Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, two teenage boys are sent to the countryside for re-education. There they find the pretty little daughter of the local tailor and a forbidden, hidden cache of western novels, which prove very educational to the little seamstress.

I am an international student from a new england boarding school. my dorm teacher suggested me this book when i told her i'm interested in reading about the chinese cultural revolution on a less censored level. i have read "the red scarf girl" before in my humanity class, and i turn to like "balzac and the little chinese seamstress" a lot. i think the only reason that i don't like it as much as i like "the red scarf girl" is because the author does not give a comprehensive view of the revolution. however, the author has a beautiful way of conveying his thoughts, and "balzac and the little chinese seamstress" is overal a quite enjoyable, relaxing read.

The Little Seamstress' parting words to her boy friends in their remote Phoenix mountain hill town before she "took off like a bird" for the city were that: "she had learnt one thing from Balzac: that a woman's beauty is a treasure beyond price."

This easy to read, consistently engrossing, novel leaves the reader feeling good and reminded once again of the heady benefits that flow from reading the great books. This knowledge is second nature to us. But it was anything but for the beautiful and curious Chinese teenager whose eyes were opened wide when her boy friends read to her from their contraband edition of Balzac's "Ursule Mirouet" and other classics.

Apart from Mao's Little Red Book and the Party approved school text books, no books were allowed in the remote village at the top of Phoenix Mountain where the two "intellectual" teenage boys, Luo and the narrator, had been sentenced for "re-education". The boys and the seamstress braved great danger to discover and steal a cache of classic titles including "Pere Goriot," "Cousin Pons", "Colonel Chabert," "Eugenie Grandet", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Madame Bovary". Reading from this feast, they enchanted the seamstress who falls in love with Luo, the more worldly of the two boys.

But, beware. What you wish for may have unintended consequences. Their re-education unfinished, the boys can not leave with their beautiful friend - the great books are all they have left.

End note. First published in France in 2000, "The Little Chinese Seamstress" became an immediate best seller and won many prizes. Translated from the French by Ina Rilke and published here in 2001, it was picked by the New York Times as one of the best books of the year.

Well, I thought this book was wonderful. I enjoyed reading it, becuase it was real. The whole book was based on a true story and I found that intersting. It teahes a lot about life and how things always don't go you're way and how things can change in the life that we call "ours"

This was a relaxing read for me, though the underlying political movement (Mao Zedong's cultural revolution & re-education program) to which the story is set is quite the opposite. During this period literature other than Mao's was banned.

In this story two boys, an unnamed violin-playing protagonist and his partner in crime Luo, are re-educated in a remote village away from their affluent lifestyles to haul poo. Thats right folks, they haul poo up and down the hills.

Anyhow, the boys obtain some illegal European literature and introduce it to the peasant chinese seamstress, who they feel needs an opportunity to be educated. Luo begins to read her the works of Balzac to help her see the world outside her small village. This however, is not a fairytale and the ending is quite unexpected.

Sijie creates warmth to the story by good imagery and adding a charming humor that works well even in translated english. My only complaint is that the story can be dry at times and took me longer to finish because it lacks an element of anticipation. However, if you are looking for a lazy evening read to go with tea, perhaps this will do just fine.

During the Cultural Revolution in China any boy or girl who had finished high school was labeled an intellectual and was sent to the countryside to be re-educated and this fate falls on young Luo.

He brings an alarm clock shaped like a rooster with him and since the villagers had never seen one before, they turn it into an idol. Luo takes advantage of that by changing the time now and then to gain an extra hour's sleep from a headmaster who depends upon the clock to tell him when to send him out to work. The work he does for the "good of the revolution" is grinding, filthy labor for which he's not paid. It's no wonder he tries to escape from it now and then.

No one being re-educated is permitted to read anything except Mao's book of sayings, but Luo gets a hold of a book written by Balzac and the world of ideas opens. He wants other books. Then he meets the beautiful young seamstress and shares Balzac with her and now she too, wants books.

Luo falls in love and wants to get them for her, not only to please her but also to raise her up from her lack of education to become something other than just a peasant girl. In his desire to "re-educate" the girl he loves, resides lies their ultimate future.

This is a wonderful five star story that will take you to a place you've never been and will perhaps teach you a little about relationship and love. In my opinion you should get this little book, it'll capture your heart.

This book is definitely a must. The author writes a story in a setting that very few of us will have ever experienced, but through his entirely familiar characters, brings up issues and emotions each of us will have felt at some point in life. He brings out the frustration of loving a girl that belongs to someone else, and watching that someone else lose her. The walls and roadblocks brought out by politicians that stop them from obtaining a legal abortion are very deep to any couple who cannot get married because it is not allowed by law, or who can not obtain a cure that stem cells may give them because the law does not allow it. The exile from family and learning to live in a new world is familiar to any child who has left their parents home. While they are exiled, and their situation is much more serious, the feelings of loss and aloneness, as well as those of wonder at a new world, bring an empathic throb from any heart.
Does anyone else relate to this book in a personal way? Or am I the only one?

Luo and the narrator are sent to a remote mountain village to be "Re-educated" in proletariat life; victims of Mao's 'Cultural' revolution. But when another 'class enemy' sent with them from the city is discovered to have a suitcase of western books, they become absorbed in the stories. Luo falls in love with the beautiful seamstress and he tells her the stories in the books; Balzac's being a particular favourite and a real re education takes place....
A fable that is not so much an account of Mao's tyranny but more about the human spirit that no politics can ever extinguish. Mao-like all the despots before and since-together with their dogma's and terror-are doomed to fail as they are all anti human ; fascism, communism -and todays extremist islam-all fail; they cannot hold back true humanity ,no matter what terror or tyranny they use. It's a shame that politico's don't realise this and save us all from their miseries-but then again, politics and fanaticism are fertile grounds for the 3% of psychopaths and 11% of sadists that make up these vile groups. History warns us of them and the need to always oppose. As Dai Sijie tells us; the world of Balzac, free thought and imagination will always win.
Uplifting and simply told, an easy to read book that you will get a lot from.

