Stuff That Matters In Life

Another tragic tale about women that I should not have read. Sad novels put me in a depressed mood for a week.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is a story of two women in China who went through many trying circumstances, most of them merely for being born a woman. I read 1/3 of the book, then read the ending. I was going to return the book to my friend, but somehow I was drawn to reading the rest of it because of the interesting Chinese customs that were described. Assuming the author is accurate in describing the rituals of foot-binding, arranged marriages, and the superstitions of that time, it gave me some understanding of the Chinese culture.

However, the story itself was not that inspiring, in fact, it was quite shallow. It tried hard to provoke deep sympathies for the characters but it did not succeed with me.

The book began with the story of 2 seven-year-old girls who were contracted to be lifetime friends. Fate took the two women down unexpected different paths of life but their relationship remained strong through the difficulties of famine, disease, war, and separation. So far so good. Then a mere trivial misunderstanding severed the relationship for many years and they were brought back together in the last weeks of life of one of the women who suffered from cancer. That was lame. The surviving woman realized the true value of her friend, and lamented her shortcomings the rest of her life.

Even though I didn’t like the book, I am still so affected by it. Now I won’t be able to have happy dreams for a week. I don’t like sad movies either. No chick flicks for me, thanks.