Lisa See Quotes

A collection of quotes by Lisa See.

Lisa See is an American author celebrated for her insightful and culturally immersive novels set in China or among Chinese American communities. Born on February 18, 1955, in Paris, France, to a Chinese mother and an American father, See grew up in Los Angeles surrounded by her family's rich Chinese heritage. She credits her mother, author Carolyn See, for instilling in her a passion for storytelling.

See's writing frequently explores the lives of women, intergenerational relationships, and the complexities of Chinese and Chinese American history. She gained widespread acclaim with her breakthrough novel, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" (2005), which delves into the intimate bond between two women in 19th-century China. The success of this novel led to its adaptation into a feature film.

Her other notable works include "Shanghai Girls" (2009), "Dreams of Joy" (2011), and "The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane" (2017). These novels skillfully combine historical events with compelling characters, capturing the struggles, triumphs, and resilience of Chinese women caught in a rapidly changing world.

With her vivid storytelling and meticulous research, Lisa See has become a respected voice in contemporary literature. Her novels not only entertain readers but also provide nuanced insights into Chinese history and culture, encouraging cross-cultural understanding and appreciation. As an author who values her roots, See has had a significant impact on contemporary American literature.

He was in my hair, my eyes, my fingers, my heart. I day-drea

He was in my hair, my eyes, my fingers, my heart. I day-dreamed about what he was doing, thinking, seeing, smelling, feeling. I could not eat for thoughts of him.

Love Longing

If it is perfectly acceptable for a widow to disfigure herse

If it is perfectly acceptable for a widow to disfigure herself or commit suicide to save face for her husband's family, why should a mother not be moved to extreme action by the loss of a child or children? We are their caretakers. We love them. We nurse them when they are sick. . . But no woman should live longer than her children. It is against the law of nature. If she does, why wouldn't she wish to leap from a cliff, hang from a branch, or swallow lye?

Death Love Family Women

It used to happen in villages and towns in China that they w

It used to happen in villages and towns in China that they would have - I guess you'd call them beauty contests - where all of the women of a particular village or town would be seated behind these screens or curtains with only their feet showing.

Beauty

I think all women have a friend who at some point dumped the

I think all women have a friend who at some point dumped them or betrayed them or deeply disappointed them. And at the same time all women have a friend who they dumped or betrayed or hurt in some way. That's universal in women's friendships.

Women

It was as easy as breathing to go and have tea near the plac

It was as easy as breathing to go and have tea near the place where Jane Austen had so wittily scribbled and so painfully died. One of the things that causes some critics to marvel at Miss Austen is the laconic way in which, as a daughter of the epoch that saw the Napoleonic Wars, she contrives like a Greek dramatist to keep it off the stage while she concentrates on the human factor. I think this comes close to affectation on the part of some of her admirers. Captain Frederick Wentworth in , for example, is partly of interest to the female sex because of the 'prize' loot he has extracted from his encounters with Bonaparte's navy. Still, as one born after Hiroshima I can testify that a small Hampshire township, however large the number of names of the fallen on its village-green war memorial, is more than a world away from any unpleasantness on the European mainland or the high or narrow seas that lie between. (I used to love the detail that Hampshire's 'New Forest' is so called because it was only planted for the hunt in the late eleventh century.) I remember watching with my father and brother through the fence of Stanstead House, the Sussex mansion of the Earl of Bessborough, one evening in the early 1960s, and seeing an immense golden meadow carpeted entirely by grazing rabbits. I'll never keep that quiet, or be that still, again.This was around the time of countrywide protest against the introduction of a horrible laboratory-confected disease, named 'myxomatosis,' into the warrens of old England to keep down the number of nibbling rodents. Richard Adams's lapine masterpiece is the remarkable work that it is, not merely because it evokes the world of hedgerows and chalk-downs and streams and spinneys better than anything since , but because it is only really possible to imagine gassing and massacre and organized cruelty on this ancient and green and gently rounded landscape if it is organized and carried out against herbivores.

Christopher Hitchens

People

And often it would be a woman who was in her 70s or 80s who

And often it would be a woman who was in her 70s or 80s who would win the beauty contest, because bound feet never age.

Beauty