Lisa See 2005
This is a fascinating historical novel of a delicate, tender love and kinship between Snow Flower and Lily set against the background of ancient Puwei, Yongming County in 19th century China during the times of foot binding, arranged marriages, arranged friendships amongst Laotong or old sames and the period of nu shu, the secret code writing of women, for this story, on a secret fan.
"I am what they call in our village "One who has not yet died"--a widow, eighty years old."
"I am still learning about love. I thought I understood it--not just mother love, but the love for one's parents, for one's husband, and for one's laotong. I've experienced the other types of love--pity love, respectful love and gratitude love. But looking at our secret fan with its messages written between Snow Flower and me over many years, I see that I didn't value the most important love--deep-heart love."
"I begun what I called Cutting a Disease from my Heart. anytime a memory came into my mind, I painted over it with black ink. If my sight fell upon a memory, I drove it away by closing my eyes...I tried to clear everything down to bare earth, knowing this was the only way I could protect my damaged heart."
"The girl is indeed very lovely, but golden lilies are far more important in life than a pretty face. A lovely face is a gift from Heaven, but tiny feet can improve social standing."
"Unlike men's writing, a nu shu character does not represent a single word. Rather, our characters are phonetic in nature. As a result, one character can represent every spoken word with that same sound."
"A laotong match is as significant as a good marriage... A laotong relationship is made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity."
"You can't fight your fate...It is predestined."
"Her restraint and control taught me a lesson I have not strayed from to this day. You may be desperate, but never let anyone see you as anything less than a cultivated woman."
"As in most marriages, the most important person for me to build a relationship with was my mother-in-law."
"Everyone knows that the human body is a miniature version of the universe--the eyes and ears are the sun and moon, breath is air, blood is rain."
"Red eggs--a symbol of life dyed red for celebration--were given to the guests and relatives. A grand banquet was served with birds-nest soup, salted birds that had been pickled for six months, and wine-fed duck stewed with ginger, garlic and fresh red and green hot peppers."
"When a girl, obey your father; when a wife, obey your husband; when a widow, obey your son. But my mother-in-law taught me another axiom one day, when she was aggravated with her husband: "Obey, obey, obey, then do what you want.""
No comments:
Post a Comment