Rules of the Game

by Amy Tan

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Read For School, Classics, Literature, American

Unknown Binding

About the author

Amy Tan (Chinese: 譚恩美; pinyin: Tán Ēnměi; born February 19, 1952) is an American writer whose novels include The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Saving Fish From Drowing, and The Valley of Amazement. She is the author of two memoirs, The Opposite of Fate and Where the Past Begins. Her two children’s books are The Chinese Siamese Cat and The Moon Lady. She is also the co-screenwriter of the film adaptation of The Joy Luck, the librettist of the opera The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and the creative consultant to the PBS animated series Sagwa the Chinese Chinese Cat.

Tan is an instructor with MasterClass on writing, memory and imagination. She is featured in the American Masters documentary Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and recently received the National Humanities Medal. She serves on the board of American Bird Conservancy.

Her forthcoming book The Backyard Bird Chronicles began as a journal in 2016, when she turned to nature for calm. She also began taking drawing classes with John Muir Laws (The Laws Guide to Nature Journaling and Drawing, and The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds). During the pandemic shutdown, she drew birds only in her backyard, documenting behaviors she found puzzling. Over time she identified 64 species of birds that have visited her backyard in Marin County. By 2022, she had more than nine journals of sketches and notes, which her editor at Knopf suggested she publish. The book, which will be released in April 2024, has already received high praise:

“Much of great writing comes from great interest, and in The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan shows us how the world fascinates her, especially the birds. The result is both unexpected and spectacular.”
—Ann Patchett, author of These Precious Days

“What an enchanting and illuminating book! How lucky for us that Amy Tan has turned her genius, her deep empathy and insight, her keen eye for what is telling, to birds. Every page of these chronicles radiates warm curiosity, wonder, and delight.”
—Jennifer Ackerman, The Genius of Birds

“This is one of the most infectious and convincing books about nature I’ve read. For the bird-watcher, the would-be bird-watcher, or for the bird-watching skeptic, this offers great delight and unexpected intrigue. Through Tan’s ecstatic eyes, what could be a dry treatise on ornithological happenings becomes something far more fun and much more profound. It’s really a book about seeing.”
—Dave Eggers, author of Ungrateful Mammals

“Anybody even mildly interested in birds, or thinking about getting interested in birds (which are, after all, the indicator genus for the health of the planet), will want this book perched on their shelf, if only for the gift of Amy Tan’s eye and the example she gives us of how to pay attention. What a treasure.”
—Robert Hass, Pulitzer Prize-Winning author of Summer Snow: New Poems

“Backyard Bird Chronicles is fun reading. It shows how we can become engaged emotionally, literally and artistically with the natural world—to joyfully learn about the most accessible and yet wild animals, the often rare and beautiful birds that choose to come and live near and sometimes with us.”
—Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven

“With this book as your guide, embark into the bird world Amy Tan. This is an intimate view, a sort-of love affair with the birds and their behavior, that Amy has come to know over several years. Within the leafy universe of her own backyard, she has quietly beheld, patiently observed, and taken in-depth notations of an extensive array of bird species. In colorful detail, she describes various bird’s behavior, while capturing their beauty in exquisitely rendered illustrations. Species include fearsome predators and watchful prey, long distance migrants and hometown residents. Through her unique insight and gift as an author and

Reviews

[cant bug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty average story with a scenario I've seen before in Queen's Gambit - the young female chess prodigy.

It's well written but ends far too abruptly. Feels like the author could have added a bit more plot, more meat to the story. Perhaps if the story had more detail about her relationship with the Mother. OK so the Mother was showing the daughter off at the Fish market and she didn't like that. What next? You can't leave it at that expect the reader to be satisfied.


"Chinese people.do many things," she said simply. "Chinese people do business, do medicine, do painting. Not lazy like American people. We do torture. Best torture."

The Chinese context layered into the story was interesting, my favourite aspect of the story.

[Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5/5

The Rules Of The Game by Amy Tan was an okay short story. It somewhat lost my interest after the first few minutes, because of the focus on the chess aspect. It then regained my interest at the end. I have read short stories that interested me more than this one.

I listened to the audiobook version.

[aisha]

i was REACHING so far w this literary analysis btw ( at least i got a good grade )

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the perfect short story. My favorite one I've read so far.

Read online in a pdf. From a list of Best Short Stories

[Una Tiers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a short story about a young girl learning and excelling at chess. It includes conflicts with her mother. A very pleasant read.
I don't remember reading this before but it is on my list.

[Alicia Chapa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encantó la visión del ajedrez desde un punto de vista poco convencional, el de unos niños asiáticos tratando de entender la vida. Recomendadísimo.

[Randy Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Major Characters
Waverly Jong
Lindo Jong

Central Themes
Competition
Relationship between mother and daughter
Modern views versus traditional values
Pride
Individuality
Expectations and Standards
Stereotypes
Self-understanding

[Maede Moradi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I also found out why I should never reveal "why" to others. A little knowledge withheld is a great advantage one should store for future use. That is the power of chess.

[Anatoly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of the story Rules of the Game, Amy Tan, is the daughter of Chinese immigrants, who grew up in California. The main character is a girl named Meimei, who absorbed knowledge about the rules for living in a society which she learned from her mother and people around her.

The author wrote in the first line, "I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others". The title of the story is connected with the idea of following rules for individuals living in society. Because of that, the story seems contain autobiographical memories told from the point of view of a Chinese girl who lived with her family in San Francisco's Chinatown.

The mother of the girl demanded that she, “bite back her tongue" when the girl begged for candies in the shop. Next time, only after the girl accepted this advice, did her mother buy the candies without her asking. Her mother "quietly plucked a small bag of plums from the rack and put it on the counter with the rest of the items.".

The Chinese community kept it’s identity, it was represented in the story by a few episodes. The first one was about a restaurant where the menu was only in Chinese. When one foreigner asked Meimei what they served there, she shouted, “Guts and duck's feet and octopus gizzards!” and ran off. The second episode was about the statement which one boy said in the class that Chinese people do Chinese torture. When Meimei asked her mother about it, she replied “Chinese people do many things ... Chinese people do business, do medicine, do painting. Not lazy like American people. We do torture. Best torture.”

The core part of the story is dedicated to chess. Once the children received a chess set as a Christmas gift. Two of Meimei's older brothers started playing the game and Meimei begged them to allow her to play too. After, her brother briefly explained her the basic rules, she asked why the pawn could move only to the one direction. The answer was about chess but it could be referred to the general knowledge which every child faced:

“Why can't they move more steps?” “Because they're pawns,” he said. “But why do they go crossways to take other men? Why aren't there any women and children?” “Why is the sky blue? Why must you always ask stupid questions?” asked Vincent. “This is a game. These are the rules. I didn't make them up. See. Here. In the book.”

Eventually, Meimei studied the rules of the game, she became a regional chess champion. The success came when she understood the rules of this game. The idea of accepting rules for definite achievements was presented by the author as a crucial thing. Success will come for those people who know the rules.

Here is the link to the story:
http://www.mrsadamsenglishlanguageart...

[Lannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't the first story I've read about Chinese-American daughters having adversarial relationships with their mothers, and it certainly won't be the last! Still, it's good, has an authentic voice, and tells a simple and interesting story.

We do torture. Best torture.

[David Wen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story talking about a girl who live in America but is Chinese, and she is very in testing with chess . She learn how to play chess and getting better and better. Also she learn the rule of live during that time .

[Mir Ahmad · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice little story- Come from South, blow with wind-poom!-North will follow.

[Rhonda Yung · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5☺ A well-written vignette of The Joy Luck Club. I always enjoy Tan's prose.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great short story. I had to read it for my Intro to Lit class and then we did an in depth discussed in class about it!

[Jessica Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting

[Liliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this short story, and it made me want to go read the Joy Luck Club again.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story is written by Amy Tan and this story is talk about the relationship between parents and child.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty sure this is from Joy Luck Club.

