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THE THREE-INCH GOLDEN LOTUS

In the tradition of Swift, contemporary Chinese writer Feng Jicai (Chrysanthemums, 1985) critiques Chinese society by focusing on the grotesque as he tells the story of one family's obsession with bound feet—the perfect ``three-inch golden lotuses'' of tradition. Slyly observing that the idea ``that a portion of Chinese history lies concealed in the bound feet of Chinese women [is] preposterous,'' the narrator proceeds to demonstrate that ``when you're really into the story you can't tell the difference between the truth and lies.'' Set in a small town in the early 1900's, the novel examines these lies and truths as—exemplified in the Tong family—they reflect Chinese attitudes to social change, sex, and to individuality. The head of the Tong family, a noted antiques dealer, has a special regard, shared by like-minded friends, for the perfect bound foot. These men debate the history of foot- binding, argue the finer points, and hold contests to determine the smallest feet in various families. When Tong glimpses the exquisite feet of Fragrant Lotus, a girl of humble origins whose feet had been bound—the process is graphically described—by her grandmother to assure a good marriage, he has her marry one of his loutish sons. Her arrival in the household provokes jealousies as the women scheme to display their own feet and win accolades. Fragrant Lotus soon gives birth to a daughter who mysteriously disappears just as her feet are about to be bound. The years pass, and Fragrant Lotus, now the family head, finds herself defending tradition as she battles the Natural Foot Society, led by the beautiful Pretty Flower. A superficially whimsical and picaresque tale of old Chinese society, luminously evoked, but with a deadly serious underlying subject that gives it a sobering edge.

Pub Date: March 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-8248-1574-2

Page Count: 208

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1994

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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MAGIC HOUR

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

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