1: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan -- By Lisa See

[fitfool]

I've decided to record the books I read here in LJ-land too. Here's the first book I've read for 2006.


Set in China in the 1800s, this novel follows the life of Lily from her childhood agonies of foot binding to the scary days of marrying and moving to a stranger's home to her life as an adult. Throughout the hardships of being a woman in China, she is sustained through her friendship with her laotong ("Old Same") which seems to be like a formalized soulmate. They communicate with a secret written language that only the women know about.

I really wanted to like this since it had come highly recommended and the opening lines drew me in immediately. I liked learning about the traditions and ceremonies of women in China but I felt irritated for most of the time I was reading this. I can't tell if the book felt overwritten and soap opera-ish or if I was just frustrated with a whole way of life that I would never have accepted. It's told in first-person and if I had ever met Lily, I would've hated her. Granted, it's not surprising Lily becomes who she is given her upbringing and social brainwashing so maybe the book should be given credit for making the time and place believable enough to make me dislike a fictional character so much. The author clearly did a lot of research but maybe this would've worked better presented as non-fiction.




    "I am what they call in our village 'one who has not yet died' -- a widow, eighty years old. Without my husband, the days are long. I no longer care about the special foods that Peony and the others prepare for me. I no longer look forward to the happy events that settle under our roof so easily. Only the past interests me now. After all this time, I can finally say the things I couldn't when I had to depend on my natal family to raise me or rely on my husband's family to feed me. I have a whole life to tell; I have nothing left to lose and few to offend.
    I am old enough to know only too well my good and bad qualities, which were often one and the same." (opening lines)

    "All I knew was that footbinding would make me more marriageable and therefore bring me closer to the greatest love and greatest joy in a woman's life -- a son. To that end, my goal was to achieve a pair of perfectly bound feet with seven distinct attributes." (from page 25)
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Goal for this year is to read 50 books. Here's the list so far.

1. 1/3 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan --By Lisa See 253pp
   

Comments

[smoochie.livejournal.com]

have you seen/read Geisha ?

OMG !

the movie was amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing !

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

No I haven't seen or read it yet but my sister just gave me the book so I'll be reading it soon. Had you read the book too? How does it compare to the movie?

[smoochie.livejournal.com]

no i hadn't.

maybe we could do a book swap.

i'd love to read the book.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Possibly. Though it would be a long wait since this particular copy already has 2 people in line for it. :)

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was supposed to get one of those "Mom and Dad will arrange D2 to marry a daughter of one of Mom and Dad's friend" arrangements. That, by my request, has been temporarily been put on hold, however.

Dunno, though, sometimes it just seems easier to do the arrangement thing...

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Only temporarily on hold? The arranged marriage seems like such a crap shoot. At least when you do your own dating you can try out different partners and see how you get along. If you let your parents pick, it's a one-shot deal. Still, I do know of some American-born Indian friends who had let their parents arrange their marriages. I was flabbergasted but hope it works out for them. I know my parents look at really different things in men than I do so I couldn't ever go the arranged route.

[cmmunchkin.livejournal.com]

Have you read "Waiting" by Ha Jin? You probably wouldn't like it either. :) Kind of the same promotion of traditional female values, I thought.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

But Waiting was really well-written! I'm not sure either of these two books is trying to promote the traditional roles for women though. In both novels, the characters are victims of the standard, traditional ways of thinking. In both, the characters quietly try to carry out their duties as they understand them. But Ha Jin maintains his story-telling tone of voice throughout and never makes the main character into someone to loathe (more like someone to pity). But in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I felt the storytelling voice became almost didactic and the main character's actions seem unnecessarily cruel even eithin the context of the social mores of her time and place. So while I pitied her for being stuck, I also disliked her for recognizing the pains and burdens that women suffer and yet not trying to do anything to ease the way for any of the women around her. So this one just didn't work for me. Did you like Waiting?

[cmmunchkin.livejournal.com]

You're right... I don't think the point of Waiting is to promote traditional roles for women, although it did sort of have that message. I thought Waiting was pretty slow. And although I didn't loathe Lin, I was rolling my eyes and shaking my head. As in... he was trying to turn away from these traditions and cultural expectations, but eventually realized that it was what he wanted all along. Seemed like a mixed message.

The book was actually selected as the common experience book for freshmen at the college I work at. I think it was relevant for them to an extent, as we saw Lin's identity development. However, I think the students would have related to it more if we didn't see Lin finally figuring out who he was and what he wanted when he was older (I don't remember exactly how old he was). I definitely wouldn't have selected this for that purpose.

The book was okay. Not one of my favorites. When I got to the end, it was definitely a feeling of "I read all that just for that?"

