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The author describes the scenery so vividly that you will feel as if you are there with the heroines. This was such a wonderful book. I literally could not put it down when I started reading it on my vacation. I was not familiar at all with Chinese culture during this time period and it shocked me so much that I researched and read more about it for weeks after I finished the book. This book was well worth my money and time.
Lily and Snow Flower are the two main characters, and the book is about the special bond they share throughout their lives. It was a way for women to communicate in their sphere without the all knowing eye of the man being involved. This is what can sustain us through the hard times. Maybe the men thought it was unintelligible and not worth their time or energy to put effort into.What is the most beautiful part of the story and a lesson that all women can gain from, is that our frienships amoung our own sex are very important. I could only think of how excruciating the pain must have been while reading what both girls went though. The book talks about foot binding, and this is something that interested me alot.
I knew that it was done, but I had no idea how painful the actual procedure could be. I always thought the feet were actually bound like a mummy, but not breaking any bones. Lisa See has written a wonderful story about the friendship between two women in 19th century China. Important in life is to find that laotong which means "old same" like Lily and Snow Flower did. The secret language amoung women is also an interesting tidbit of history mentioned in the book. I dont know how many men were interested in the language, but it did flourish with the Chinese women during the book's era, not being stopped by men (who would have had the authority to do so). I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a really good read that is set in a historical context.
To me it was not beautiful, but as in the book, most men found this attractive for a desirable wife. Though sometimes things were not smooth sailing between the two, the bond still was there in some form. Just knowing that you can pick up the phone or email a good girlfriend when you have had a terrible day is what it is all about. Also, I could not imagine what the foot looked like, but I looked online for pictures and found some. Lily, in the book, was thought to have the most perfect bound feet, and thus, got a "great" catch for a husband. Though they used the fan to write messages and letters during the era of the book, there was some consolation in sharing good and bad fortune with another kindred spirit.
As so it was, I didn't. There, on the shelf at my eye-level, Snow Flower and Peony. a little love Valentine JUST FOR YOU. The other thing that I found highly respectable about Lisa See is that she went to the villages in China and actually spoke to the families and the women about this time in history. I'm very much looking forward to it.Okay, Lisa.
I've read more great books this month than I can ever remember doing before. I loved loved loved it. It will make you glad for modern medicine and the ability we have to live a life past the age of 40. It will reaffirm your gratefulness for the ability to live in a world in which women have rights to live the life they choose to. The story is told by Lily, who has survived an abnormally long life for her generation and has outlived nearly all of her relatives.
Sorry, books who had been longingly waiting for me. I devoured this book and feel that I'm going to have to show some restraint not to start Peony right away.Snow Flower and The Secret Fan is an epic tale of the true bonds of friendship and family between two women, Lily and Snow Flower. Like I said above, take my advice. I discovered in reading this novel that one in every ten girls died from this process. I came across a "New Books" section. (Aren't they beautiful).I could write and write about the intense nature of this story, the poetic form in which it was written, and the intricate storyline that it carries. I'm hooked.
The Review:Circa to my trip to the used book store. I started Snow Flower and Lisa was right. Lily shares her memories of her "Milk Years" which are the days of her youth before the torture of the foot binding process. I'm seriously thinking that January is my best reading month EVER. Nothing I needed in stock. A matchmaker arrives at her home and informs her parents that she may have the feet, beauty and refinement required to have a special friendship called a laotong in addition to marriage to a well-positioned citizen.
Here is an article (with photos) about the footbinding that occurred in China. However, other than that difference, all other requirements for the laotong are in place. you'll have to wait longer. She is better bred and from a wealthier family. not a sequel like I assumed) so, you might as well grab them both. I cruised around aimlessly looking. it's a lovely, extremely well written novel that captures your heart and you are so attached to the main characters, Snow Flower and Lily, that you simply can't put the book down.
Well. The majority of the important writing is conducted in poems on a fan that they share. That's just insane to me, however I understand that all cultures are different and times were much different. Lisa is coming out with a new book in May 2009 published by Random House, Shanghai Girls. I'm intrigued. for her husband, her life-long best friend, and her children. As a young girl, she is destined for an arranged marriage and her footbinding is a necessary preparation for such. So, after I finished my last book, I was excited to start a new one and although Snow Flower was the newest to the "To Be Read" pile, it was on top.
I personally thank her for doing that as I find the book reflects such historical accuracy in addition to the haunting tale. Of course, the credit cannot be used on new books, so I ended up purchasing both. These are the times of dowries and customs surrounding the match-making in marriages that all the plans are discussed at her young age of 6. But, you will discover that for yourself when you treat yourself and pick yourself up a copy. A $15 credit was issued.
Lily is to form this friendship with a lovely girl named Snow Flower from a village much more prosperous than hers. I suppose, other than for breeding. Now, back to Snow Flower. The reader is able to experience all of the rites of passage in these girls' lives including their marriages and childbearing years. hmmm. Plus, when I was purchasing them, the gal who worked there told me that she loved both books, especially Snow Flower. I did my friend Julie a favor by taking two boxes of books to the nearby used bookstore. BTW: I got two Jodi Picoult books for Julie with the credit.
Snow Flower has penned them as a pair of Mandarin Ducks. NO LUCK. Her footbinding was to begin, along with her sisters' at age 7. She saw and heard this information first hand and relayed it to the readers in utter perfection. The matchmaker travels with the girls to a festival for them to connect and write their contract in addition to the temple for prayer and meditation. It is only in the safety of that fact that she feels she is able to share her inner truth and her secrets.
I didn't care. It will remind you of the deep love within a woman. I looked for all sorts of books that I needed for my bookclub to buy with this credit. Lily and Snow Flower communicate over the years via writing nu shu, a secret women's language. The story is one of the Chinese rural culture in the 19th century in which Lily was born in 1823 and tells her tale in approximately 1903. I only hope that it is eventually made into a movie, because it would make an amazing one. Women, at that time, held no value. They sorted through them and purchased what they liked.
This book was remarkable to me in every way. You will be shocked. Lily and Snow Flower do find this connection and their life-long relationship commences.The book takes the reader through Lily's lifetime including the tormented days of the footbinding process (see article and photos below). treat yourself to a copy of this book if you haven't already read it. Lily also prepares for this arranged relationship that is a sworn relationship for life that includes a contract and a fee. Lisa is very never wrong when it comes to books.
Peony, in some ways, is a sequel.(just found out. Lily shares her life story in which she reveals the culture, customs, and truth about their way of life. The commitment to form the laotong relationship is also solidified. On Sher's "Out of 10 Scale:"In rating this book in the genre: Women's Fiction/Historical Fiction, I would rate this book an 10 out of 10. we're off to meet Lisa See.
I winced when the girls' feet were bound and I cried when I understood that they would follow different paths. Another heart-rending look into a family's tragedy. The cultural setting of the book was fascinating and felt somehow familiar, not at all as if the author was educating me about the nuances of pastoral China. This narrator reminded me of Amir, who narrates The Kite Runner, and his love-hate attitude toward his almost-brother Hassan. Emotionally and morally complex, this tale grips the heart and mind.
This was a fascinating story of how women lived in the days when their feet were bound and the secret writing they developed to communicate with each other. I enjoyed this book so very much. I believe you should enjoy books and learn something also. The relationship between the two main characters, Snow Flower and Lily, was so well written and the misunderstandings that can occur between friends, even to this modern day, are heartbreakingly portrayed. One of the best novels I've read in a long time.
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