Journal Entry 1 by Beloved49 from Lynbrook, New York USA on Friday, August 26, 2005

Read the review, sounded good. Pick this book up in FL. in A Million Books. 

Journal Entry 2 by Beloved49 from Lynbrook, New York USA on Monday, September 26, 2005

This is a one of a kind novel. A bitter sweet journey through two young girls lives as "same olds". Together they face the horror of foot binding and loveless marriage. Their secret writing helps them to grow in both love and, the joys of becoming women. A wonderful tearful learning of each others hearts. 

Journal Entry 3 by Beloved49 from Lynbrook, New York USA on Monday, September 26, 2005

Journal Entry 4 by Lotusflower77 from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Thanks very much, Beloved49, for sharing this much-talked-about book with me. Thanks also for the additional information on Nushu and for a print out of the script. I find all this talk about the women having a secret language quite fascinating and I can't wait to dive into the book. I know it will be a wonderful treat. Hope you get your books soon. 

Journal Entry 5 by Lotusflower77 from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Saturday, November 19, 2005

Not since "Kiterunner" have I been so impressed with a novel. It's one of those stories that touches your heart while breaking it too.

I will be writing a longer review on my bookblog.

Beloved49, thank you once again for sharing this wonderful book with me. I would like to keep it for my daughters to read when they are a little older. 

Journal Entry 6 by Lotusflower77 from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Thursday, December 01, 2005

Reserved for my bookcrossing buddy, Hellomelissa. I'm so glad she asked for it because I thought of her several times as I read the book; I just knew that it would be something she'd enjoy. 

Journal Entry 7 by hellomelissa from Pittsboro, North Carolina USA on Monday, December 26, 2005

yay! i can't wait to read this. i've been reading so many books set in china, it'll be nice addition. thanks again, lotusflower! 

Journal Entry 8 by hellomelissa from Pittsboro, North Carolina USA on Tuesday, March 07, 2006

i really loved this book, i think it would have been "fresher" had i not recently finished a book on footbinding and done a bunch of research about it.

read lotusflower77's review of it at http://lotusreads.blogspot.com 

Journal Entry 9 by hellomelissa from Pittsboro, North Carolina USA on Saturday, March 11, 2006

sending as a RABCK to BarterHordes. hope you enjoy it as much as i did! 

Journal Entry 10 by BarterHordes from Aberdeen, North Carolina USA on Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Thank you so much, hellomellissa! The kindness of bookcrossers never ceases to amaze me. I have two book rays in line in front of this one, but I'm anxious to get to it soon. 

Journal Entry 11 by BarterHordes from Aberdeen, North Carolina USA on Sunday, April 23, 2006

I don’t know if it’s the fault of the book or my own fault, but I wanted something more from the novel. The first third reminded me somewhat of Memoirs of a Geisha—and not just because both cover Asian subjects—but I was disappointed by the second half. I kept expecting something...different...to happen, I guess. The emotional turmoil was well-wrought, but it didn't inspire me as much as her writing style made me anticipate. And I'm not explaining this well at all, I know.

Let's just say I wanted to love it, but didn't. Nonetheless, I appreciate your sharing it with me and I'll search for someone new to share it with soon. 

Journal Entry 12 by BarterHordes from Aberdeen, North Carolina USA on Tuesday, April 25, 2006

A number of people have this one on their wish lists, so I've set up a bookray for it. If you're interested in joining the list, please send me a PM.

Here's the order:
Sedeara (MN)
Cinnamon-Girl (NC)
Czersk (MN)
JeepACV (MD)
morsecode (NY)
Sidney1220 (VA)
tobysrus (MA)
pjmom8025 (MN)
TinkEsq (OH) 

Journal Entry 13 by Sedeara from Duluth, Minnesota USA on Friday, May 12, 2006

I got this book as part of a book ray. I couldn't resist starting it right away and I've read the first couple chapters. It looks like a good read! 

Journal Entry 14 by Sedeara from Duluth, Minnesota USA on Tuesday, June 13, 2006

This book read more like an autobiography than a novel--which makes sense since it was set up as if this 80 year old woman were recording her life. But the skimming-the-surface style really irritated me--a baby was born and three pages later he's having his 5th birthday, and all this time you never got a sense of his personality. I also felt like this book was more a way to showcase the author's knowledge of Chinese customs than to actually tell a story. The plot was just a succession of events without anything really pulling it together, and many of the characters were very sketchy.

I did really love reading about the relationship between Snow Flower and the narrator and all the layers involved in female friendship, and I liked the hints of homoeroticism and how the author subtly planted the idea that Lily (the narrator) was most likely a lesbian--but she portrayed it in such a way that neither Lily nor many of the book's readers will probably come to that conclusion. I always like a little hidden gay in my novels. 

Journal Entry 15 by Sedeara from Duluth, Minnesota USA on Thursday, June 15, 2006

sent this off in the mail to cinnamon-girl today. :) This book traveled with me on my trip to Mexico--so it really has been around! 

Journal Entry 16 by Cinnamon-Girl from Sharpsburg, Georgia USA on Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Arrived in today's mail. I have a couple other books ahead of this one, but should be able to get to it in the next couple of weeks, if not sooner. I'll post again when I've finished and ready to send it off to the next participant.

Thanks for including me in the ray! 

Journal Entry 17 by Cinnamon-Girl from Sharpsburg, Georgia USA on Wednesday, July 05, 2006

I finished the book and have to agree with BarterHordes - the story and writing just did not live up to the hype surrounding this novel. For most of the book, I kept wanting more from the characters. I felt in some ways that the book was as superficial as the many of the formalized nu shu writings the two women shared. It wasn't until the last 25 or so pages that I found myself enjoying what I was reading. So, ultimately, I was disappointed, but I'm glad I read it so I could satisfy my curiosity. You can read more of my thoughts on this book here.

