Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in Crazy Challenge Connection

May 18, 2020 Chaitra rated it did not like it

Shelves: historical-fiction, womens-literature, china

This was absolute torture. I have tried to read a couple of other Lisa See books and I haven’t had any success with them either. I don’t like the way the language flows, it’s affected and flowery and I don’t know, it makes me want to pull out my hair. I guess it would have been better had I listened to an audiobook, because then I could tune out some of the things I didn’t care for, but an audio version was not available. And anyway the melodrama would still be present.

The main problem I had wit ...more

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Aug 02, 2014 Olivermagnus rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: zfeb-2022, historical-fiction, 2022, china

This is a beautifully written fictional memoir of 80-year old Lily as she looks back on her life in 19th century China. At age seven she enters a “laotang” relationship with Snow Flower and they will be
considered “old sames”. This bond will be stronger than that of parent and child or husband and wife. It will be sustained over decades by writing each other in the secret language of nu shu (woman’s writing). Lily and Snow Flower share eight important criteria, including having their feet bound ...more

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Apr 02, 2016 Jan rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, zz-finished-in-2016, book-club-etc

This book was an interesting yet sad account of women in feudal China. I didn't find it truly compelling and thought about putting it aside several times. It was a depressing account of our flawed natures - and I may be in the small minority here but I didn't think Lily was the only person who erred in this longstanding friendship. But what I take away from the story is the importance of forgiveness and most of the time the hardest person to forgive is usually ourselves. ...more

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Feb 19, 2016 Megalion rated it it was amazing

Shelves: year-read-2016, ccc-2016-countdown, from-shelfari, recommend-highly, genre-historical-fiction, loc-china, theme-female-relationships, z-kw-nu-shu, z-kw-secret-language, theme-herstory

Some of the best things about historical fiction are well researched pieces use fiction to bring to life actual history.

Nu Shu was a secret language of women that existed for hundreds of years unknown to men. It formed as a way for women to stay in touch with their natal female relatives.

Footbinding, a horrid archaic practice but I agree with Lisa's approach to it. From the afterword: "Many preconceptions and misconceptions surround footbinding. It's easy to equate it with the horrific practice
Some of the best things about historical fiction are well researched pieces use fiction to bring to life actual history.

Nu Shu was a secret language of women that existed for hundreds of years unknown to men. It formed as a way for women to stay in touch with their natal female relatives.

Footbinding, a horrid archaic practice but I agree with Lisa's approach to it. From the afterword: "Many preconceptions and misconceptions surround footbinding. It's easy to equate it with the horrific practice of female genital mutilation in Africa, the tradition of shrouding women in burkas in the Middle East, or even the strange, peculiar and often extreme cosmetic surgery treatments that so many American women seek. But I didn't want to put my contemporary Western values on the practice. Rather, I wanted to write about footbinding from the perspective of the women and girls who had grown up with it. For me, this brought up a lot of questions: How does a culture decide what is beautiful? How does our worth as women change according to that sense of beauty? How can a mother put her daughter through such agony? And what would it mean to have achieved the socially accepted and acknowledged beauty of three inch feet yet be hobbled or possibly crippled in the process?"

For me, Lisa succeeds beautifully.

Something else that likely led to the very intense and vivid feelings of being there, Lisa had a very bad accident and was laid up for months. "In a strange way, I felt as though my feet had been nound, since I was confined to my home and cut off from the rest of the world. .... The friends I thought would be supportive, weren't, while others brought food and treats, drove me to doctors' appointments and in every way acted as sworn sisters. My confinement and isolation, and the kindness and generosity of the women who cared for me, gave me a visceral experience of the nu shu women and their world."

It's no wonder this is one of Lisa See's more infamous books and one I've also seen on "must read" lists. If you haven't read it yet, don't put it off much longer.

Probably the best book I've read about this era and culture for its success in transporting me there. Felt like I learned and understand much more about it than before.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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Aug 17, 2018 Linda C rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, asian

Snow Flower & Lily are brought together as a contractual laotong, “old same” match at age 7. They will remain close for their lifetime. The process of foot-binding at the same age was graphically described, poor kids. By 10 they are in arranged marriage contracts. The story is told from Lily's point of view. Life is harsh but especially for girls. Traditions reinforce this & only when a girl is lucky enough to have a son & end up as the mother-in-law in a household does she have any power. The m ...more

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Sep 22, 2017 Alison (Lady Coffin) S rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: contests, one-color-covers, asian-connection, 201-300-pages, 5-star-books

very good
Hard to read in some ways, but well written.
Also, even if it is fictional, it could have been true and so it is eye-opening in many ways. Gives us a window into what life was like for Women in China in the past.

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