Couple.Of.Critics

Peony in Love: A Novel
Lisa See
New York, United States; The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random
House Inc., 2007
Fiction (Purchased as an E-Book, Number of Pages Unknown)
First Edition

            Peony in Love is a novel based in Hangzhou, China in late 1600’s about a lovesick maiden named Peony. The entire novel is based on real things, events and people which I thought was very amazing, such as the opera, which is a huge point of interest in the book, The Peony Pavilion written by Tang Xianzu and The Three Wives’ Commentary by Chen Tong, Tan Ze and Qian Yi. What is also quite interesting is that the character Peony is based on Chen Tong and 2 other characters in the novel are also based on the other 2 wives, Tan Ze and Qian Yi. The research and dedication that went into this book is quite astonishing, not unlike Lisa See, from what I can tell.

            Peony is a very dynamic character; she endures quite the attitude shift throughout the novel. In the beginning I found Peony to be immature, naive and ignorant of a lot of obvious facts. In fact, I cannot think of another character I found as frustrating as Peony because of these traits and sometimes it was quite annoying. Also because of this, Peony is probably one of the best dynamic characters that I have read in a long time. It is in my opinion that if a character can get under your skin so well then it is definite proof of a very excellent writer.

            The contents of this novel are very imaginative. Death, ghosts, the most intense spectrum of human emotions- including the most important, love- all make up the plot structure of this glorious novel. All of this brings up the question, to what extent can love move you? I couldn’t help feeling a huge surge of deep, psychological thinking while reading this novel. I found myself asking intellectual questions concerning the psyche and human emotions at its greatest depths. Some of the occurring events I was uncomfortable with, but in that way the novel reflects life- there are many things that happen that are out of our control, and we cannot stop it despite our greatest attempts, all we can do is deal with it then move on and hope it works out for the better in the end.

            Peony does obtain what she rightfully deserves in the end. It was worth enduring all the disappointments and hardships Peony faces and to see Peony’s character change for the better throughout the novel. Lisa See is an amazing writer and easily becoming one of my favorite authors.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
Lisa See
New York, United States: Random House, 2005
Fiction. (Purchased as an E-Book, Number of Pages Unknown)
First Edition

           Laotong in Chinese means “old sames”. It is an arranged friendship between two girls who are matched by a matchmaker, and this match must be precise in that the girls’ “eight characters” have to be similar, such as their birth hour, birth day, birth month, birth year, the day their feet are bound, the age they had their feet bound, their placement in the family- whether being youngest/middle/oldest child and one other thing I failed to catch. Set in Puwei in Yongming County, China in the 1800’s, this novel is about the lives of two girls who are laotongs.

            I have never had such a hard time writing a review for a book before as I have had writing this one. I had finished this book well over two months ago and struggled to write about it ever since. This book is powerful and I was captivated by it in a way I can barely begin to explain. Instead of following an entire emotional journey with the characters in this book, I felt I was being carried along with it. It was as if I was reading about my own life and I blindly accepted and agreed with what was happening. To be clear, I have never had experiences exactly like the ones the girls went through in this novel; however, they reminded me of instances with many friends and people throughout my life. That being said, there were many events that took place in which I couldn’t empathize with and they aroused disbelief and other melancholic emotions within me.

            This novel is about a very deep relationship between a girl named Lily and her laotong Snow Flower. The history of their matching is a very complicated and sad one. Yet, this friendship is more important and in a greater depth to these girls then even marriage. Although marriages were arranged too, they consisted of a lot of pressure for a woman- to be the perfect wife for a man and his appetites although their knowledge in that area was limited, to get pregnant with the perfect sons otherwise their place in their husband’s household was uncertain, and to be the lowest of all family members in your own home and in your husbands’ where the in-laws had a right to abuse you. With a laotong, girls can share and experience deep hearted love, which is the purest of all, and be accepted for who you are and have someone to support and comfort you. Any other relationship was strict, since being a girl meant you were a “worthless branch” and the love from those other relationship was so easily jeopardized. Take for example mother love, in the Chinese language it is written with the same characters for pain and love and it was exactly that. Mothers were hard on their daughters, they believed the harder and meaner they were to their daughters that the better the daughters would learn to endure the life of being a female. Daughters thought their parents didn’t love them, that they would’ve been better off dead, regretted being born a female and endured extreme pressure to make up for their worthlessness. This kind of love cannot be easy on any person’s psyche, whether you are girl or a boy.

