Little Thoughts About Books and Stuff

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan   by Lisa See It Begins:   Sitting Quietly I am what they call in our village "one who has not yet died" -- a widow, eighty years old.  On Page 56: As women, we are told never to discuss our bound feet, that it is improper and unladylike, and that such conversation only inflames the passions of men. But we were girls and still in the process of our footbinding. These things were not memories, like they are for me now, but pain and suffering we were living at the time.  Verdict: I'm barely a quarter of a way into the book and there are so many emotions while I read.  I'm disturbed by the descriptions of footbinding, but moved by the friendship starting between Lily and Snow Flower. I'm heart broken for the women but also happy for their strength because of their positions...

Currently Reading: Title:  Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Author:  Lisa See Date Started:  September 12 Goodreads Summary:  In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, an “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s written a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on the fan and compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together they endure the agony of footbinding and reflect upon their arranged marriages, their loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace in their friendship, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a...