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I also chafed under the slow pace of Waiting. However, Nicholson Baker wins the prize for author who has most tested my patience and still kept me long enough to finish the book. Did you ever read The Mezzanine? Painstakingly minute and trivial detail for pages and pages. I had really enjoyed two other books of his (Vox and The Fermata) so I kept reading The Mezzanine, hoping that I would finally be let in on why he was writing out all that detail but I never felt like I got the point of it. Just felt frustrated in the end. But yeah...Waiting wasn't my favorite either but I still liked it better than Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. The more I think about it, the more I think it's because I would not have liked the narrator had I met her in person. Do you like this genre of books? I'm Chinese American but I was born and raised in the States and I'm only now trying to learn more about my ethnic heritage.

[cmmunchkin.livejournal.com]

I don't specifically like or dislike this genre. I picked up Waiting as a recommendation from folks at work. The author came to campus. I don't really specifically like any genre except sci-fi/fantasy. Aside from that, I just pick up books that people recommend or that look interesting. I really like reading any type of fiction. I'm interested in your quest to post about your fity books you'll read this year, as I may get some good recommendations from you. :)

And that's a great point about the book testing the patience but still holding your interest long enough to finish the book. That's a great way to word it!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

While I like sci-fi/fantasy I haven't read too many in that genre. Lately, the only recommendations I've been offering in that category have been Ender's Game and The Golden Compass (that whole trilogy). I loved both of them and haven't really returned to that genre. I keep meaning to read the Disc World series though. Any other recommendations?

[cmmunchkin.livejournal.com]

I have only recently become a big fan of the genre, so there is still a lot that is on my reading list. Ender's Game is also on my to-read list. I'm currently working on finishing Robert Jordan's Eye of the World series. I really like it, but a lot of people think it moves way too slowly.

I also really like Ursula K. LeGuin. I've read her Left Hand of Darkness and Gifts. I plan on reading her Earthsea Cycles books as well.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Is Eye of the World his Wheel of Time series? Which book are you on? I haven't read any of them but a) there are a zillion books in the series b) they're all really long c) years go by while you wait for the next one to show up so that you really lose track of all the plot lines. I don't know about the earlier books but certainly for the more recent books, I've heard many complaints that he drags the pace and seems to show no signs of wrapping up the series. You must must read Ender's Game. Go get that from your library and use that for a break from A Heartbreaking Work...

Thanks for the recommendation on Ursula K. LeGuin.

[cmmunchkin.livejournal.com]

Hahaha.. yes, his Wheel of Time series. I was distracted while typing that. I just finished book 8, I believe. And all of those complaints are certainly true. :) Except for the dragging of the pace. They do slow down, but I don't find myself bored with them. My best friend has been reading them since junior high, I think. Waiting and waiting for the next to come out. I don't usually recommend it to people, but I like it.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Maybe it helps that you don't have to wait for years before you can get the next book so you don't lose track of as much of what's going on. Go get Ender's Game! I bet Chip would like it too.

[gwytherinn.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I have this book... maybe I'll try it out. I really loved Memoirs of a Geisha, though I read it a lonnnng time ago. Haven't seen the movie though... I'm always scared it will just ruin the magic of the book.

Red Azalea by Anchee Min (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425147762/qid=1136446630/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4115632-1936961?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) was incredible. A memoir about growing up during the Cultural Revolution. I read one of her fiction books, Becoming Madame Mao, which I thought was eh. Keep meaning to pick up her other books.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to reading Memoirs of a Geisha. I try to the book and the film separate in my head to steel myself against such disappoitments. Despite the not-so-great reviews of the movie, I'm tempted to see it (after I've read the book) since Ken Watanabe's in it.

Thanks for the recommendation. The Cultural Revolution still seems bizarre. I didn't believe it had happened the first time I heard about it since it seemed so antithetical to everything I had heard of the Chinese attitudes about valuing education.

[gwytherinn.livejournal.com]

Well, I do have to concur about being at least tempted to see Memoirs of a Geisha, as I read it's visually incredible, and I just love really colorful, vivid movies. But I think the other side of me will win out hehe... Though it's been so long since I read it, what's the difference?

I find the Cultural Revolution fascinating... Finally found another memoir I had picked up awhile ago, but never read: A Lead in the Bitter Wind (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1886913536/qid=1136710731/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-4115632-1936961?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) by Ting-Xing Ye.

I have way too many unread books hehe....

[gwytherinn.livejournal.com]

Oops... that would be Leaf, not Lead.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I definitely know the feeling of having too many books lying around. But it's a nice problem to have :)