Lovely book. Except for two brief shifts in narrative viewpoint, the story is told in a very simple, almost naive way. But that simplicity hides great richness.
The story is about the power of dreams, imagination, fables, and the dangers they bring. The Cultural Revolution had forced two teenagers, the narrator and his friend, to relocate to a tiny mountainside village. And though these two young men are hardly shining lamps of erudition and culture, they manage to excite the imagination of their neighbors. Their violin (poorly played) charms the headmaster into accepting them into the village. The headmaster becomes enthralled, almost hypnotized with a clock with a rooster on the face, and its hold over him helps the two boys cope with farmwork. When the headmaster discovers the two can retell movies skillfully, they are sent to the larger village down th mountain expressly to watch films and retell them when they return. These things help them endure the rigors of Mao's reeducation. The story creates for them a kind of tiny paradise.
When they find (steal) a chest full of forbidden western classics, they are ecstatic. The stories are themselves dangerous, in Mao's paranoid, anti-intellectual, anti-western culture, where everyone was an informer and the crimes were not defined. But the stories are also dangerous for their exploration of the passions, for their power to excite the imagination, for their sheer craft and knowledge of the human heart. The narrator's friend begins to use Balzac's stories to woo a lovely seamstress.
In the very briefest, most evocative possible way, Dai shows how the books bring hints of conflict and danger into this little village. The narrator finds he is jealous of his friend and the seamstress. More disturbingly, he finds he thinks of things as his and mine, where before he never thought to distinguish.
Contrary to another reviewer, I find the story doesn't patronize or belittle the seamstress at all. In fact, that is one of the key ironies of the book, that the boy had tried to win her heart, and then make her a sophisticate, with Balzac, and had in fact succeeded. But the stories are the very thing that drive her away to make her own life in the city. They freed her, in fact.
Contrary to a reviewer below, the story feels Chinese to me. It has that exuberant, slightly coarse humor and that feeling of localness, like everything is taking place in a minature landscape: mountain, fields, a town (the big one) that consists of two buildings.
Dai himself endured "re-education," and it must have been a horrific experience. That he can write such a sunny, yet subtle and resonant work about the period is another proof of the power of literature and the imagination.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie is a delightful story, although I think that the author could have made this book even better. In fact, at 183 pages, it is more of a novella than a novel.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress opens when two teenage boys are shipped off to a remote village in the early 1970's as part of China's re-education program. The village is very primitive and doesn't even have a clock. All books have been banned except for books on science or works by Chairman Mao. These two pampered, city boys face severe culture shock. The one bright spot in their lives is the beautiful daughter of the local tailor. They also receive some special privileges when it is discovered that they are master storytellers. When they are able to obtain some illegal books, they make it their mission to introduce the seamstress to these classic works of fiction. But in being re-educated by the Chinese government, they also re-educate the little seamstress to want more out of life than is available in rural China.

Sijie writes beautifully of a period in Chinese history in which he has first-hand knowledge. The descriptions of the village are authentic, and what the teens experienced is at times funny, sad, poignant and distressing. He is very convincing when detailing the dangerous mine conditions, being attacked by body lice and performing primitive dental work. But while Sijie can be very precise in his descriptions, he can be vague in other ways. We never learn the name of the seamstress or one of the teen boys, who serves as a narrator for most of this tale. I would have liked to know more about what happened to the boys. Did they ever leave the village? Were they reunited with their families? And what was the ultimate fate of the Chinese seamstress?

Through it all, the power of books is the major theme. Books can provide the tools through which doors are opened, knowledge obtained, people are entertained and lives are transformed. I especially love books that teach something new, or peak my interest to learn even more. The Little Chinese Seamstress does just that.

Now that I've read the book, I'm anxious to see the movie that is based on this story. I've heard that it's truly exceptional.

I enjoyed Dai Silje's "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress." The story is beautifully written and is both enlightening and engaging.

The book tells the story of an un-named protagonist, his friend Luo, and the also un-named little seamstress. Set in China during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s, the narrator/protagonist tells of his life in the village where he and his friend Luo are being "reeducated". In their village, the boys spend their days hauling buckets of filth up and down a hill. After discovering their talent at storytelling, though, the village headman gives the boys a reprieve: they get to take regular trips into the city to watch movies. They are then required to tell the stories from the movies to the villagers. During one trip, they meet the little seamstress, and both Luo and the narrator are charmed.

In the course of events, a friend of the boys (whom they call Four-Eyes for his glasses) gives them a book. It is a translation of Balzac's "Pere Goriot"--Western literature, to which neither Luo nor our narrator have been exposed yet. When they read the book, both are awakened to the joys of taking a voyage via books. They learn of places they've never seen, people they've never heard of, and experiences they've never had. Not surprisingly, they boys quickly become addicted to books. They repeatedly beg Four-Eyes to loan them more, but Four-Eyes refuses, afraid that the government will find out and punish him for owning the books. It isn't until Four-Eyes is leaving the area that Luo and the narrator manage to steal Four-Eyes's suitcase full of books. Once they have the stash, our two young men become enchanted by the spell of books. They share the stories they read with the little seamstress, with whom both boys are in love, but who loves Luo in return. Luo hopes to help the little seamstress learn and become an intellectual. In the end, he meets his goal, but with an unexpected twist. Is the ending happy or sad?

"Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" is a lovely story. It was fun to read, and I feel enriched for having read it. The end feels abrupt and left me questioning what the outcome was, but that fits with the novel as a whole. It's a fairly short book, so it doesn't take long to read, but it's a good book to sit and savor. I would have enjoyed more denoument at the end, but I was satisfied despite that.

With each passing day I mentally revisit scenes from this spare novel. (Spare in length and style.) The premise--the children of Chinese professionals who have been designated "enemies of the state" during the Cultural Revolution are sent to be "re-educated" by peasants in remote villages--is immediately engaging.
The chances for these youths to return to any semblance of their former lives are slim. The main characters in this story, the unnamed narrator and his close friend Luo, wind up sharing quarters in the same remote village on the side of a mountain and they find solace in their friendship and with their love and admiration for the beautiful daughter of the local tailor. They also discover and steal a cache of French novels, literature that has been forbidden by the anti-intellectual Red Guard. Nevertheless, they immerse themselves in the literature and the stories give them hope of better times and release from the hardships of their transplanted lives. The books are also seen by Luo as the means by which he may transform the Little Chinese Seamstress into a civilized, urbane woman. The complications of love and re-education drive the plot. Of course, re-education comes to mean more than what the powers behind the Cultural Revolution intend: it includes what the two boys learn about themselves and their neighbors and, ironically, the consequences of Luo's presumption that the seamstress will benefit from his civilizing instruction based upon the French literature.
Dai Sijie's style is clean and simple. The novel is very much about story-telling, and the narrator, in retelling his experiences, provides the model for an effective narrative (without Western Post-Modern self-referential gimmickry). The character's are endearing and memorable, the settings are vivid, and the events are believable and very, very human. Highly recommended.

Sijie Dai's first novel is full of pleasant surprises. A funny, touching, and engaging story: two boys are among hundreds and thousands exiled to remote villages for re-education during the infamous Chinese Cultural Revolution under Mao Tze Tung. The narrator and his best friend, Luo, are accused of being sons of doctors. At the times of Cultural Revolution, doctors, engineers, and scholars are guilty of being corrupted by Western culture and ideas. Western arts and literature are subjects to governmental confiscation and burning. The narrator and Luo find themselves in the distant village on Phoenix Mountain carting buckets of excrement up and down precipitous hills and working in maize fields. They delight themselves in playing violin and spending time with the beautiful daughter of the local tailor. The boys' life at the re-education village takes a surprising turn as they discover a hidden suitcase of Western classics in Chinese translation owned by Four Eyes. For the first time in they lives the boys are exposed to the mystery of the outside world, especially the world of women, love, and sex as revealed to them by these Western writers day after day, page after page, book after book.
The story is well written but somewhat short for development of the characters. Luo's passion to transform the seamstress into an urban girl by reading to her Western classics is understandable. The task however seems to be somewhat challenging. Dai has given us a fairy tale with political allegory. The ideas about how two boys exiled into some remote countryside for re-education ends up re-educating a mountain native the outside world simply seduces the reader and captures much attention. For those who experienced the infamous Cultural Revolution, the novel comes to dear to the heart. Sijie Dai has simply done an excellent job in elaborating such a bitter experience.

Based in Chairman Mao's attempts to increase control of China through re-education, this story of two young men finding their way in an alien world is at times charming, at others frightening. One a violinist, the other a story teller, the two find themselves in a mountain village, far from the city in which they grew up and where their parents ran afoul of the authorities. Their talents both hinder and help in their survival.

The great joy in their lives is the little seamstress, daughter of a tailor living in a nearby village. Even unschooled as she is, they both fall in love with her, and spend as much time in her company as they can when not working in the rice paddies or the mine that supports the villagers. One day their lives are further enhanced when they discover another young man undergoing re-education who owns a suitcase filled with forbidden books. Then they not only love the little seamstress, they fall in love with Balzac, Dumas, and other authors whose stories transport them out of their difficult lives for hours or days at a time. Their taste for the wonders of beautiful words is nearly insatiable.

This French translation is awkward in places and if not for the subject, it might have been written for young adults. Short and a quick read, it sometimes feels as if the story was published in serial form. Still, it flows well and the total effect is at times magical, even to the production quality of the book itself.

This novella tells the story of two city youths sent to the Chinese country-side for re-education. They meet another city exile who has a secret stash of literature.

The story is told like a fable substituting a seamstress for the princess and the two ex-urbanite workers for the knights who save her from her daily drudge with stories and literature.

I can only guess that the countryside and the experience of the urban ex-pats reflect the time. The narrator and his friend Luo have backbreaking jobs, the live together in a house on stilts. The limited recreational options and the restrictions on marriage (age 25 for males) produce an obsessive desire to access their friend's secret stash and share it with their new friend the (nameless) seamstress.

They have a number of comic adventures in this pursuit, including handling the work boss who can mete out punishment and reward.

It was disappointing that title character, "little seamstress", is not developed. While the "surprise" ending is not really a surprise, more to show who she was and how she grew with her introduction to literature would have made this a better book.