            An obsession with deep hearted love, the unrealistic ideals it caused for a desperate girl, the hardship of being female in this time and culture and a lifelong friendship to endure it all with an ending of unexpected tragedy makes for an amazing book from Lisa See. Despite the fact I found it difficult to write a review for, I loved this book. I feel it was a definite must read for people like me and that my bookshelf is becoming complete with Lisa See’s novels on it.

            As for the movie, I enjoyed it as well. The novel was not followed exactly, many things were changed such as the twist they added into it of switching between the past and modern day. It was unexpected and I was a little unsure how I’d feel about the movie after reading the book but it was well done, it created the same feel and emotions. However, certain parts about the past would be hard to follow without reading the book first since a lot of events were left out. I think to the people who didn’t read the book first it would seem a mediocre movie with the flow of it lacking. The movie is not a must see after reading the book, the novel is more than sufficient.

(via willyougivechase)

ofhorriblesanity:

If I see anyone wearing any of these…

This shit is AWESOME

(via shineysaurus)

Mermaid
Carolyn Turgeon
New York, United States: Broadway Paperbacks, a division of Random House, 2011.
Fiction. 240 pages
First Edition

Mermaid, a book based on Han Christian Anderson’s story The Little Mermaid. It is never an easy task to retell a famous story and it’s quite risky, considering the fans who love the original so much that the smallest thing that is too outrageous will make them hate the retelling. I’ve loved Disney’s The Little Mermaid for as long as I can remember. A creature such as a mermaid was one I dreamed of and loved to the depths of my soul, if I had magic, my longing for them would have created them into existence. I was a child, and it wasn’t until I was much older that I knew about Han Christian Anderson’s story and embraced it. Anderson’s story is much darker, and I liked the lighter Disney version. Now I am older and I can appreciate Anderson’s original. Then here comes this new version in my life, it is one that fits exactly in the middle of Anderson and Disney. I wish I had written it.

This book is filled with such magical imagination, rich beauty, and intense emotion I thought my own heart would rip apart from reading it. Since I believe retellings can hold a special power for a fan of the original, I believe in this way this retelling holds its power. It is an immensely good story for the retelling of The Little Mermaid- it is so great that instead of giving that impression through the words of my review, I just have to say it outright.

Just like The Little Mermaid, a mermaid, Lenia, falls in love with a prince and wants to trade her fin for a pair of legs, and in doing so she gives up her voice. However, another woman gets in the way of Lenia truly ending up with the prince. Unlike The Little Mermaid, however, the other woman, Margrethe, is one the reader also gets to know and adore. This creates such a conflict in that it becomes so hard to choose which woman I rather the prince would marry. The ending was an even bigger mystery. I cannot think of another story where I felt so much anticipation for the ending that I was nervous about what would happen. I actually took my sweet time finishing the book because of it. Would I be disappointed with whom the prince marries? Will it end up just like in Anderson’s version and I become overwhelmed with sadness then end up hating the book? I had to fight to keep an open mind for the ending, which is something I never had to fight so hard to do. To my relief, the ending is one of perfection and my heart was fulfilled.

Such a deep message is embedded in The Little Mermaid; one of sacrifice, dedication and hard work to obtain the things your heart truly desires. A lot of those desires come from the attraction of the unknown, which will always be a force calling to us- just like Lenia’s attraction to the human world, and Margrethe’s attraction to the world of the sea. In an instant I would say that I would also do what Lenia did. But that, in all honesty, is the naivety and curiosity of the unknown talking. If truly faced with such a choice, it would be a lot to bear- the things I’d have to give up and endure to obtain what I want- I cannot say what I would do. Guess I will know when I am faced with such a dilemma, if I ever am. For now it’ll have to remain a mystery, even to myself.

- A.B.

