Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-12-04 rating:
WONDERFUL, FABULOUS AND MAGNIFICENT READ!

Though we often say upon beginning to describe a wonderful book we have just finished: 'this is the best book I have ever read', (and like many, I have used that phrase before) all too often, some time later, we feel the need to say the same again of another book we finish, and so one afterwards is left asking themselves the question: 'what indeed IS the best book I have ever read'? Well, I have no doubt it has to be this!

'Snow Flower And The Secret Fan' was simply wonderful! No book I have ever read made me openly 'weep' through the whole of a chapter... So much so, that I was convinced that these had been 'real' people and had existed. In fact, I wanted to believe it - not sure why when in parts the story was so painful and sad, but perhaps in my subconscious I did not wish to believe that I had been so 'taken in' by fictional people - or by such a talented Writer? The mystery will never be solved, but this novel is simply beautiful...

An early chapter left me feeling somewhat 'disturbed' by its immense detail. Though by nature I am not a 'squeamish' sort of person, I was in fact deeply affected by the chapter that dealt with the whole process of 'footbinding' and the suffering this involved (the breaking of bones in the feet - along with them hanging loosely within the flesh until they 'fused') I found this very difficult and hard-going, and just wanted to get past it... However, the book is also extremely educational for all of us who are ignorant of what these sorts of cultures are about - after all, these things did go on, and so thus it is very informative. I also love a book with 'surprises', and the hard-hitting event surrounding the life of 'Beautiful Moon' that came quite out of the blue got me immediately 'hooked'!

Just having reached the moment when I thought I could not pity 'Snow Flower' any more, I ended up breaking my heart, and the chapter at the very end of the story - and the end of life for 'Lady Lu', it also left me feeling very 'melancholic'. But this is not simply a novel that is a 'weepy', or overly sentimental; it's worth far greater appraise than that, and I would recommend it to anyone. In all of the books I have ever read, I feel sure when I say that I shall never forget this one, and all that it was about; friendship, love, kindness, forgiveness, pain, suffering, relationships, and so it goes on...

If I possessed the fan that Snow Flower and Lady Lu created, then I feel sure I should be able to add much to it myself for such was the impact of this tremendous read!

A truly magnificent and wonderful book that everyone should both read and treasure forever!

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review by: date: 2008-11-06 rating:
Secret is out!
Lisa See has a way with words, and it is a beautiful way...


Its a beautiful book that i bought and read in 2 days and recently read again.

Beautiful story. Give it a go, wont regret it i promise!

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review by: Book lover date: 2008-10-12 rating:
I could not put it down.
It took me exactly five hours to read it, it is an absolutely beautiful book portraying the customs of the chinese cultures focusing on the women and how they lived their lives or rather how they survivied being born as the 'lesser sex', begging for their mother's attention and going through the tortures binding and the rituals of marriage.
It also reveals the nature of friendship in olden china, which is quite similar and as commited as marriage, between Snow fan and Snow flower and how it continued up to their adult lives and... well i wont spoil it but it is a book worth its weight in gold

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review by: realreader date: 2008-07-28 rating:
dreamy rubbish
If you're looking for something like Memoirs of a Geisha (which was a lovely story that became overly romantic in the last section) then this book is not it. It's really badly written, difficult to stick with, and glosses over some of the major cultural differences that we in the west have with the east. Foot binding is dealt with in about 10 minutes! She seems to have excruciating pain and broken feet one minute, and then she's fine the next. I thought it was silly, with not enough detail to make it a fascinating insight into this culture.


review by: lisabookworm date: 2008-07-03 rating:
A great insight into life in China years ago
I must say, I don't normally do it, but I picked this book to read as I loved the cover. I didn't really know what it was about but decided to give it a go. I found it a little slow initially but as I got into it I was enthralled. I fell in love with the two main characters and totally immersed myself into their way of life. I found their culture really interesting and was carried through the book with them through their highs and their lows. It was a really great read and would highly recommend it.

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