Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A powerful little gem
Review: Don't let the size of this book fool you--there is a big story packed into it. This is a coming of age and a cultural revolution of its own, that took place in the Chinese cultural revolution fiasco of Chairman Mao. Two teen-aged boys are exiled to the poor, uneducated countryside because their well-educated parents were labeled as enemies of the people. While trying to survive, they make two interesting discoveries--a suitcase full of classic banned books and a lovely seamstress with a dynamite body and a desire to learn. The books open up a new world for all three of them, dramatically changing the way they looked at their world. Their explorations and self-discovery make for an entertaining and quick read. Even the illiterate villagers had their lives changed by these books. The village tailor, after a dramatic reading of the Count of Monte Cristo over 9 nights, began to fashion garments with naval insignias from the story.
My recent trip to China interested me in Chinese history and culture. This book,and its interesting characters, helped bring alive a very difficult period in Chinese history.

Rating:
Summary: A CHARMING, MESMERIZING LOOK AT A TROUBLED TIME
Review: Dai Sijie's little novel is a masterpiece of subtlety, history, and the resilience of the human mind and spirit. His characters are caught up in one of the most horrifying events of the modern era - the Chinese Cultural Revolution - and are challenged not only to survive in the physical sense, but in the intellectual sense as well. They hang on desperately to their lives, their intellect and their friendship - and their story is both moving and inspiring, and not without some healthy humor. The love story that makes up part of the plot is both a familiar and a singular one - and very touching in many ways, without being maudlin. I read the book in a single sitting, in a couple of hours - but I plan to re-read it, taking more time with it, in order to savor the language and emotions a little further.

The story told here is one that is uniquely Chinese, but one that is universal at the same time. Despite (or perhaps because of) all of the attention given to the Cultural Revolution by the media and by governments in the West, little is really known outside of China of what it was actually like to pass through this time. This book is an invaluable look at a huge event that changed the lives of millions of people forever - a look at how grand plans made by leaders (no matter how well-intentioned) can go horribly wrong when put into action.

There's a mention on the jacket of this novel that it's being made into a film - after reading it, I can easily imagine it. The writing is extremely visual - I could picture the characters and the action with little effort. In the hands of the right director and writer, it could be done with timeless results. I hope that the author is involved in the process - the gentle power and beauty of his language should be retained as much as possible.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging and sweet story!
Review: Under Chairman Mao's rule in China, two young men from prominent families are sent to a tiny village for "re-education". Much to their surprise, they find that a third young man, Four Eyes, in the same village has a hidden suitcase which they suspect contains books which, at that time, were illegal to possess. Both the narrator and his friend Luo become enamored with the friendly daughter of the tailor who regularly visits their village to engage in his trade.

This debut novel tells of the relationship of two friends, how they react to a young woman attractive to both, how they deal with living in a small village meant for their re-education, and how books take on a special meaning in their lives. Books such as those that people in free countries take for granted can be like treasure for those deprived of them. This novel tells what two young men do with such a precious treasure.

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Classic
Review: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

Last year I read Dai Sijie's BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS, and I procrastinated on writing this review because I did not feel I could do the book justice. What fascinated me about the story was the idea of Mao's Cultural Revolution, which supposedly placed highly educated people in rural areas of China, so that they would be "re-educated". The plot of BALZAC centers on two young Chinese men, sons of highly educated parents (doctors and dentists), who are sent to the countryside to work among the peasants, and through living the hard life of laborers are to be taught a lesson.

As the two worked the countryside and were put into situations where they were treated as low-educated laborers, they had to deny their educational heritage. Acknowledging the existence of classical music, for example, could mean punishment. No books were allowed by any means. They lived in constant fear, worried that the breath they took would be their last.

Then, their life turns for the better. They discover someone who has a hidden stash of western books, translated into Chinese. They soon become obsessed with the books, and in particular one book written by Balzac. If they thought their "re-education" was a turning point, their discovery of these forbidden books is yet another turning point in their lives.

The reason for the delay of this review is that although I enjoyed reading the book, I don't feel I truly understood what Dai Sijie was trying to convey to the reader. To reveal the ending will ruin the book for many, but it is the ending that I fail to understand the impact the author tried to make. Many readers have enjoyed this book that is destined to become a modern classic. But others like me fail to totally appreciate the meaning of the story of two men who tried to reclaim a life they had thought they truly lost. I am recommending this book only because I feel this is a modern classic and is probably going to become recommended reading in literature classes in the near future. I think reading this book should be required. Not only does the author have a gift of words, but also the content of this story is part of modern world history, and the knowledge of this should not be denied.

Rating:
Summary: The title says it all.
Review: Whenever a novel wins multiple French prizes, it usually exhibits two notable traits: first, its celebration of France's glorious past (in this case, its 19th century romantic authors, especially Balzac) and second, its condescension to the female characters (in this case, an unnamed "little Chinese seamstress"). This is not to say it is not a good book--it is! But the main characters' expressed desire to "civilize" and ultimately "transform" the little seamstress may be a difficult cultural pill for independent American women to swallow, much less empathize with.

Set during China's Cultural Revolution, the two main characters, city-dwelling young men of 17 and 18, have been sent to the countryside for re-education, which in this case means hauling excrement down from a mountain ironically named "The Phoenix of the Sky." Luo, the friend of the narrator, is a good storyteller, and the village headman eventually sends the two young men repeatedly to the nearest small city, a four-day round trip on foot, to view a movie and then return and "tell it" to the village. In a neighboring village, they meet the beautiful young seamstress, "the princess of Phoenix mountain," whom Luo wishes to improve and with whom he fancies himself in love. When the men obtain access to a hidden cache of forbidden romantic novels, mostly French, they devour them, using them to "educate" the seamstress and entertain the villagers.