In "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress," the narrator and Luo was sent to the mountain area to be re-educated under Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution in 1971. The young men were separated from their parents who were medical professionals and were considered by Mao as enemies. Life was difficult for the narrator and Luo as they were assigned works that were both physical and at times can be dangerous. Their lives took to a good turn when they met the "Little Chinese Seamstress," the daughter of the village's popular tailor. Soon, they discovered that their friend from the city, Four-Eyes had been harboring translated Western literatures which were highly illegal. The young men craved for the literatures and when Four-Eyes offered a book by Balzac, their lives were transformed. Soon, they wanted to read all of Four-Eyes's books.
I definitely highly recommend "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress." It is magical and the author is vivid in his description of the mountain area. In addition, I also enjoy the historical information that the author provided, giving insights into life during the Cultural Revolution. The book is beautifully written and his style of writing is very mesmerizing. At the end, he leaves you wanting for more. This is a simple story told in a simple way, and that is what makes the book wonderful.

I watched Gilmore Girls for a long time, and anyone that has knows Rory Gilmore is always reading. Someone compiled a list of all the books shown or read by Rory. When I read the list, I was pleased to see I'd heard of most of them, and read a fair number. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress was one that I had never heard of, but it intrigued me. I jetted over to the local used bookstore and picked up a copy. I'm so glad I did. This is a mesmerizing story. With deft, eloquent prose, Sijie weaves a tale about individualism, romance, friendship and the power of books to change us - for better or worse. I highly recommend this book.

The cover captured me as did the description that said the reader would hear what it was like for two teenage boys to be sent to the mountains for re-education during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.  However, the book didn't come through.  I couldn't see or feel the setting in the mountains except for small parts, and never got a feel for the characters.  I didn't care that much what happened to them until close to the end when I thought something was about to happen and I wanted to know what.  But it didn't happen for me.  The end.  Boring. Two stars.

I cannot imagine a world where simply reading is a crime. I cannot imagine it!! But it happens, or so I am told.

This is the story of a few urban teenagers in China, circa 1970, who have been sent to a mountain to be re-educated.

The story opens with the locals inspecting a violin and declaring it a bourgeois toy. Only the playing of "Mozart is Thinking of Chairman Mao" saves the violin from the flames.

The sheer ludicrousness of many of the situations in the book are laughable, but at the same time, have a ring of "crap like this REALLY HAPPENED" to make the reader stop in her laughter and just shake her head.

There is also a love story, buried in here. It's not a happy ending, but the little seamstress does feature prominently as a star in a romance.

Though I know this is a translation, it is an excellent one, and reads very smoothly. The biggest jumps are in cultural translations.

I enjoyed this fast read. The pictures drawn were exquisite, and the text has pulled me back to some classics I haven't read for a while. So, now, it's off to read some Count of Monte Cristo...

(*)>

Words are powerful. And when they are combined to make a sentence, a novel, they become even more powerful. They can change lives, minds and hearts. Anyone who has found the joy of reading a book will be delighted with Dai Sijie's `Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress'.
After the cultural revolution in the comunist China, two friends are sent to a educational camp, where they are supposed to be re-educated, and probably forget all they have known. While they are there, both guys end up meeting a young seamstress whose thirst for knowledge and love for live is heartbreaking. They also come across Balzac. Not the writer himself, but his works and his books will change the trio's lives.
Sijie is a moviemaker and as so has a peculiar eye for images. In the book not only are the ideas great, but also the images the evoque are perfectly beautiful. He can be funny while writing about such a dark period in China. His words are light, but not without consistence. the book is short but profund when it comes to show the importance of books in life. More than that the importance of freedom, the possibility of choosing, the right of expressing yourself. The writer has done a great work! By the way, he has made the book into a movie, and this one is certainly a must see.

Dai Sijie writes a disarmingly hypnotic story of two young boys that are taken to be "re-educated" in a remote mountain village, away from their Physician parents, away from the comforts and familiarity of their homes. They must work hard and live roughly but everything changes when some forbidden books find their way into their hands. The boys escape into the novels, completely submersing themselves in distant worlds. They subsequently use the novels to create an oral theater in which the stories are retold to the villagers, earning the young boys time away from hauling pails up the mountain.

When a traveling salesman/tailor asks them to come to his village and tell a story there, the boys seek permission from their village elder. Their adventures begin and lead them down unimagined paths, all for the love of literature.

This is an intriguing story of life in China during the Cultural Revolution. The impact that the novels have on the lives of the people is astonishingly vivid testament to the power of books.

This is a small book but it is anything but small in this moving tribute to the human spirit.

An enchanting novelette with several themes - the Chinese cultural revolution, coming of age, first passion, and love of arts and literature. Perhaps the main theme is the indefatigability of human qualities such as imagination and quest for beauty in spite of oppression.
The story begins with two young men from the city arriving on Phoenix Mountain, the place they have been sent to by the Chinese government for reeducation, both guilty of being the sons of doctors. Life among the peasants is bleak, the jobs assigned to them the most menial and dangerous and there is no intellectual stimulation. Over time though two important things happen - first they meet the "little seamstress" the most beautiful and intelligent girl on the mountain, daughter of the area's tailor - and later they come into possession of a secret cache of forbidden books, all translations of western novels. At this time period, all books were banned in China except for those written by Mao and his cronies and technical manuals, the boys have never seen foreign fiction before and now they have Balzac, Flaubert, Emily Bronte, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Victor Hugo, Dickens, and many others, whole new worlds to explore.
Quick to read with vivid descriptions, I will never forget the old man with the bed full of lice and jade dumplings with salty sauce. Also loved the ending, the little seamstress has absorbed all the education Luo has to give and keeps moving on the path of self discovery.

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.

After finishing Wild Swans : Three Daughters of ChinaI ran across this short book on my own bookshelf barely remembering reading it years ago. Now with more of an idea of what "re-education" meant under Mao I had a better appreciation of this short but thought-provoking book. It is a delight, but I feel one almost needs more background to fully appreciate the danger of reading during this time period. Perhaps those more familiar with the Cultural Revolution and Mao's policies immediately saw the importance of this book. For me, I had to read "Wild Swans" to get a broader background. Now, I feel like I just discovered a jewel. The story really isn't complicated, but it certainly is powerful. The power of imagination that can be ignited through literature is incredible. This short little book reinforces what I already know: literature does change lives.

