Comments on: Book Review – Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

By: Beth F

Beth F — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:53:55 +0000

I loved this book. I was so caught up in their lives.

By: Phyl

Phyl — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:45:55 +0000

I was astonished that it didn’t feel as gross or disturbing as I expected. I mean, yeah, there were some details about what was going on, that were disturbing, but somehow you felt relatively distant from the experience. Hard to describe — in some books, I feel like I’m living the experience with the protagonist, but in this case it felt like you were a more distant observer. For which I was immensely thankful!

By: Phyl

Phyl — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:43:51 +0000

I was so surprised that it was already so well-known; I must have just missed reviews about it in other blogs. It’s been a great experience to pick up the book by “accident” and suddenly discover what a great and acclaimed book it really was.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:53:36 +0000

I’ve seen so many great things about this one. Great review!

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Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:57:19 +0000

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By: Nicola O.

Nicola O. — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:53:07 +0000

It sounds like a lovely book but I don’t think I have the stomach to read about the bindings.

By: Phyl

Phyl — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:51:32 +0000

What really surprised me in this book was finding out that the foot binding didn’t just happen to upper class ladies, but to all except the absolute poorest. So a lot of women in this book still had to do tough household work every day. I was surprised to find out that it was even possible, after the foot binding. It really made me shudder.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:16:58 +0000

Looking at some of things historically (and even now) people do to disfigure their children, it can really make one shake one’s head. But having one’s feet bound could make the difference between marrying a man of means (who could afford a wife leading a life of leisure) and a life of hard toil and possible starvation (as was not uncommon among the peasantry). Under those circumstances, it might not seem so bad.

I remember reading “The Good Earth” by Pearl Buck when I was a teenager. It opened my eyes to the kinds of hardships people faced not that long ago.