Fascinating for its views of Chinese rural life and intriguing for its lovely descriptions of the natural world, its simple style, and its ability to show the universality of emotions-- jealousy, fear, sympathy, self-protection, quirky humor, and passion--this is a very well-written and entertaining novella, too short to allow for significant development of character and theme. Its symbolism will be familiar to most readers--a snake, keys, a narrow walkway between deep gorges, fearless plunges into the water, etc.--and its ending is inevitable. A simple story, simply told.

Rating:
Summary: An understated delight
Review: This is a gentle, delicate book that is written in a seemingly simple style but has unexpected depth to it. I was enchanted by the stories and characters Sijie presents -- the images of the two protagonists watching a film in order to retell the story to their villagers; of making their way down a trecherous path to share a book with the little seamstress; the old man sucking his "jade oysters"; and the headman announcing the time on the new watch. Each episode is a gem!

Rating:
Summary: Mistaken!
Review: I thought this would be a little gem of a book.
It was merely fool's gold.

Rating:
Summary: a new classic
Review: Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a book like no other. It tells the story or two teenage boys during the Chinese revolution. The nameless narrator and his friend Luo are sent to be re-educated in a rural village when their families are disgraced by the Chairman Mao. This book tells of how they deal with encountering countless hardships, romance, and temptation.
Whilst being re-educated, our duo encounters a third young man, Four Eyes, who is harboring forbidden Western literature. In exchange for certain favors, the boys find themselves submersed in Balzac, Dumas, and other such classic writers who at the time, were forbidden. Luo the in turn uses these stories to woo the Little Chinese Seamstress, the beautiful girl who lives in a nearby village and has captured both boys' hearts.
Throughout all of these horrors, however, Dai Sijie manages to keep the reader's hope for the boys to prevail alive, by feeding them on comical sarcasm and amusing awkward situations. A fantastic read for anyone, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress most certainly has the qualities of a modern masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Balzac and the litle chinese seamstress
Review: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie is a clearly-written but profound story that is a must read. It conveys the tale of two young boy's struggles during the horrendous oppressions of the Chinese Revolution in the early 1900s. But the tale also manages to maintain an upbeat and even comical tone. Imagery of the lush mountain terrain of China is breathtaking, but even Sijie's beautiful words describing the surrounding area of the boy's concentration camp pale in comparison to the emotion that this story actually moves. It is a tale about love, hope, endurance, and most importantly, friendship.

Rating:
Summary: Rich and Complex Despite It's Small Size
Review: BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS is a delightful, yet ultimately painful, little book set in the 1970s during China's Cultural Revolution when two teenaged boys from families who have been "disgraced" are sent to a remote mountain village to be "reeducated."

The narrator, who is not given a name, is suspect from the very beginning of his arrival in the village because he brings his treasured violin with him (musical instruments have been outlawed). These villagers have never seen or heard a violin, since it is a western instrument, and they mistakenly think the narrator is "too much of a boy" and the violin a toy. The narrator manages to win them over, however, when he plays Mozart and tells the villagers it is an official song of the revolution called "Mozart is Thinking of Chairman Mao."

The other teenaged boy is named Luo and he and the narrator are given the despicable job of carrying a pot of human and animal waste up and down a mountain path. Their dismal life lightens just a little when the man in charge of their "reeducation" discovers that Luo is something of a storyteller and sends them to another village to watch films and report back to him. It is during one of their film outings that the narrator and Luo meet "the little seamstress" and Luo immediately falls in love. More importantly, at least as far as this book's plot is concerned is that the boys discover that a former friend of theirs, Four-Eyes, is hoarding a wonderful stash of forbidden western books, mostly books with romantic plots and mostly French. They immediately hatch a plan to smuggle the books back to their own village.

At this point, BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS becomes less interested in plot than it does in theme, i.e., does hope always carry the promise of redemption? The books the boys smuggle into their village do relieve some of the boredom and agony and loneliness they feel, but, alas, they also add a heavy burden that didn't exist prior to their discovery. The narrator and Luo learn that hope is only a "good" thing when that hope stands a chance of being translated into reality. Hope that stands little chance of being realized inflicts more pain than joy. It's a difficult lesson, but one that Sijie tells very well. He has a wonderfully "light" touch and it never feels as though he's "educating" us or "telling" us anything. All of the lessons of this story are woven seamlessly into the plot.

BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS does tell us about the harsh realities of China's Cultural Revolution but is so much richer than that. It is far more universal in scope and theme and, because it is, it is a little masterpiece of a book rather than one that is "just very good."

BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS is a very rich and complex book despite its small size. Sijie manages to say a lot in very few pages. Not a word is wasted, something I greatly appreciated. The ending of the book is inevitable, as it should be. There is nothing "contrived" in this story, but to give away anything of the end would definitely ruin the book for those who haven't read it. The boys, with the help of some very romantic, very French, novels, learn, however, that hope, like love, inflicts pain as often as it does joy.

I loved this book and I think it's not only a little gem but, as one other reviewer has noted, a "modern masterpiece." I think anyone who doesn't read BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS is only cheating himself. It's often a poignant and sad experience, but it's also one that's wonderful as well.