[Luna Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a really cool read, i enjoyed it but kinda worried about what the wisdom it is giving, whom should we side with mother or daughter?????

[indi]

read for school, no rating.

[Teg]

I'm not going to rate it bc it was part of my English assignment. I can't believe it counted as a book hehe

[Benben ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

[willow smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

again had to read it for school i didn’t like the writing as much as two kinds but it wasn’t bad i do think i would enjoy amy’s writing if i got to pick a different book of hers

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This marvelous story is funny and poignant, dealing with the pride of a parent that can be overwhelming for a child. Love Amy Tan Kristi & Abby Tabby Childless Cat Lady

[Sarah Alma Angelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

How aren't more people talking about this short story?? It's so good and you'll definitely enjoy it if you liked The Queen's Gambit!

[Kevin Tweet · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Rules of the Game” is one of four parables included in Amy Tan’s book, “The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates.” These parables present struggles faced by parents and their children. These issues are a parent’s struggle with their child’s independence; when the child should obey their parents or when the parents should allow the child to decide freely where their life will go next. This particular parable is a cultural as well as relationship battle
Waverly Jong’s mother taught her “the art of invisible strength” (p.712). At first this lesson was nothing more than traditional Chinese babble her mother came up with. It wasn’t until Christmas that Waverly finally understood her mother’s words. A member of their church dressed as Santa Claus was passing out gifts to all the children. Waverly received candy Life Savers and her brother, a used chess set that was missing two pieces. She offered her brothers two of her Life Savers to take the place of the missing pieces and as a reward to the winner, they could eat both pieces. Although her brothers quickly tired of the used chess game, Waverly studied moves and read about the game to learn as much as she could. It was at this time she began to understand her mother’s words. Waverly saw the parallel between “The art of invisible strength,” (p.712) and the games secret traps, need for total awareness and preplanning. This shows a cultural understanding on Waverly’s part, seeing truth in the metaphors her mother uses and applying them as she studied the game. This makes her mother more and more proud, it strengthens their bond or what is perceived to be a bond. As Waverly progresses and becomes a chess child prodigy this “bond” between mother and daughter quickly becomes tainted.
Lindo, Waverly’s mother would force her to attend shopping trips and daily errands to make sure everyone in town knew that Waverly the San Francisco chess prodigy was her daughter. Waverly began to sense that her mother was more vicariously living through her than letting her daughter have her own time in the sun. Eventually Waverly became incensed with her mother and yelled at her during one of their outings. She exclaimed that she was embarrassed by her mother’s constant boasting and that “if she wanted to show off to learn the game of chess herself” (p.718). In the end when Waverly returns home she is shunned by her mother and proceeds to her room. There she dreams about a chess game where her mother is the opponent that she is ever quickly encroaching. She describes a feeling of flying away with the statement, “I close my eyes and ponder my next move” (p. 719).
This story is filled with a timeless lesson in the relevance and limits of persistence, hard work and respect for elders. As previously mentioned the main theme of the story is the constant struggle between Waverly and her mother. This shows the good and bad attributes of persistence. “Rules of the Game” can be looked at in two ways, an entertaining piece about a Chinese chess prodigy or an opportunity to understand that there are challenges in life and “invisible strategies” needed to succeed.

References
Tan, A. (n.d.). Rules of the Game. In S. Peter Simon (Ed.), The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction(7th ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

[Ron Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful short story about a young Chinese-American girl. Good emphasis on changes in Chinatown and relationships with her mother and siblings.

[Bryce Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing short story. It will seem dull to those who aren't willing to dive deeper into the text, but it has a lot of meaning behind it that will be noticed if paid attention to. I wouldn't read this for fun, simply because it doesn't fit my tastes, but for a literary analysis, this is a great story.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

[Maryam Samiei · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just didn't enjoy reading it. Rules of the Game itself did have several symbols but I could say they were second-handed ideas.