Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Snow flower and the secret fan- Lisa See

Snowflower is a story of two friends in China during the 1800s. The story is told through the eyes of Lily as she describes her life and her friendship with Snowflower. Through Lily's eyes we see her recount her life now as an older widow. She describes her foot binding process, the way it is to be female in olden China, the pressure for women to be subervient to everyone, to give birth to sons, and to always put everyone else's needs above her own. After all, a woman is worthless, Lily reminds us several times in the book.

What is striking about Lisa See's book is that she does not put down any of the thing that were. Foot binding is painful and she doesn't condone it, but she does not condemn it. She writes as though she is Lily. She truly believes she is worthless as a woman though she clearly finds ways to overcome it. She accepts the times of that day, and the book is written in that very clear detached tone. What I'm trying to say is her story is not preachy as some books can be about past practices which were heinous and terrible. Yes foot binding is bad, but in China, at that time, it was the way things were. See does describe the negative consequences of foot binding, how women grew crippled, and sometimes died from it. BUT she does not make this book into "look how barbaric Chinese people are". I appreciate the objective tone of the book.

Their friendship is very realistic and very touching. Lily and Snowflower start out as friends in an unequal relationship. Snow Flower is wealthy and comes from refinement while Lily is the son of a farmer and her prospects are not as great. In marriage, Lily grows in stature while Snowflower diminishes and the balance in their relationship also slips though its clear through reading the book that it was never meant by Lily for this to happen. It reminds me very much of the relationship between Amir and Hassan in the Kite Runner.

I recommend this book. Its a good read, its a good educational lesson in history, and the characters stay with you for some time.

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