Wordless Wednesday: Terra Cotta Warriors

 

 

Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at the Indianapolis Children's Museum

Incredible to see the real warriors, which are 2,200 years old!

 

More Wordless Wednesday here.
Photo by moi. 

The Painted Veil

The Painted Veil
by W. Somerset Maugham

★★★★★

 

Kitty is a young woman who got married for all the wrong reasons and doesn’t love her husband, Walter. She rushed to marry after realizing her younger sister might beat her down the aisle. Walter is a nice but boring man who takes his wife to Hong Kong in the 1920s where he works for his work as a bacteriologist. She quickly falls in love with a dashing married man named Charlie and they embark on an affair. When her husband discovers the relationship he gives Kitty two options: she can get divorced and married Charlie or she can travel with him into the midst of cholera outbreak in mainland China.

 

That whirlwind of events happens in the very beginning of the book. The vapid Kitty reminds me so much of Daisy Buchanan. She shares her selfishness and disenchantment with life. But while Daisy never really changes, Kitty’s transformation throughout the novel provides a poignant picture. Spending time with the nuns leads her to re-evaluate her life, but it doesn’t change who she is as a person. The story is realistic in that sense. She becomes more aware of who she is and what wrong with the choices she has made, but that doesn’t make her a better person overnight. 

 

While living in the mainland Kitty and Walter meet Waddington, a British officer who has been living there for quite a while. His objective point of view and direct personality give the audience a unique view of the estranged couple. Waddington talks to Kitty about both Walter and Charles, opening her eyes to the real nature of both men. 

 

One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is the exploration of love. It refuses to follow logic, which is both its beauty and its tragedy. We so often fall in love with the person who is the worst for us and we can’t make ourselves love someone if we feel nothing for them. We see this over and over again through Kitty, Walter and even Waddington. Love defies common sense, which often has tragic results.

 

**SPOILERS**

 

At first I was disappointed when Kitty returns to Hong Kong and seems to fall into her old patterns, but by the end I thought that whole section was beautifully handled. We needed to see Kitty back in that environment to see whether or not Walter’s death and her work with the French nuns changed her permanently or not. Her conversation at the very end of the novel with her father makes it clear that she realized how spoiled she was and that she wants to change, she also wants something better for her own child. She’s no longer content to live a sheltered existence in a big city being treated as someone’s property.

 

**SPOILERS OVER**

 

BOTTOM LINE: This story was just gorgeous. Kitty’s transformation and her slowly changing view of the world were beautifully conveyed. I know I’ll return to this one. 

 

“I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.”

 

“One cannot find peace in work or in pleasure, in the world or in a convent, but only in one's soul.”

 

“She could not admit but that he had remarkable qualities, sometimes she thought that there was even in him a strange and unattractive greatness; it was curious then that she could not love him, but loved still a man whose worthlessness was now so clear to her.”

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See
★★★★

Two women, one rich and one poor, are bound together for life when they become laotongs, a committed lifelong friendship unlike anything we have in the western world. Despite marriages, deaths, motherhood, sickness, changes in wealth, etc. Lily and Snow Flower’s lives are forever intertwined.

Set in 19th century China, the story unfolds in a society that is so far removed from our own, it’s difficult to relate or understand what they’re going through. We’re taught from a young age to pursue the things we love. We have an undeniable freedom in America that many women will never know. Even if we feel pressure from society to live our lives a certain way (aka the Midwestern ideal of settling down and having babies) we still get to decide if that’s what we want to do. Because of this, it was hard for me to connect with women who have no options. They blindly follow the choices their families make for them, because there is no other option. This makes me incredibly grateful for the life I have.

The book is rich with cultural details. I loved learning more about Chinese traditions, even if I don’t agree with them. I felt like I was completely immersed in another world. What I lacked in connection with the characters, I made up for in fascination with another time and place.

(An example of foot binding)

One element including in this story is the ancient practice of foot binding. It’s beyond disturbing to realize what they did to young girls’ feet to make them “beautiful.” I did some research on it after finishing the book and was appalled to see how debilitating the practice really was. Girls died from it and yet it was still considered an honor.

**SPOILERS**

The thing that made me like, but not love this one was the rift between Lily and Snow Flower. I just didn’t understand how it came about. I know Lily didn’t approve of a lot of things in Snow Flowers life (her husband, his work, their relationship, etc.), but to break off the friendship and humiliate her laotong in public just seemed so cruel to me. Her pride never allowed her to take back her words until it was too late. I admired Lily’s strength when disease was destroying their village, but I couldn’t respect her after what she did to her friend.

**SPOILERS OVER**

I’m really looking forward to reading more from this author. This wasn’t a book I’d revisit, but I really liked the style of writing and the historical elements. It’s good for me to read books set outside of western culture. Sometimes I find myself in a rut, reading only European or American titles and mixing in one like this is a bracing reminder of the diversity our world holds.

For another view visit Giraffe Days.

Photo from here.