Customer Reviews

The Butcher's Wife and Other Stories

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Butchers Wife will grab you and force you to keep reading. It will often disturb you, and you will feel as if you are engaging in an act of Voyeurism. At points you will be too disgusted to go on, but you will. The discussion of rape and violence in this book is so graphic and true that as a reader of Chin Lin Shi's horrible abuse you will feel more like a friend to her than of a simple witness.

I constantly wanted to reach into the story and pull Lin Shi out and give her a safe place to be. I was extremely disturbed by the sexual subjectation that she (and through her, and women in China) have to endure. It really made me stop and think about what do men in America (not to mention other places in the world) say about women behind closed doors.

This is a definate must read. It is moving, and compelling. But my advice is, don't read it alone. Have a girlfriend, or a trusted male friend nearby to discuss the disturbing images that you will encounter.

I've finally read "The Butcher's Wife" by Li Ang. It is almost definately one of the most amazing novels I have ever read. In a short three hours I felt almost every emotion that I could have felt. There is so much involved within this novel, and I beg you to experience this for yourself. I will warn you that few book stores carry it and almost no library's do that will allow it to leave their grounds.

I dare you to take a real chance with this novel.
JXI

The Butcher's Wife by Li Ang is a shocking story about the life that one woman had to live. She was constantly abused and degraded by her husband. This book gives a sense of reality into how bad sexual oppression really is. It describes vividly the horror this woman went through and how she decided to take charge. This book will keep you reading for it describes thoroughly this one woman's conquest to overcome her biggest fear, the fear of her own husband.

Once you start reading this book you will not be able to put it down. Li Ang shows readers the miserable conditions that women are forced, by society, to put up with. The woman in this book, Lin Shi, lived in fear. She had no one in her life that she could trust or depend on, including her husband. Even though she lived with her husband, she lived alone. Li Ang keeps her readers completely interested while she tells Lin Shi's story.

The writing here is very reality based, perhaps a bit more honest than a lot of people's comfort zones will stretch to. But I highly recommend it for the not-too-thin-skinned for a different view on women's issues and violence. A non-western view.

I feel that The Butcher's Wife is an incredibly well written book. Li Ang's use of description intrigues and disgusts the reader all at the same time. The story of an abused wife who finally kills her husband captivated me from start to finish.

The issue of domestic violence, mental and physical, is a serious issue that this book addresses in a simple and complex manner. It was easy to read, but talked about the intricacies of how abuse can affect the mind and body. The metaphors were easy to grab and deep in mneaning. Overall, the book was an interesting read.