During the terrors of the Cultural Revolution, two boys from well-to-do families are sent to a backwater villiage to be educated in the ways of the peasant. However these peasants are just reformed opium growers, and it is doubtful whether the boys will be able to learn anything other than other than pain and injustice. Fortunately, one of the boys has a remarkable talent in storytelling. This captivates the villiaers who have never seen any kind of modern entertainment. This gives the boys an opportunity to go to the city to see movies which they must relate to the villiagers on their return. On their trips they encounter the lovely tailor's daughter. Also they come across a suitcase full of western books. These books are banned, but the boys thirst for them, and in reading them, they become aware of a completely different world. In exploring this different world, they learn some hard lessons in life and love.
I have to disagree with the reviewer who disliked the ending. Perhaps the reviewer wanted to get an ending that vindicated the power of romantic love as set forth in western literature. However the reviewer must keep in mind that this is not a western book. And however much you hoped, the ending that you hoped for is not very realistic. What these boys went through is something that every boy goes through in their life. This is just an extreme case of growing up.

The setting is China, under the rule of Chairman Mao, in the 70s during the Cultural Revolution. Two young boys are sent to a poor peasant village, Phoenix Mountain, where they are to be "re-educated". However, unexpectedly, here on this desolate mountain, enduring long laborious hours, the boys find the love of their life. Two loves actually, that intertwine and leave the boys changed forever.
The two boys are given a task by the village headman to go into the neighboring village, watch a movie and then return to tell the story to the headman and the village people, "an oral cinema show". On their trek into the neighboring village, the boys meet the beautiful little seamstress. They also stop for a visit to their old friend, four-eyes, whom they have discovered has a suitcase of forbidden books. The two boys plot a way to obtain the books, and in succeeding, they free their mind and spirt from the harsh world of Phoenix Mountain and into the beautiful far-away world of authors like Balzac, Gaugin, and Dumas.
The boys decide to bring the beauty and excitement of the books to the Little Seamstress. One of the boys, Luo, hopes to transform the Little Seamstress with the books from a simple peasant girl to an educated woman. Luo succeeds in this endeavor, however, not to his liking.
Dai Sijie, a "re-educated" man himself, tells a wonderful story of survival, love and heartbreak all the while exposing an accurate picture of life during China's Cultural Revolution.

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.

"Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" is a sweet, short and whimsical little coming of age story. That it happens to be set during China's Cultural Revolution and revolves around sent-down educated youth is incidental, which is a refreshing change.
One of the editorial reviews labels this a "moving, often wrenching novel"; that it is neither is what makes it so appealing. Dai Sijie's lovely novel is a departure from most the "scar literature" about the Cultural Revolution in so many refreshing ways. The genre is saturated by epic-length wallow fests, equal parts suffering, self-importance and appeal-to-Western-readers exotica. "Balzac" is simple, unpretentious, strait-forward and humorous. The tragic overtones of the time are mentioned passingly and straightforwardly, as through the eyes of a youth more concerned with his own affairs than of the nation convulsing around him. Yet its tragedy is so much more moving with such a sparing brush than those that linger morbidly to flesh out all the gory details.
The story is told through the eyes of a sent-down youth and his bosom buddy Luo. They are typical teenagers, at once cocky and nervous, at first thrown in over their heads in the small village they are assigned to, but soon figuring things out well enough to manipulate the system, and usually get away with it. Much humor is made through the village headman's infatuation with Luo's alarm clock, the first such thing to ever be seen in the town, and how they use the villages blind trust in its accuracy to steal extra hours of morning sleep.
The central characters are not paragons of virtue, and often downright unsympathetic, which makes the plot the more engaging and realistic. With teenage boy duplicity, they both vie to seduce the prettiest girl in the village, the seamstress of the title. Luo's talent for storytelling had won them the task of going to town to see movies and then come back and reenact them for the rest of the village, and first courts the seamstress with his movie tales.
After a friend of theirs, another sent-down youth and the child of writers, grudgingly loans them a Balzac book, Luo discovers that French romanticism gets him further with the girl than Korean Communist propaganda. After much plotting, they steal their friend's secret suitcase of banned Western novels, leading to the book's central conflict: Luo's forbidden affair with the seamstress, and the trio's forbidden love affair with literature.
In the average Cultural Revolution tale, these love affairs would end disastrously. Perhaps playfully alluding to the cliches of the genre, Dai foreshadows such a romantically tragic ending. What happens instead hilariously cements the book as a solidly realistic and cynical portrait of China and of human nature.
It's interesting to note the disparity between the emigrant Chinese writers who went to France and who went to Anglophone countries. While most of the latter, apart from a few notable exceptions, are horrendous writers, those who migrated to France, such as Gao Xingjian and Dai, have honed an elegant literary fusion. This harks back to the 1920s and '30s, when most of the best Chinese writers and artists studied in France. I don't know much about France, but it always does good things to the Chinese.
"Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" is also a physical pleasure to read, with its flowing old typeface, small size and the elegant cover that lured me in despite my dislike of its genre.
In absolute terms, "Balzac" only deserves four stars, but compared to the other books in its genre, which get so many undeserved raves from naive readers who wouldn't know China from Cochinchina, it is definitely a gem.

"Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" is the story of two Chinese adolescents being "re-educated" in a mountain village. Together they perform menial labor, try to preserve their perfunctory city education, and meet the beautiful "little seamstress" who lives on the mountain.
This is a short, sweet, enjoyable book. The prose is light and easy to read, although it occasionally bears the mark of awkward translation. The story is advanced in a concise, measured way; few short novels are this complex without seeming overloaded. The book is a delight to read: interesting and a bit dark without being obscure or depressing, and full of joie de vivre.
The major shortcoming of the book is its abbreviated length. The author affords so little space to each plot segment that it is difficult to distinguish the important themes, and the ending is so sudden that it leaves the reader unsure of what it is supposed to mean, or whether it is supposed to mean anything. The outcome does not, in retrospect, seem inevitable or even understandable. A fuller treatment of the story, including further discussion of the works of Balzac (a French author whose works are referenced but not explained), would make the ending more powerful and provide a more satisfying experience. However, despite this flaw the book is unusual, enjoyable, and interesting.

During 1966 to 1976 China went through a cultural revolution inaugurated by Mao Zedong attempting to prevent development of a bureaucratized Soviet style of Communism. As a result, schools were closed, teachers and intellectuals were persecuted and people were encouraged to join Red Guard Units which enforced Mao's cult of personality. It is during this chaotic time in China that `Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress' take place.

It is interesting to me the way this book was written. The story is told as if you are sitting with the narrator as he casually tells you his story. Since the novel is written this way, you never get the name of the narrator, only the names of the people involved in his life. The novel vividly paints the story of the main character and his best friend Luo and their trials of their segregated life of "re-education". The two seventeen-year-old boys are condemned to serve four years of this "re-education" living in a shack on a remote mountain performing tedious tasks such as carrying buckets of excrement for disposal and working tiring hours in fields.

Despite their impecunious living conditions, the boys manage to entertain themselves by story-telling and by the narrator playing his violin. The headman catches wind of their amazing story-telling ability and orders them to periodically go into town to watch a movie, then come back and retell it in graphic detail. The boys encounter a beautiful young girl in town who works with her father as a seamstress. Luo is stricken by her beauty, but will not consider her for a wife until the girl becomes sophisticated and cultured. This presents them with a dilemma until (by chance) they come across a suitcase of forbidden Western literature. The boys devour each book while at the same time sharing the stories with the little seamstress. These books have a profound effect on the lives of everyone involved.

The story was very well told and engrossing. It was a very short and easy read (only just shy of 200 pages). I read the book in just a couple hours while on a road trip. I think this would be a great read for young adults. It makes you see how lucky we all are to have such a vast range of books so readily available to us.

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.

Beautifully written. Well developed characters that you cannot help but feel like you know. The audio reader, B.D. Wong, does a superb job of transporting you to their world. This is a quick read and very much worth reading.

The initial chapters of this book, about two boys going to live with peasants as part of the Cultural Revolution, were graphic, gripping, and crisply written. Some of the language (chosen by author, or translator) are unusual and pleasing. Frisson, for example. This is not a typical "read" and has a kind of Buddhist simplicity.

About half way through the book, as the author describes navigating a slippery, muddy and precarious slope, he himself seems to fall off one of his own making. The book "fast forwards" in a rush, and even resorts to a "story within story" a la Canterbury Tales, then returns to the original style and voice toward the end. All very jumpy.

The characters increasingly become "architypes" in a piece of Communist art of the time. Heroic. Without inner life. Action figures accomplishing mighty things. Daring acts of courage. Sad partings. And finally, the cinematic figure of the seamstress, once churning with passion and love-making, gets bitten by a snake and turns into some kind of communist posterchild, departing into the rising sun of her unknown future. This departure leaves the two boys who dared to find and enjoy western literature gaping in pain, in the dust. Why?

I totally don't get it. Did the author get bored with this book and decide to wrap it up with some increasingly formulaic ending? That's what I think.

Very few modern novels today have truly captivated me in the same way as classic novels and authors have done. For one, what made this novel such a gem was how its slim and yet affective, warm, funny, and descriptive narrative truly puts you into the shoes of the un-named narrator and his friend Luo. At times I felt as if I could relate to these characters. In times of need, I believe literature can truly be the very thing that can release you from the darkness. For me personally, the Cultural Revolution of China is one of those topics in history that has seemed to affect me lately. Most of the authors from books or stories I have read about the Cultural Revolution have experienced it themselves, which makes me envy them more, and look at the story more realistically. It's truly creepy and scary to imagine how one demagogue, or group of people, can turn one whole nation and its people backwards. It's hard to explain. And even if you can't understand, this book still shines such hope in how literature can truly change things spiritually and personally. This is truly a gem. This is a novel that is what it is. It's not an overhyped DaVinci Code, it's not out to be a blockbuster success, etc. It's one of those rare modern novels that makes a message loud and clear without it having to be overhyped and exaggerated. I was not disappointed to buy this book; HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Based on a true story, this beautifully written little book is a testament to the struggle for intellectual freedom.
Written in a very descriptive , and living way, it tells of the story of two 17 year old boys in Mao's China who are among the millions of Chinese youth, forced to undergo 'Re-education' , a type of deathlike existance in China's re-education camps , carrying excrement up and down a mountain.

Their life is given meaning by their meeting up with a pretty , young seamstress , and the discovery of a book full of 19th century novels, in the intellectually stifling climate of Mao's China , where all litereature , other than Communist propaganda, is banned on penalty of death!

Based on a true story, it is a testament to the risks one will take for the life-giving force of free thought, and discovery , in an enviroment of the spiritual death of communist dictatorship.

