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Summary: Wonderful Writing
Review: This book was a wonderful read. It made me think of all the people who aren't able to have the Arts in their lives and how lucky we are to be able to read Balzac and to see Picassos. This book should make you want to re-read the classics to remind yourself....
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Summary: Lacked substance
Review: I enjoyed this easy read but it lacked substance. I was definetly taken to another time and place but I needed more! Not sorry that I read it.
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Summary: Power of Ideas
Review: This lovely book takes place during the Cultural Revolution in China. Some speculate that Mao sent every intellectual he could find to the hinterland to throw the country into chaos and weaken his enemies; others believe he truly idealized the peasants and wanted everyone to return to their "roots." Whatever his motive, it was a time of tremendous brutality; opposition was crushed, "subversives" were identified on the basis of an accusation by a neighbor or friend, schools were closed, social institutions withered, and teenagers were sent into the countryside to undertake backbreaking, demeaning work for which they were ill-prepared. Famine and complete disintegration of industry followed.The book does not delve into this background, but it is good to know something about it to truly understand the intellectual poverty in which these two young men lived, the power of their discovery of the book, and their feverish pursuit of the rest of the contents of the mysterious suitcase. The author beautifully describes the countryside, the backbreaking labor, the surreal world where the title of a piece of Western music can be changed to include the words "Chairman Mao" and it suddenly becomes acceptable. The body can withstand a lot if the mind stays alive, and although the seamstress escapes and the two young men are left behind, one senses they will survive. This is a lovely, serious, funny and endearing story all at once--highly recommended.
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Summary: good book
Review: all i can say is that i had to read it for a class, and it was very enjoyable. its a touching tale that really reminds you that no matter what happens, there is always hope.
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Summary: Fabulous New Book!
Review: My sister, Rachel, gave me this book last week, saying that I would love it, and indeed I did! This is the story of two young boys, teenagers, who are sent to the country to be "re-educated." Their crime is that they know how to read and that their parents were educated.
This all takes place in China during Mao's "Cultural revolution," where he attempted to dumb down the entire populace.
I am a writer myself (Safe Sex in the Garden) and I love and appreciate terrific writing--and there is plenty of it here in this slim but strong novel. It is powerful to see how much these boys value the one book of Balzac that they steal--they're allowed no books at all. It is interesting to see too, how reading one book, one good book at any rate, how it can change one's life. The charming and beautiful Little Seamstress, and what happens to her, is an example of this power of a good book.
This is also a very honest, funny, often sexy book. The crystal clear writing sparkles at every surprising turn. Do treat yourself to this little marvel if you love books.
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Summary: Who is re-educating who?
Review: Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress uses simple yet elegant words to deliver a powerful message. The narrator of the novel and his best friend Luo depict the lives of two young men struggling through "re-education" in communist China under Chairman Mao Zedong. The communist regime sends the two boys to a rural mountain village to dispel any "revolutionist" ideas that their "reactionary" parents may have instilled upon them. While working as peasant laborers, the boys meet the daughter of a tailor who is known only as "the Little Seamstress." After snatching a suitcase filled with forbidden books from another re-educated bourgeois, the two men take it upon themselves to do some "re-educating" of their own with the Little Seamstress. The lyrical prose of Sijie allows for the reader to breeze through the novel without any concept of time. With seemingly basic anecdotes, Balzac and the Little Chinese Mistress prompts the reader to go deeper into the text and find meaning. A profound social commentary on communism verses western culture, Sijie's novel exposes the inevitability of human nature and explores the balance between instinct and learned behavior. Comic episodes mixed in with powerful subtext of human nature, civilization, and coming of age make the novel an intriguing and pleasurable read.
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Summary: The Power of Words
Review: The story of the narrator, his best friend Luo, and their companions details the true importance of education and the significant role of the fine arts in the lives of children world wide. Mao Ze Dong deprived these children, and the rest of the Chinese, such an important part of the learning process. The story traces the lives of a group of friends and examines the importance of literature and what extreme lengths people were willing to go to in order to educate themselves. The children grow throughout the story and are transformed by the end. The words flow magnificently and Dai Sijie's work marvelously details the tragic life of growing up under the corruption of government. The work is a quick read and always keeps the reader interested in the adventures of the boys.
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Summary: The Mystical Power of Literature
Review: Dai Sijie's first novel explores the ability of literature to entrance mankind by following the "re-education" of two sons of intellectuals deemed enemies of communist China. In an attempt to ensure that the narrator and his friend Juo will not pursue the "revolutionist" paths of their parents, the government forces the boys to live in the mountains where their seclusion from society will hopefully result in conformity to the communist system. But when the boys discover a hidden stash of forbidden books in a friend's suitcase, they open their eyes to a new world of love and adventure, a world from which they cannot willingly return. Hypnotized by Dai Sijie's lyrical flow, one experiences firsthand the mystical power of literature to captivate one's cognition and emotions. As the narrator and his companion Juo devour Western works from Balzac and Rousseau, among others, and relate the tales to their "little seamstress" friend and her father, one becomes instantly enthralled by their struggles to maintain secrecy, enraptured by their experiences of first love and the hardships of jealous frienship, and spellbound with their innate abilities to recount stories to a variety of audiences. A delightful tale infused with occassional comic remarks and bound with poetic narration, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamtress successfully stresses the importance of literature while touching the soul with compassion for its literature-deprived characters.
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Summary: True re-education
Review: This is a coming of age story about 2 young men in the Chinese Re-education program of the 60's and 70's. They aquire a suitcase filled with Western Literature. The stories in these books transform the young men and make them question everything about their society. This story proves the power of literature. This book also shows the flaws inherent in the re-education camps. You can change someone, but you can never control how they change. Very good and very quick.
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Summary: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Review: I found this book to be extremely well-written. The words flowed together beautifully showing the author's enthusiasm for literature just as the characters. I thought the story was interesting. It really brings home the importance of education and how our lives can change simply by trying to become more knowledgable, more cultured. I thought the ending was weird, but I also thought it showed that when you try to change someone for the better- you may no longer be what they want...
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