about how to rate this, until I realized that any possible downgrading of it by me would have been a critique of her parenting choices, as opposed to a critique of the book itself. The book is well-written, unusual, easy to read style-wise, and boy! does it pack a punch! It would provoke some extremely lively book group discussions.

While I disliked the author and her "Chinese parenting" techniques - I found myself ultimately sympathetic to what she was trying to do for her daughters. Some of the points made are simplistic (e.g. I am not sure that the children's book "The Five Chinese Brothers" is the best example the author could have cited on Chinese child-rearing techniques). I read many passages to my daughter as examples of how lucky she is to have sane, rational parent. While I would not recommend this book to a friend, book groups could have lots of interesting discussion about the benefits of pushing your children as the author does and it was an easy, engaging read.

This book is Amy Chua's story about raising her daughters "the Chinese way." Chua explains how she was relentlessly strict with her daughters in order to get them to excel at school and music. She contrasts her method with "the Western way" of raising children. This contrast existed even in Chua's own family, as her husband Jed often disagreed with her methods: "I was already at a disadvantage because I had an American husband who believed that childhood should be fun."

Personally, I do not agree with Chua's harsh practices (including calling her children "garbage" and threatening to burn all their toys). Chua's descriptions of her daughters' punishing music practice schedules made me cringe. Fortunately, Chua learned to lighten up by the end of the book, but the first 150 pages are difficult to read. I feel sorry for Chua's children.

"Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" was a delightful read, a charming story. The heart of it was a vivid picture of the conflict of child rearing – the Chinese way as opposed to the Western way. As a former teacher, I would say "yes!" to some of the Chinese values and "no" to the laxity as shown of the American easy "whatever" attitude. Then again, I would find myself disagreeing with the strictures of the Chinese mother but agreeing that there is a lack of discipline in American households.

Amy Chua presented an excellent picture of the differences, not only in the methods of education, but also in the final results. I hope there can be a meeting place between these two before the educational standing of the US will fall even further below its already low spot on the world's graph of educational standing.

I was mesmerized by this true-life account of Amy Chua's approach to child-rearing, and the resulting affect on her children, family and friends. She approached parenting as a Chinese mother, with a fierce and unwavering certainty that the harsh, strict discipline and insistence on obedience and hard work is the superior way to raise children. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of her reinforcement of the children's music lessons and the resulting accomplishments. Because of the jarring differences between Eastern and Western styles of parenting, I had to keep reminding myself that this is actually a true story and not a work of fiction. I think the book will appeal to anyone who has struggled with the challenges of raising a child and wondered about the effectiveness of their own approach to parenting. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is well-written, brutally honest, amusing, infuriating, and entertaining - I couldn't put it down!

I enjoyed this book very much. It was interesting reading the perspective of parenting from an Asian mother. So many aspects of parenting is based on cultural norms. It was enlightening to learn how discipline is instilled in children in the Asian culture. Amy Chua was able to insert wisdom, and humor into her writing that made the book entertaining as well as insightful.

In the beginning, Chua seems so confident of the superiority of her child-raising methodology that I was sure this book was going to be just another ruthless salvo in the Mommy Wars, but Chua's shining intelligence, devotion to her children, and her ability to admit her flaws turns this book into a wonderful meditation on what it means to do one's best. This past September, my son started college. While I was reading this book, I would read him passages and say 'This is what I was trying to do.' I can only hope that he has half as much resilience, self-confidence, and drive as Sophia and Lulu.

I'm torn on what rating to apply here - on one hand, I was deeply engrossed in the book and read it in one sweep which would indicate a high score - on the other hand, I am so vehemently opposed to the author's views that the majority of that score is negated. Objectively speaking, I believe that this book would evoke great discussions amongst reading groups. Having said that, I cringe while thinking of my own group who got into a heated debate over Marie Antoinette. Imagine what they would do over Eastern vs. Western practices of child-rearing. Holy cow, I'll have to hire security! In any case, I've started a fan club for Lulu - Go Team Lulu!