Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Author: Lisa See
Rating: *****

This author was recommended to me by two friends -- sisters and avid readers. It seems they actually liked another of the author's books even better, but this is the one I happened to pick up first.

The story itself is intriguing and entertaining indeed, as well as terribly tragic and sad. But I found the back story about the ancient Chinese practice of foot-binding to be fascinating. The story was told from the viewpoint of Chinese women who embraced the concept that their beauty and desireability to a man depended on the successful creation of "golden lilies" feet. The process was described in painful detail.

"As the eldest,I went first, and I was determined to show how brave I could be. Mama washed my feet and rubbed them with alum, to contract the tissue and limit the inevitable secretions of blood and pus. She cut my toenails as short as possible. During this time, my bandages were soaked so that when they dried on my skin, they would tighten even more. Next, Mama took one end of a bandage, placed it on my instep,then pulled it over my four smallest toes to begin the process of rolling them underneath my foot. From here she wrapped the bandage back around my heel. Another loop around the ankle helped to seure and stabilize the first two loops. The idea was to get my toes and heel to meet, creating the cleft, but leaving my big toe to walk on. Mama repeated these steps until the entire bandage was used. Aunt and Grandmother looked over her shoulder the entire time, making sure no wrinkles saw their way into those loops. Finally, Mama sewed the end tightly shut so the bindings would not loosen and I would not be able to work my foot free . . . by now growing daggers of pain were shooting from our feet up our legs."

This takes place when a girl is just six or seven years old. Bones are broken repeatedly and the bindings are adjusted to create the perfect lilies. The story goes on to describe life for the cultured Chinese women, doing embroidery confined most of the time to an upper room, having a husband selected for them, with very limited walking as a result of the foot deformities--and the sometimes tragic results of this practice. Apparently, Chinese men found especially erotic the cleft in the foot formed by the toes being bent back to meet the heel.

Lisa See weaves an entrancing story, beautifully written, with wonderful characters and scenes from Chinese history. Her book is well researched and is said to be quite accurate historically, though the characters themselves are fictional.

Just after I read this book, someone forwarded pictures to me that could very well have been the main character in the book in her later years. I don't know where the pictures are from or who to credit for them, but they speak for themselves.

The Jane Austen Book Club

Title: The Jane Austen BookClub
Author: Karen Joy Fowler
Rating: **

I love books about book groups. I saw this on best seller lists for some time and watched for it to be out in paperback. I finally picked up the book on the "Buy 2 get 1 free" table at Barnes and Noble. I must say all three books proved to be equally disappointing.

This was a story of a group of women and one man who formed a book group in order to read the complete works of Jane Austen. Now I like Jane Austen just fine for light reading, and as the story unfolded I thought maybe this author was writing a parody with her own one-dimensional characters and slow plot. But as the story progressed, I had the sad realization that what it was was simple mediocre writing. And the last straw was when she confused "affect" and "effect". Pg 160, "Being rich doesn't effect the wanting . . ." No writer worth her salt would do that.

The author tells the story in an omniscient voice most of the time; therefore, able to reveal the thoughts of all her characters. However, once in awhile she disconcertingly drops a little comment directly to the reader. Pg 111, "Some bird had shat on the windshield . . . she drove home while peering around a large continent--Greece maybe or Greenland. Using the water and wipers would only make things worse. None of the driving was freeway, and she had mirrors, so it wasn't really as reckless as it sounded." Sounded? To whom? I was sort of like a corny play where the actor stage-whispers an observation to the audience. And suddenly i am no longer a voyeur on their world, I realize the author is quite aware of my presence.

If you can look past the flaws, this book is fine for light reading, but I recommend checking it out from the library. It's not one you'll want to own. But remember, this is only my opinion as it was on the New York Times bestseller list, so somebody liked it.

Small Wonder

Title: Small Wonder
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Rating: *****

Barbara Kingsolver is my favorite contemporary author. It’s only appropriate to launch this site with a review of her book. She has a new, non-fiction book out, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.” But I’ll leave that particular review for one of our other contributors, and choose instead for my topic one of her collections of essays, “Small Wonder”.

Many of us came across Kingsolver by way of her fiction, filled with characters and story lines that grabbed you from the first page and stayed with you long after the book ended. Starting with the heart-tugging “The Bean Trees”, I worked my way through all of her fiction. My favorite remains “The Poisonwood Bible”, being a girl who grew up in a rather fanatical religious environment myself. But it was Kingsolver’s collections of essays that gave me a whole new level of appreciation for the depth of her knowledge and work.

On September 25, 2001, following the terrible events of 9-11, Barbara published an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled “And Our Flag Was Still There.” It was intended to be an expression of her own patriotism while at the same time concern about the war toward which we were inevitably headed. Little did she anticipate the furor that would follow her heartfelt and patriotic words.

The backlash from the right-wing punditocracy was fierce. Barbara became a target of the ultra-conservative, pro-war attack machine, accused of being friendly to our enemies and unpatriotic. There was, at the time (understandably), a hysteria across the country, and people were being caught up in the “them and us” scenarios being fed to us by our government. Remember “Wanted Dead or Alive”? Or the deck of “52 Most Wanted”? Barbara even earned the 73rd spot on Bernard Goldberg's list of “100 People Who Are Screwing Up America”. Goldberg says, “In an op-ed she re-tells how she reluctantly let her daughter wear red-white-and-blue after 9/11 because, "the American flag stands for intimidation, censorship, violence, bigotry, sexism, homophobia . . . Who are we calling terrorists here?"

Well, that’s not exactly what she said. Her words were both taken out of context, and some words conveniently omitted to make a point. But those who misrepresented her words appear foolish when the full text is read:

"Patriotism seems to be falling to whoever claims it loudest, and we're left struggling to find a definition in a clamor of reaction. This is what I'm hearing: Patriotism opposes the lone representative of democracy who was brave enough to vote her conscience instead of following an angry mob. (Several others have confessed they wanted to vote the same way, but chickened out.) Patriotism threatens free speech with death. It is infuriated by thoughtful hesitation, constructive criticism of our leaders and pleas for peace. It despises people of foreign birth who've spent years learning our culture and contributing their talents to our economy. It has specifically blamed homosexuals, feminists and the American Civil Liberties Union. In other words, the American flag stands for intimidation, censorship, violence, bigotry, sexism, homophobia, and shoving the Constitution through a paper shredder? Who are we calling terrorists here? Outsiders can destroy airplanes and buildings, but it is only we, the people, who have the power to demolish our own ideals. "

She was right. Some of us recognized it at the time, and more of us see it now – now that it’s well known we were lied into a war of aggression (not pre-emption), a war that had nothing to do with 9-11.

“And Our Flag Was Still There” became the anchor for her new (at the time) book of essays, “Small Wonder.” It is powerful and moving. You must read the entire essay to truly understand the genuine patriotism in her message.

"So we sent her to school in red, white and blue, because it felt to her like something she could do to help people who are hurting. And because my wise husband put a hand on my arm and said, 'You can't let hateful people steal the flag from us.'"

Many of the essays in “Small Wonder” appeared previously in print in other venues, and some were updated to reflect current times and subsequent events. They cover a wide range of topics, some humorous, some serious, but all with an important message. It is a collection well worth reading, and I do highly recommend it.

Also see the Barbara Kingsolver web site.

Bekkieann's Book Reviews

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