Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: wonderful novel...
Review: This book has been a pleasure to read...It's the coming of age story of two teenage males in China: two "young intellectuals"(who never attended high school tho:) from the city who are sent to a remote village high in the mountains to be "re-educated" by the peasants there (re-educated in hard work such as carring buckets of dung up the mountain). In their world any intellectual pursuits are banned, inclunding Western books..& when the two youths get their hands on a forbidden book by Balzac their whole world changes...The writing is lovely, the plot is touching and funny at times & interesting (this is the first book on Communist China that I've read). This book is essentially about books and the joy & power of reading...so I think anyone who loves books will love this one also...I certainly did!!!:)

Rating:
Summary: A delightful, thoughtful read
Review: This is a delightful tale about the resilience of the human spirit and the power of literature. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, two young men, friends, have been exiled to the hills of an impoverished village for "re-education". Both their fathers are professional medical men. Even in the midst of back-breaking, mind-numbing labour, the two heroes of this tale grow and revel in the story telling art. They discover a trove of novels and share them with members of the village, as well as the little Chinese seamstress of the story. The Cultural Revolution in China is convincingly portrayed. I understand that the author was also re-educated during seventies.

The only drawback to my complete enjoyment of this book was that for some reason I could not really identify with either boy, particularly Luo. Normally with a book of this length and this well-written, I would read it in one sitting. I found that I could lay it aside and get into another book, then come back to it. This is a minor caveat, though. Their story is very real and their art of story-telling and their enjoyment of the novels are palpable. The ending is delightful and surprising.


Rating:
Summary: Love the cover
Review: Saw the cover of this book online a while ago and finally just read it based on how beautiful the cover is. The book is entertaining but if you really want to know the real story you should look on Amazon for "The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices" by Xinran Xue. This book will make "Balzac and ........" look like a Disney cartoon in comparison! It is one of the most moving and effecting reports by individual women of all ages in China of what it means to be a woman there. Reading this book will change your persective on your own life.

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Summary: Unintended Consequences
Review: Unintended consequences. It's what frequently happens when you try something for the first time. You know, like Dr. Frankenstein's experiment with creating life. Christopher Columbus looking for a new route to India. Alexander Graham Bell calling for Watson. Banning Books. Thalidomide. Nuclear Power. Slavery. Smoking. Deforestation. The Automobile. Almost anything you can think of comes along with unintended consequences. Some good. Some not so good. Some, terrible.
In this novel, the author demonstrates the law of unintended consequences by telling the story of two privileged young men in China during the Cultural Revolution. They are being "reeducated" in a poor village far from their homes. There, they meet a beautiful seamstress who has not been exposed to books, western music or the ways of the world. The boys set out to reeducate her, and, in so doing, woo her. One plays Mozart for her on his violin and skillfully acts out scenes from popular movies. The other reads to her from a forbidden cache of western books by Cervantes, Hugo, Tolstoy, Dumas, Flaubert, Bronte, Balzac and other luminaries.
Because the story is related in simple language, often with slapstick humor, what should be an oppressive nightmare reads like a fairytale complete with a Cinderella, two Prince Charmings and more than one wicked villain. In the end, irony prevails over passion, demagoguery, and the best intentions of the various "reeducators".


Rating:
Summary: Balzac in China
Review: Before I read this book, I just knew Balzac from lyric by one of Brit Pop Band. The song title is `Country House'. Now I really want to know Balzac more because of this book. The story tells us about two hapless city boys who exiled to a remote mountain village for reeducation during china's culture revolution. They have a friend named Four-Eyes, and a beautiful girl lived in mountain called Little Seamstress. The main character of this story is a boy who's clever in playing violin, and his best friend Luo, is clever in telling stories.
These two boys have to work in the farm, sometimes go to mines and do other village's rules. Sometimes the headman of the village sends them to the nearest city to watch film, and they have to tell the story back to all the villagers. Then, they met Little Seamstress who also likes their stories, and Luo falls in love with her.
Someday their other friend, Four Eyes let them borrow his book forbidden by the government, the author is Balzac. Those two boys get addicted and really like to tell the story back to Little Seamstress, even they try to steal other books from Four Eyes. They find books by many authors, besides Balzac. Victor Hugo, Stendhal, Dumas, Roman Rolland, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and some English authors like Dickens, Kippling and Emily Bronte.
When the headman is going to the city, Luo goes to mountain visiting Little Seamstress to tell the stories.
They don't realize the stories and the knowledge they give to Little Seamstress will make her leave the two of them.
The power of Balzac's writing giving consequences more than those two boys can imagine.



Rating:
Summary: Save your money!
Review: I read this book on recommendation from a friend and because of the glowing reviews.

Two pages in and I had to talk myself into continuing. While not excruciatingly horrible, it was bad. Even as I forced myself to read, a rant of the idiocy in the literary world began in my head. Awkward sentences and passive voice littered the page, transitions that would make a five year old shake his head and say "I can do better than that" ran rampant, antecedents were separated too far from their nouns, and the list goes on.

Despite this, I slogged ahead, determined to find _some_ thing that explained the hype over this book.

Eventually, I did develop a fondness for the characters, although I never succeeded in quieting the silent scream at the abuse of language. Sijie does a marvelous job creating these two likable, teenage boys and their struggle after being banished to the peasant villages for "re-education" during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The fascinating glimpse into life during this time period is most likely what captures those who read it.

However, I am still baffled that this book became a bestseller. The characters may be interesting, but the writing is not. Even if this is a poor translation from French to English, I am not sure that excuses the multiple errors and sloppy writing. Could this be one of those books that a few literary critics raved about then every one else jumped on the bandwagon just to appear erudite? Because most people I have spoken frankly with about the book agree with my opinion of the author's writing skill.

Yet, the list of accolades is so large I wonder if the reviewers read the same novel as I did.

Rather than buying the book, I highly recommend either borrowing it from a friend or checking it out of the library. Even eight dollars is too much to spend.