I don't think there is anything more evil than Communism -I can think of no other form of government so certain to produce -slowly and steadily, like soil erosion, or the action of the tides-an erosion and corrosion of the human spirit. It cuts man off from all nourishment, from his metaphysical roots, from religious experience, from any feeling of in and as one with the world. It produces a dehydration of the soul , spiritual death.
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This book takes the history of a very complicated and dark time in China and personalizes it with clever, witty and beautiful writing.
The narrator and his best friend Luo are sent off to the rural mountains of China to become re-educated by the peasants because they've been found guilty of having middle school educations and coming from middle class families. The narrator is your eye into this world, a world where the China of 1971 is sent hurtling back into the world of the early 19th century.
The book speaks to you through a series of hilarious anecdotes. From the opening story of how the narrator manages to keep his violin to the every day objects such as alarm clocks and books that become fodder for the teaching moments throughout the book, these funny moments serve to also give clear examples of just how damaging the Cultural Revolution was.
The intense yearning of these two young men, to be free to go back to their old lives and familes in the cities, free from the intense scrutiny and hard physical labor of the mountains, is the personification of what the tens of thousands of young people in their situations must have felt at the time.
I read this book in two sittings, it's quick and funny and insightful and the english translation is done in a way that keeps the cadence of the Chinese storytelling.

Story telling is a very important aspect of Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. The West may have tendencies to take for granted the powers of story telling. In the frontiers of communist China during the Cultural Revolution, thousands of books were prohibited by Mao Zedong's regime. Sijie's book brings to his readerÂ's the obvious absurdities in communist embargos. He also reminds Western readers of the power of story-telling and the nearly intoxicating effects it can bestow. Without imagination, there can be no escape from the hardships of everyday life, especially in a re-education village thatportrayedraid in this novel. In conjunction with this, stories can also inspire people to, in clear disobedienceance to the commissar masters, steal forbidden books, take refuge in corrupted cities, and change the very nature of life for a simple agrarian village. Thus, Sijie shows the irony of an oppressive communist government that bans Western books as imperialist opium. While in reality this drug inspires villagers to fight impossible odds.

"Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" does exactly what this type of book should do. It offers us a brief window into a part of the world, and a style of life, of which we will never be able to encounter first hand. It allows to walk a few steps in the shoes of a different kind of citizen of life, and thus empathize with their experience. It also provides a moving allegory for the power of fiction, and lets us appreciate something that is so readily available to us, yet so rare for others. The escape of fiction allows for dreams, and is a powerful force.
Being almost ignorant of the Chinese cultural re-education system, this book was educational historically as well. I had known of it in theory, but not details such as the banning of all books other than those written by Mao, or the process behind re-education. I do want to learn more about this chapter in history, of which the world is still feeling the repercussions.
The book itself is gentle, with moving imagery and a quiet sense of humor. The characters in it do not rage against the political machine, but instead make do with what life has forced upon them. There is love, of course, because humans will love in the most desperate of circumstances. To highlight the playfulness of the book, my favorite scene is when the tailor, influenced by the hearing of Count of Monte Cristo, begins to dress the village in fanciful pirate clothes and nautical emblems.
Charming all the way through, and small enough to be a quick read.

This clearly written novel is highly entertaining, enlightening, and instructive. Its story takes us to a remote area of China in the early 1970s during the time of the Cultural Revolution, where two "city" boys are cast away to be reeducated, Mao style, in a forlorn mountainous region by isolated villagers who know nothing of the modern world. The descriptions of this area are precise, as is the storytelling of the boys' plight. The narrative is simple and direct, echoing nineteenth-century Western literature. Both boys are enthralled with Western literature, much like kids today are taken with the latest video games, as the boys live out the nightmare of their capture as enemies of the revolution. Also woven into the book is their adolescent longing for love and sex and the joy of living, as they become friends with the beautiful daughter of the local hero, a tailor who travels like royalty from town to town, making clothes for the peasants.

I could not put this book down as its story drove me on from the first page to the last. I strongly recommend it as a fast, well-written, entertaining work for any reader interested in good literature.

This is an entertaining and very brief novella, which nevertheless manages to be disappointing in its characterization and its cramped worldview.

The unnamed narrator and his best friend, Luo, are Chinese city boys sent to a remote mountain for "re-education" in the early 1970s. While there, they pursue a local seamstress and a suitcase full of banned Western (mostly French) classics. The plot is mostly entertaining: what reader can resist a quest to read books, complete with weird hijinks and adventures? I'm not into French literature, but this book did convince me to look into some of Balzac's work.

However, the plot doesn't always come together or make much sense. We're to understand that the boys have been sent to this mountain to do manual labor, and at the beginning of the book their work dominates their lives, but it quickly falls by the wayside as the plot requires, and they're able to take off work all day every day to visit the "Little Seamstress" without anyone apparently noticing or caring. At one point the narrator tells us that he and Luo were "physically and especially mentally" marked for life by their short stint in the mines.... but doesn't say how, and never mentions it again. And the end suffers from bizarre, unmotivated point-of-view shifts.

The characterization is a mixed bag, and perhaps suffers from the fact that the novel is semi-autobiographical. The narrator and Luo are decently well-drawn for such a short book. On the other hand, despite her prominence in the story, the nameless "Little Seamstress" never comes together as a real person, appearing only as an object of male desire. And everyone else who lives on the mountain--the "peasants"--are just peasants, whose role in the book is to be ignorant and primitive and awed by boys' storytelling abilities and by their "advanced technology," like violins and clocks.