Thanks very much for including me in the ring, and I'll mail onto Czersk once I have their address. 

Journal Entry 18 by Czersk from Roscoe, Minnesota USA on Thursday, July 13, 2006

Oh, this book is just gorgeous. I can't wait to read it. Thanks! 

Journal Entry 19 by Czersk from Roscoe, Minnesota USA on Wednesday, August 02, 2006

I thought this book was fascinating. I really have not read much at all about Chinese culture, whether it be then or now. And let me tell ya, the descriptions of the foot binding nearly killed me. I was working the front desk at a basketball tournament when I was reading it, and all the people that walked past me must have thought I was absolutely insane because my face was completely twisted in horror and disgust. Oh the gore! I have never loved my feet more.

While the foot binding will probably be what sticks out most in my mind when I look back and remember reading this novel, I also think that the connection between Lily and Snow Flower will be equally unforgettable. I do wish the narration could have been more emotional. Often major events were presented in a lackluster fashion. I think it had great potential to really wrench at a reader's heartstrings, but the stimuli needed to produce tears were just nonexistant. I was expecting this novel to be a beautiful story that would take my breath away, but it remains merely fascinating. Still worth reading, without a doubt!

Off to JeepACV . . . 

Journal Entry 20 by JeepACV from Baltimore, Maryland USA on Saturday, August 12, 2006

Arrived safely ~ Thanks!
 

Journal Entry 21 by JeepACV from Baltimore, Maryland USA on Friday, August 18, 2006

I cringed during the discussions of footbinding as well. How thankful my toes are that I didn't live there/then.

I thought that the tone of the book didn't lend itself to being more 'emotional' in the Western sense. I think the culture and proper-ness of the Chinese rural women's life were better served with the lack of 'talking about your feelings' that is so common now. If the women did talk more openly, how would the misunderstanding that so clearly broke both hearts have happened? I think the passion and deep-soulfulness of the characters was alluded to rather well, only it was not done with dialogue as we may be used to seeing.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this novel. Thank you for sharing it. I will try to get it in the mail before I leave on vacation (I have morsecode's address). If I don't ~ it'll go in the mail when I return.

Thanks again! 

Journal Entry 22 by JeepACV at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, August 19, 2006

Released 5 yrs ago (8/20/2006 UTC) at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

I dropped this in the mailbox this evening.

Enjoy! 

Journal Entry 23 by morsecode from Buffalo, New York USA on Friday, August 25, 2006

Arrived safe and sound in Buffalo, NY today.
I swimming in review books right now, but I'll try to sneak this one in so I don't end up keeping it too long. 

Journal Entry 24 by morsecode from Buffalo, New York USA on Thursday, September 07, 2006

What a fascinating novel.

Set in China’s Jiangyong County in the 1800s, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan tells the story of two women and their lifelong friendship. It also tells the broader story of women’s culture during that period with special attention paid to nu shu, the women’s secret writing, and the formal friendship relationships between women.

Constructed as an autobiography and an accounting of the narrator’s life for her ancestors (it’s interesting to note that the Library of Congress “Reminiscing in old age--Fiction” as the primary subject of the book), the novel is constrained by this structure and by the narrator’s own reticence. However, I think those constraints add authenticity to the tale.

I’m not a scholar of Imperial China by any stretch, but I will say that the book seems very well-researched. I, for one, appreciated See’s comments in the ‘Author’s Note and Acknowledgements’ section.

I think I’m going to pick up a copy for my mom for Christmas because I think she’d love it.

One thing that stuck in my mind...
When Lily, the narrator, described someone as having feet that are fourteenth centimeters long, twice as big as her own. It just blew my mind. Seven centimeters. That’s unfathomable.

As westerners we may feel the need to dwell on the physical horrors of footbinding when reading this novel, but there is so much more to it than that. Again, I was struck by something that the narrator penned in her prologue:
“The binding altered not only my feet but my whole character, and in a strange way I feel as though that process continued throughout my life [...]. By the time I was forty, the rigidity of my footbinding had moved from my golden lilies to my heart, which held on to injustices and grievances so strongly that I could no longer forgive those I loved and who loved me” (4).

I'll be mailing the book out to Sidney1220 on Saturday.

ETA:
I've been in touch with the next two participants, Sidney1220 and tobysrus. Both of them have already received copies of the book and have asked to be skipped.
I've just PMed pjmom8025. (Friday, 8 Sept. 11 am EDT)

ETA:
pjmom8025 has also already received a copy of the book and has asked to be skipped.
I've just PMed TinkEsq. (Friday, 8 Sept. 2:15 pm EDT) 

Journal Entry 25 by morsecode from Buffalo, New York USA on Saturday, September 09, 2006

I'm mailing this book to TinkEsq today.

I've been in touch with Sidney1220, tobysrus, and pjmom8025. Each of them has already received a copy of the book and has asked to be skipped. 

Journal Entry 26 by TinkEsq from Akron, Ohio USA on Friday, September 15, 2006

Always nice to get home from work and find a book waiting at the door. :)
I'll be starting this in a day or two.
9/28/06 - This was a wonderful novel. The graphic description of the foot binding was almost sickening. But the author really kows how to evoke a time and place.
As last in the ray, I will be passing this on to a worthy soul sometime soon.
10/3/06 - Taking to RCBP meet to release. 

Journal Entry 27 by gothamgal on Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Great book. You are transported into this world and it''s almost painful to leave it. Passing onto a member of the RCBP, if not then a BookObsessed member. It was GREAT!