When I read my mind and my heart produce another soul. With this soul I travel along in the lives of the story I am reading. I walk among the words within each line. I observe and feel things as the characters do, yet I remain separate. In my separation, I prevent confusion and mental instability to keep reality and imagination where they each belong… but do I ever dream. The world around me becomes hazy, this soul emerges to the greatest depth I can accomplish- even to the point of standing on the fine line between fantasy and reality- and emotions stir within me that are so unbelievably real that they spill out when I come back to my own life. To me, there is no other such magic like the power of a book; it is a force of expression, imagination and creation in its own separate way, just like every different form of fine art.

- A.B.

        One of my top favorite authors is V.C. Andrews. I’d even go so far as to say she is my number one favorite. The way she arranges her words, her use and way with literary devices especially metaphors and personifications, are pure magic. These words and sentences, so simple and easily understood, hold such wisdom and depth, enough to make you ache. I am drawn to her writing and I crave it when I have not read her in a while.

Flowers in the Attic, one of her bestsellers and, in my opinion, the novel she is most well known for, was the first book I’ve read by her and it remains the one book I have read and reread the most. To expand on that, I even wore out the first copy I received, which was given to me by a dear friend at the time, from reading it so many times and had a purchase a new copy.

           V.C. Andrews is a pure writer prodigy in my eyes. Timeless to me, and loved by me no matter how many years seem to go by- the first and, so far, the only author to accomplish that for me.

           The words of V.C. Andrews call to me and I will indulge in them seemingly forever.

- A.B.

I am surrounded by amazing books. Books that I want to consume all at once, and in return, have them consume me. Unfortunately I can not, life gets in the way- too many responsibilities and obstacles that need my immediate attention, and the instead consume me and my time and I become emerged in them and then have lost myself in them. Though I have not written any reviews lately except for one, I have not stopped reading whenever I can, my pace has just been slowed down.

It is so hard to remain purely dedicated to your true desires when you are not leading the life of your dreams. Mine would be to have no worries- no responsibilities or obstacles- and just read for long hours in a beautiful bay window with a hot drink conveniently located in my own elegant library, to paint in an efficient and stylish studio, dance myself to exhaustion, write all my worries and reviews at an enormous antique desk and take long, hot, soothing baths in an amazing antique style soaker tub. Wouldn’t that just be perfection… for me anyway.

- A.B.

The Virgin Cure
Ami McKay
Toronto, Canada: Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House of Canada Ltd., 2011
Fiction. (Purchased as an E-Book, Number of Pages Unknown)
First Edition

Have you ever read a book that, when you finished, left you feeling sad it was over? Feeling that if it had went on for another 100 pages or so you’d happily continue to read it because you don’t want the story to end just yet? That’s how I felt closing the last page on Ami McKay’s The Virgin Cure. Now, I love books, and I enjoy reading a lot of them, but there are only a select few books that give you certain feelings when having read them- feelings of not wanting the book to end or feelings that you could read it another 20 times and still love it. I have to say I am surprised this was one of mine because despite how wonderfully it was written, and how much I enjoyed reading about a 12 year old girl on the streets of New York in the 1800’s, it was just so unexpected, I never thought it would grab me to that extend, which makes me ponder- what is so amazing about this book that makes me feel that way?

Could it have been the first person narrative of such an enticing and hopelessly romantic soul of the main character Moth? Maybe it was the journal entries of a caring, strong woman like Dr. Sadie? How about the wonderful way Moth’s life turned out in the end? Then again, it could’ve been the amazing research that went into this book. The fact that Ms. McKay based the character Dr. Sadie on a real woman doctor, her great-great-grandmother and went on a hunt for any information to find about her is so inspiring. One can just sense how much trouble went into a novel when you know the author researched her background material, not just on what was worn back in the time frame of the novel, but on the beliefs of the people back then and their habits, forms of entertainment and home life. I know I certainly appreciate the novel and the author that much more. That could very well have been why I created such an attachment to this book. I guess I may never find out the answer, however.

Beautifully written and enticing until the very last page, Amy McKay has written a novel with depth, enchantment but out of pure realism. I, for one, am enchanted and extremely impressed.

- A.B.

(via squeegeelobster)