Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in Reading with Style

Nov 11, 2009 Jayme(theghostreader) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: raw-books

I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved the narrative. I really loved Lily and Snow Flower and I cried at the end. It showed a friendship i can only dream of having.

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Aug 18, 2009 Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, fiction, f-general, source-library, format-audiobook

In nineteenth-century China, six-year old Lily is just beginning the rituals towards becoming a woman. As per custom, her foot is to be bound and her marriage fixed in a few years, even though it will be much later before she starts staying with her to-be-husband. Even before she begins her initiation, her fate and that of her aunt's daughter, Beautiful Moon, are beginning to get intertwined with that of a girl named Snow Flower.

I listened to this book a couple of months back, and my review com In nineteenth-century China, six-year old Lily is just beginning the rituals towards becoming a woman. As per custom, her foot is to be bound and her marriage fixed in a few years, even though it will be much later before she starts staying with her to-be-husband. Even before she begins her initiation, her fate and that of her aunt's daughter, Beautiful Moon, are beginning to get intertwined with that of a girl named Snow Flower.

I listened to this book a couple of months back, and my review comes really late. So while I probably forgot a few points, there is so much about this book that is still with me. For starters, I am not an audiobook fan, but I'm beginning to understand that it's more due to unengaging narrators than the audio book itself. Janet Song, the narrator of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, does an impressive job in evoking the character emotions and conveying the tragedies and happiness.

Girls in China had their feet bound at six years of age. I had previously read only one book which involved foot binding, and even then I assumed it was a harmless custom. Harmless! Girls could die from foot binding, and that was a really shocking piece of news for me. Everything I needed to know about this custom came from the second chapter of this book. Lisa See (and Janet Song, through her narration) captures the dangers of this custom very well - the pain, the cracks heard as the bones broke, the compulsory walks across the room on bound feet, the regular removal of the bindings only to put on a clean set even more tightly - all to bend the feet completely, so that the person appears to walk on tip-toes. Imagine your feet and your pointed heels as one object - that's how a bound feet would look like. I have never been more appreciative of the feet I have, in fact, I have almost sworn-off pointed heels because of what they'll remind me. And if the bindings aren't done properly? You can get gangrene or blood poisoning. The ideal size is apparently 7 inches (if my memory serves me right). 7 inches is not even a foot.

Most of this book focuses on the "friendship" between Lily and Snow Flower. I use friendship for want of a better word. Because, what exists between the two is a relationship closer than that between friends, sisters or a married couple. In China, it is called laotong, which is signed in contract - just like arranged marriages. Snow Flower is from an ostensibly richer town and a richer house. Lily is financially at a lower strata. While Lily's mother is only interested in the monetary benefits, the real situation is a lot more complicated. Having been brought up in the ways of the rich, Snow Flower has a very sophisticated manner of doing anything. Her education is more solid and her mannerisms more lady-like.

I wish I could go on about this book, but apart from the first couple chapters, the rest constitute spoilers. There is so much that happens in this book. The women are understood to have no say in a lot of matters, with men dictating all the rules, and yet it is obvious that the women have more power than Lily admits. Most of this story is from the perspective of women, and for all I know, the men hardly exist other than as props. It is interesting how much a woman can do even within a limited or non-existent freedom. As a daughter-in-law, the pressures on one are really great, but as a mother of sons, she has more status.

As was the norm in many countries in the nineteenth century (and still is in most places), sons are most coveted, while daughters are considered worthless. I cringed so many times through the book whenever the sentiment was expressed. Lily, herself, was not without fault. You would expect that one who goes through so many hardships as her, would at least try to unburden her daughter. But this is like the snake that bit its own tail - a cycle that never ceases. I both hated and loved Lily as the narrator. Lisa See was taking a risk by making her the narrator. Lily was clearly no ideal woman. She passed on her burdens to her daughter, glorified her son (in fact, she talks a LOT of her son). She is selfish and arrogant, and she begins to doubt her own friend, Snow Flower.

I was, however, annoyed by how much tragedy seems to befall people around Lily, while Lily just keeps getting luckier. I know that's not coincidental but circumstantial, nevertheless all that tragedy was just wearing me out. Every once in while, I wondered if I could just get through a part without having to sniff a bit. Other than the overdose of tears, I found this book really wonderful. I will especially recommend the audio book over the print. ...more

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Feb 28, 2012 Jackie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

More like three and a half stars. I thought the story itself was a little weak, but the details of the lives that these women lead had me hooked.

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Apr 27, 2011 Foxy Grandma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, gr-authors, zz-src-challange

I enjoy historical fiction and this book delves into the mid-nineteenth century Hunan China culture, especially the practice of foot-binding and the lower caste of women in that culture. It also follows the friendship of two women and how women of that time dealt with their lives and expectations. They express themselves in messages they send to each other on fans using a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret away from the influences of men. The story was w ...more

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