worth persisting through

books:


	• Peony in Love: A Novel Lisa See Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 84 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

worth persisting through

Some reviewers have commented that this book was a little tedious or a disappointment after Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, but I would maintain that this book is an excellent project--if perhaps a little more work to read--and worth making your way to the end of.

See's take on Chinese literary culture and her careful reconstruction of religious and spiritual rituals and beliefs make the backdrop of the story subtle, sophisticated, and rich. Some of the frustration I felt with the book at first I realize retrospectively is due to the fact that Peony is really not a sympathetic character for much of the book, and I think that I would have been able to suspend any impatience I felt if I had known from the beginning that this book is based (loosely) on a true story.

The fact of the story itself is extraordinary, and See's thorough research and sensitivity really brought the book alive.

for more information click here

A Great Literary Voyage

Based upon an actual play, THE PEONY PAVILION, and real people; I found this book to be a treasured work of art. The author paints a beautiful story and adds wonderful creativity to enhance the flow of this magnificient tale of love.

This is also a recognition of women's contributions thoughout previous times.

for more information click here

Better than it sounds!

I admit, I wasn't too excited to read this book, the monthly pick for my book club. But, I was pleasantly surprised! Lisa See takes us into a world ruled by different values, religion, and social mores than exist today. Yet, the world is so well researched, it comes across as believable and refreshing. So many areas of the 17th C. Chinese culture are explored -- family, death, rituals, sex, marriage, politics, and literature -- all from a female perspective. And the themes are explored seamlessly, in the form of an engaging and unpredictable story.

The only criticisms I have are that the voice is sometimes too Western to feel authentic and that Peony's blindness to her current situation is at times not believable. However, these defects are small considering the monumental task of bringing to life a 400-year-old moment in time.

Overall, I found this book to be romantic, exotic, sympathetic, and informative. I'm impressed with Lisa See's ability to bring her extensive research to life.

for more information click here

Rare Insights

Peony in Love is the second Linda See novel I have read. I first discovered Ms. See's delightful storytelling in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which introduced me to nu shu, the Ming Dynasty secret written language of women.

In Peony in Love Ms. See again intrigues me with the idea that there were Ming-era women writers, poets and other literati allowed, for a short period of time, to freely roam China's cultural centers.

I have lived in China for 2 years. It is hard to find Asian-esque writers with convincing non-Western storylines that hold up against what I have learned about China.

Ms. See's novels are poignant, thoughtful, insightful, and, most of all credible. I highly recommend them.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

?I finally understand what the poets have written. In spring, moved to passion; in autumn only regret.?

For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amid the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe is performing scenes from this epic opera, a live spectacle few females have ever seen. Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is the cloistered daughter of a wealthy family, trapped like a good-luck cricket in a bamboo-and-lacquer cage. Though raised to be obedient, Peony has dreams of her own.

Peony?s mother is against her daughter?s attending the production: ?Unmarried girls should not be seen in public.? But Peony?s father assures his wife that proprieties will be maintained, and that the women will watch the opera from behind a screen. Yet through its cracks, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man with hair as black as a cave?and is immediately overcome with emotion.

So begins Peony?s unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow?as Lisa See?s haunting new novel, based on actual historical events, takes readers back to seventeenth-century China, after the Manchus seize power and the Ming dynasty is crushed.

Steeped in traditions and ritual, this story brings to life another time and place?even the intricate realm of the afterworld, with its protocols, pathways, and stages of existence, a vividly imagined place where one?s soul is divided into three, ancestors offer guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth. Immersed in the richness and magic of the Chinese vision of the afterlife, transcending even death, Peony in Love explores, beautifully, the many manifestations of love. Ultimately, Lisa See?s new novel addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard.

From the Hardcover edition.

for more information click here

hot