Ties that Bind, Ties that Break

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Summary: A Wonderful Escape to Another Place and Time
Review: Ties That Bind, Ties That Break tells the heart-breaking story of Ailin, a young girl living in China in 1911. When the strong-willed Ailin rebels against the tradition of foot binding, her future is altered forever. An arranged marriage falls apart and as all marriage hopes fade, Ailin studies English and finds her own opportunities for making a living. Namioka's clear and lyrical writing style takes us to another place and time, where we learn about one of China's most repressive customs and feel Ailin's struggle personally. A great read!

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Summary: Ties That Bind, Ties That Break
Review: Ties That Bind, Ties That Break, by Lensey Namioka, is a moving story about a family's struggle to stay together through changing times. The story takes place in China during a revolution. Ailin, a Chinese girl whose age progresses through the story, wants to escape from a painful tradition of upper class Chinese society. When she tries to, she learns the consequences of her decision. Ailin tries to fix her life though she is no longer considered by her family to lead the old life of plenty that she used to. This book is a good story that moves quickly but at an understandable pace.

This book is a good way to get to know more about the Chinese culture. It clearly states the traditions of China. These include the social structure, how arranged marriages took place, and the type of schooling that both genders received. The social structure is shown by the way the upper class families choose only other upper class families for friends. Also, when Ailin's first amah is fired because she did not have the money to follow the Chinese traditions. The complexity of arranged marriages is explained when Ailin, at five, meets the first boy that she is supposed to marry. She talks with him and they get to know a little more about each other. Another tradition is the talk of less known Chinese foods. One of these is eight-jewel rice. Eight-jewel rice is a sweet rice dish that is usually served as a desert to the meal. Another good point about the book is the fact as the story progresses, so does the age of Ailin. As she grows older, her views in life change. She realizes that her family is not as perfect as she though it was when she was younger. She also learns about the hardships that her older sister has to face since her arranged marriage is not going as well as it was supposed to go. She learns to see people's personalities differently. She sees that her uncle, who made her younger years harder than they were supposed to be, had a lot on his mind that preoccupied him from treating her correctly. Ailin also grows more self-reliant. She stops depending on close friends and family to back her up in an argument. She also takes a job so that she can support herself if her uncle kicks her out of the house. Ailin also starts to carry out her own ideas alone. These and other good points make for an interesting read.

While Ties That Bind, Ties that Break is generally a good book, it does have a few flaws. One of these is the complexity of the story. There are an amazing number of characters that help to move the story along. While only one of these (Ailin), is the main character, the others are equally important and have their place behind her. Another confusing thing about the characters is that they each have their own personalities. Almost never do two characters have the same personalities. This book is still highly recommended because even though all of this is confusing at first; it also helps to make the story more interesting.

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Summary: read it and love it!
Review: Ties that bind, ties that break
By: Lensey Namioka

An excellent story about the true tradition and history of china. Taking us through this fascinating novel is the superb main character, Ailin Tao. As you get more into the book you learn to love, and admire Ailin, because of her braveness, and actions through out this great novel. I would recommend this amazing book to those people who like to read about true breaking stories. I believe the author wanted to intoduce us to this Chinese story by ushering us into a wealthy Chinese family, with a little 5-year-old girl walking us through her foot binding problems. Ailin has 2 sisters, a baby brother, mother and a father and grandmother that are the only two who really understand her best. Ailin is to be married to Hanwei Lui, which was organized by her grandmother, but was broken off when ailin refused to bind her feet. It seemed to Ailin that after the foot-binding incident everything went down hill, because of her grandmother's death.
Through out all this happening, Ailin starts going to a public school, which was very weird for Chinese girl to do. She has a great time leaning English and socializing with other people than the ones in her house. After her father dies of tuberculosis her malevolent, inferior Big Uncle is in charge of the family and will no longer pay the tuition for Ailin's school. To Big Uncle paying school for a GIRL is a waste. Now Ailin has to find a way to support herself because since her feet are not bound nobody will marry her, which means no one, is supporting her.
I hope you really enjoy reading this great page-turner!

Rating:
Summary: Utterly fascinating
Review: What a good book! I was completely absorbed by Ailin's thoughts and struggles, and fascinated by the picture of China. My only complaint: I wanted it to be longer!

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Summary: Binding Hope, Breaking Tradition
Review: Wow! What a fantastic book! Ties That Bind, Ties That Break, by Lensey Namioka is the story of a young girl who must learn to accept the consequences of making decisions. She is required to adjust to a new life after breaking an ancient tradition of the Chinese faith. This book is definitely one I would recommend for anyone. I really enjoyed the fact that it was very realistic, and you don't even realize there's History in it until you have finished. Some things that help make the book realistic are the characters and the writing style. Throughout the book you really get to know the characters and come to respect them as people. The writing style is beautiful, very vivid, and contributes to the reality of the book. Overall, the book is very creative, and you find yourself captured up in the plot. Caught up in the whirlwind of decisions Ailin must make. This book is definitely going to be a favorite for young adults. Even those who don't appreciate or enjoy History should find this book fascinating. This book has some potential for having occasional lulls in the story because there is a lot of information on Chinese traditions. The plot is so compelling though that you forget about the long political talks during meals and are swept up in Ailin's journey. Overall, I am strongly recommending this book and hope you enjoy reading about strong willed, courageous Ailin, as much as I did.