(3/8/2008)
I can't sleep for three days after reading 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan'. Lisa was able to tell the dynamics of the women's bondage as is. No right. No wrong. No religious connotation. I am deeply touched. I was really moved by Lisa's keen observation. She is able to write about it without being torn apart. I was born and raised in Taiwan. I can attest to the dynamics of the women's relationship which is true even in today's society. Lisa was able to analyze the boundary of men's world and the women's world. I don't even know the detail of binding the feet. My parents would not tell me about the old times, citing too painful to talk about. Now since women are reading the men's world , I still don't know the detail of the foot binding era, some of the tragedies also are brushed over in the literature because it's either too painful or too insignificant being a personal account, for both man and woman. Women's writing, of course, even less mentioned. Among my friends, who are from the similar background, would not be able to discuss the subject at length without because it's too painful and too depressing. Lisa spent a lot of time to get the oral history. Then she truthfully recorded it without self projection. This is a book that every Chinese woman should read. It's not a novel. It's an autobiography of blood and tears.