After Eona, I picked out a book that was written by a very famous Chinese writer, Quynh Dao, and translated in my native language. It's thick, but without any complication in language, I read it fast. There is only about one-thirds of the book left.
Quynh Dao is a very well-known author as well as script-writer in China. Many of her books were turned into TV shows, and any actors or actresses who were lucky to be chosen to act in her film tend to rise in fame very quickly.
I usually don't pick out her books. I swear all of her books can make you cry your eye sockets out. Her story is always dramatic and tear-jerking in the extreme. And the typical theme is about the women's role and unfairness in the past. Her emphasis is on the women's strength, not on their ability to kick ass or changllenge verbal fights, but in a more quiet, gentle way, more feminine; their ability to endure, to forbear any harsh, cruel circumstances that befell them with as much dignity as possible. It maybe foreign to any of you who do not live in Asia. I'm an Asian. I've studied and read many books of our history. Many of them feature the despaired life of women who were expected to think of nothing other than living the settled life of a collared dog, treating their husband as lords, showing total obeisance to them, devoting their life for raising children. So I'm quite accustomed to this type of fiction. You may find it too sloppy or maudlin. But please don't judge this type of literature as unworthy, as weak. It's tough to live in that time as a woman. Even if you were a free woman, even if you came from a noble family, in the end, your fates still lied on the decision of your bound family. Women were nothing much better than statues. Something to adorn household. Something to strengthen male's prowess and ego. Wherever they want to put you, you cannot move away. Otherwise, if the husband was the burtal sort, they could be beaten to death without being changllenged by laws, since the men held absolute control over their women. It was unfair. It was sexist. It was discrimination. But it was what really happened. Quynh Dao's novels relive there life, giving us insights on women's strength shown in their own brave way. They were not badass like heroines in today's fiction, who can wield a sword, summon a powerful magic to annihilate any obstacles on its path. No. Quynh Dao's novels are realistic. There's nothing dreamy about them. No illusion.
The book I'm reading now is Princess Tan Nguyet. I don't know the original name. Anyway, Tan Nguyet means the eclipse moon. The symbol of purity. And that is what she was. Her thoughts, her soul...her love was pure. She loved with a pure intensity, with a fire that could not de doused by cold water. The problem is she chose the wrong man to devote her love. She fell in love with a man who was old enough to be her father. A man with a wife and two grown children, both of whom were older than Tan Nguyet. For him, she threw away her title, her legacy...even her honor. She endured every insult, humiliating insinuation thrown at her feet. She accepted them all for her beloved's sake. She loved without doubts, without questions. She loved without thinking of her self, always his needs came first. It may seem foolhardy, but I can't help admiring her subtle strength. If it was me, I would have thrown a fit, lashed acidly at any one who dared insult me, and run away with the man I loved instead of heading back to the nest of dangers to bear punishment.
All in all, this is a good book, a wonderful love story, but also very depressing. My head is terribly aching now. After this one, it will be a long time until I can pick another of Quynh Dao's books. That's the reason why I rearely read her book. It's not because they are boring or anything, it's because they are so sad, and not always end in a happy ending. I fear this is one of those.
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