Half past Christmas...
It's officially Boxing Day, although I'm not counting it as such until some actual sleep takes place.
Now, visiting the parentals is always a touchy and prickly affair, but it was even more so this year because of 1) my brother moving back in and dealing with them on a full time basis, 2) and his ecent declaration that he is an atheist. Given that one of the reasons my family left Bulgaria was because they weren't allowed to practice their religion, this has irked my father somewhat.
Anyay. Thus far, there have been no major uprisings or bloody wars - touch wood - due to mitigating circumstance #1: I spent almost the entirety of Christmas Day asleep (well, I couldn't sleep last night so I lay in bed until morning, opened presents, then got back into bed and slept until Xmas dinner, then ate, then got back into bed again). My brother followed my example. My mother was rather surprised at this turn of events, but rather indulgent, as mitigating circumstance #2 had occurred. #2 was me going off my heart meds, and developing a rather alarming lack of heart rhythm on Christmas Eve. By the end of Christmas Eve, I'm also developed an exciting red rash that spread with ferocity to cover my entire body. My mother dealt with my father's rising panic by wrapping me in blankets, pouring industrial-strength herbal tea down me, and checking on me occasionally while I slept.
Given that I managed to sleep for close to fourteen hours, on and off, and that the rash has faded, my heart is more or less behaving itself and I have almost no bruising from the unfortunate incident resulting in a near concussion and thus trip to A&E (which my brother found hysterical, btw), I am declaring this Xmas a success.
(For those of you who might think that I'm having you on, last Xmas was spent unconscious and coughing up blood, which prompted me to suspect that my cold was not, in fact, a cold. I rather think that I'm making a fine family tradition.)
Anyway. Much turkey was eaten. Many chocolates were consumed. I've been occasionally dipping into Yuletide when my brother lets me borrow his laptop. Otherwise, I've read a book and slept.
The book was actually rather nice.
Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Author: Lisa See
The protagonist, Lily, is an old woman recounting her younger days. I have a real weakness for books on Chinese footbinding, perhaps because I've never actually seen a photograph of the famed golden lilies and they have become vaguely mythical in my mind. The result of this fascination is that I have read a great many books that have all merged together in my head, with no real distinction between them.
Snow Flower is markedly different, in that although the golden lilies are vitally impotant to Lily's social standing and livelhood, they are not the focus on the story. Instead, we are presented we a world I can honestly say I have never encountered before: the secret world of women's language, or nu shu. Nu shu was mostly eradicated during the Cultural Revolution, and as it was the custom to burn each woman's letters upon her death so that they might follow her to the afterworld, there are few remaining examples of it. In essence, it is a phonetic variant of Chinese pictographs, which reminds me of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
The book is about Lily's upbringing and social rise from a farmer's daughter to the mistress of a large household. It also focuses on an aspect of young girls' lives - sworn sisterhood - that other books only vaguely allude to, if it is included at all. The special form of sisterhood between Lily and Snow Flower, and the way their relationship progresses by an exchange of messages on their secret fan, is fascinating, and at times often touching. Lily's shortcomings are not skipped over, but are instead revealed through her actions towards those in need - sometimes appropriate, sometimes inexplicably cold. Yet Lily remains a sympathetic character throughout, and I think that this is the book's real achievement. It does not compromise on the examination of the impact of nu shu upon women's lives, but neither does it sacrifice character creation to this academic pursuit.
Overall, I found Snow Flower an enjoyable read - one that I will be keeping for a re-reading - and it had a great many interesting research points that I am keen to follow up on. Recommended to anyone interested in women's histories.
Now, visiting the parentals is always a touchy and prickly affair, but it was even more so this year because of 1) my brother moving back in and dealing with them on a full time basis, 2) and his ecent declaration that he is an atheist. Given that one of the reasons my family left Bulgaria was because they weren't allowed to practice their religion, this has irked my father somewhat.
Anyay. Thus far, there have been no major uprisings or bloody wars - touch wood - due to mitigating circumstance #1: I spent almost the entirety of Christmas Day asleep (well, I couldn't sleep last night so I lay in bed until morning, opened presents, then got back into bed and slept until Xmas dinner, then ate, then got back into bed again). My brother followed my example. My mother was rather surprised at this turn of events, but rather indulgent, as mitigating circumstance #2 had occurred. #2 was me going off my heart meds, and developing a rather alarming lack of heart rhythm on Christmas Eve. By the end of Christmas Eve, I'm also developed an exciting red rash that spread with ferocity to cover my entire body. My mother dealt with my father's rising panic by wrapping me in blankets, pouring industrial-strength herbal tea down me, and checking on me occasionally while I slept.
Given that I managed to sleep for close to fourteen hours, on and off, and that the rash has faded, my heart is more or less behaving itself and I have almost no bruising from the unfortunate incident resulting in a near concussion and thus trip to A&E (which my brother found hysterical, btw), I am declaring this Xmas a success.
(For those of you who might think that I'm having you on, last Xmas was spent unconscious and coughing up blood, which prompted me to suspect that my cold was not, in fact, a cold. I rather think that I'm making a fine family tradition.)
Anyway. Much turkey was eaten. Many chocolates were consumed. I've been occasionally dipping into Yuletide when my brother lets me borrow his laptop. Otherwise, I've read a book and slept.
The book was actually rather nice.
Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Author: Lisa See
The protagonist, Lily, is an old woman recounting her younger days. I have a real weakness for books on Chinese footbinding, perhaps because I've never actually seen a photograph of the famed golden lilies and they have become vaguely mythical in my mind. The result of this fascination is that I have read a great many books that have all merged together in my head, with no real distinction between them.
Snow Flower is markedly different, in that although the golden lilies are vitally impotant to Lily's social standing and livelhood, they are not the focus on the story. Instead, we are presented we a world I can honestly say I have never encountered before: the secret world of women's language, or nu shu. Nu shu was mostly eradicated during the Cultural Revolution, and as it was the custom to burn each woman's letters upon her death so that they might follow her to the afterworld, there are few remaining examples of it. In essence, it is a phonetic variant of Chinese pictographs, which reminds me of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
The book is about Lily's upbringing and social rise from a farmer's daughter to the mistress of a large household. It also focuses on an aspect of young girls' lives - sworn sisterhood - that other books only vaguely allude to, if it is included at all. The special form of sisterhood between Lily and Snow Flower, and the way their relationship progresses by an exchange of messages on their secret fan, is fascinating, and at times often touching. Lily's shortcomings are not skipped over, but are instead revealed through her actions towards those in need - sometimes appropriate, sometimes inexplicably cold. Yet Lily remains a sympathetic character throughout, and I think that this is the book's real achievement. It does not compromise on the examination of the impact of nu shu upon women's lives, but neither does it sacrifice character creation to this academic pursuit.
Overall, I found Snow Flower an enjoyable read - one that I will be keeping for a re-reading - and it had a great many interesting research points that I am keen to follow up on. Recommended to anyone interested in women's histories.