Similarly, the historical aspect feels one-sided and simplified. From this book, you might think Mao's forcing a bunch of privileged city kids to go live in the country and do manual labor with ignorant peasants (horror of horrors!) was the worst atrocity in recent Chinese history. Sijie doesn't attempt to put either the protagonist's personal experience or re-education generally in any kind of context, and as far as I can tell the only thing he learned from his own experience is that he hates Communism. Not an unpopular position when writing for a Western audience, but I would've liked to see some greater understanding, some generosity of spirit, some nuance that just isn't here.

On the positive side, the sense of place is very strong: I could just see this mountain, and if there's a movie version I'd watch it in a heartbeat; the visuals would be stunning. And the translation (from French) is seamless, such that I likely wouldn't have realized it was a translation had the cover not informed me.

All-in-all, a bit annoying, but there's a decent enough story and it's a short, very fast read. Still, not something I'm likely to recommend to others.

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.

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.

The characters are fairly flat. The historical detail is pretty much lacking. There's not much plot, not much interesting inner dialog, little character growth -- basically nothing that would make a book worth reading (and I'm pretty sure he got some things wrong in his retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, which I find unforgivable).

And the sexism and culturism -- wow. I would understand if it was culturally based within the story, but I'm having a lot of trouble believing this culture at this time was really THAT sexist. It's not even the culture presented in the book that is sexist -- it's the main characters and the author who have the problem. They have to take Western books (that they have never themselves read) over the mountains to give the little seamstress culture. As if they are conquering missionaries or something? Because a) Chinese culture has no equivalent and b) these boys are much more cultured than the little seamstress even though they have missed out on reading the exact same books she has? They haven't even yet read the books when they have to help her learn. And it seems to only be so lover boy can have sex with a girl who isn't quite so beneath him. Because HIS dad is a famous dentist and HER dad is only a lowly tailor who never did anything useful for anyone except sew their clothes for them.

At least she's holding down a job. We can't say the same for lover boy. (And really -- all that pseudo-poetry about her virginal blood dripping on to the gingko leaves? We all could have been spared that. And him dressing her in a loin cloth because he was bringing culture to her naked self. Just... ick. She's the tailor, for heaven's sake.)

I was also really troubled by how the dental drill/sewing machine worked. These guys have NO idea how to drill a tooth, but quickly invent something using a sewing machine and a NEEDLE because someone saw it at a fair once. And we are treated to no detail as to HOW they put this together? You'd think they'd have had to spend some time thinking on the engineering details, so we should have heard some of them too. I'm kind of skeptical this would even work. Perhaps the author was confused in his internet searches, where historical dental drills used the CONCEPT of a sewing machine treadle to power the drill -- maybe even scavenging it off a sewing machine. But... well, you still need a connection to the drill to make it go. And a needle is not a drill.

And if you're going to introduce the violin in the first page, you really need to keep with it. Don't just introduce and drop it. Playing that violin (even if badly) was the sum total of characterization that character got. So dropping it left this character even flatter than before. We went from 2-D to 0-D.

And Four Eyes' mother couldn't be bothered to empty her night bucket? Did she expect a maid to do it? Did she plan to sleep with it next to her head all night? She really does not strike me as the sort of person who would sleep with that. This totally bothered me -- way out of proportion to every other detail in the book that didn't make sense. (Even more than the fact that she calls her son Four Eyes -- he was BORN with glasses on?)

Really, if you want a decent story about the Cultural Revolution, read Wild Swans. It may be an autobiography and therefore not "real" literature, but it does a much better job with plot and characterization -- and has the added benefit of actually teaching the reader some historical facts. And there are pictures besides. Much better for the history buff. And if you want some actual literature, go read The Count of Monte Cristo. Or some Balzac maybe.

Living in societies where freedom of information is taken as a given; at least as far as general reading material goes, we take literature for granted. We relegate it to "spare time" or "free moments". Many people may read novels only during their vacations, and then be content with potboilers or those gigantic novels embossed in fake gold and silver that you can buy at airports everywhere. The real meaning of literature--its ultimate value---is lost, but not to people like Azar Nafisi and her students reading `Lolita' in Tehran, behind the mullahs backs, and not to Dai Sijie, stuck in some rural podunk where the peasants resented him and his fellow youths from the city, treating them as badly as they dared. China's Cultural Revolution was a time of strong emotion and blind ignorance. Anyone who stood out in any way from the mass was liable to get nailed. Actually knowing anything was considered badly bourgeois. Mouthing slogans about workers, peasants, and soldiers, endlessly praising `the Great Helmsman' brought you security which was the best you could hope for. Literature and most other forms of knowledge (for instance, maps of the world) were banned and destroyed as far as possible. It was a time of desperation for anyone who had questions.

BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS comes out of that maelstrom of violence and stupidity. It surely must be the greatest novel to come out of that wasted ten years from 1965-1975. As such, it is a novel that Westerners cannot afford to miss. Not only that, but it is a great novel, a charming novel, one that you can't put down. The story is not overly-complicated, but its central theme is crystal clear. Literature never has more transformative power than when officialdom tries to suppress it. The lives of two boys sent down to a remote area of Sichuan province in 1971 change when they discover a secret trove of foreign literature, including several books by Balzac. The owner of the books, a pampered city youth, is transformed by literature in a different way--folk ballads are changed into propaganda for him. All those who listen to the literary plots that the two boys subsequently tell are changed too, the little Chinese seamstress most of all. Literature has a surprisingly powerful, but not totally unexpected effect on her. This is one of the great books of our time. Like Nafisi's non-fiction work, BALZAC & the L.C.S. brings some major issues of eternal importance to our attention. This could be a book club discussion selection par excellence. One with a bit of meat on it for once, and in only 184 pages. If you are a school teacher (in a town that won't object to a little sex) or freshman literature teacher in college, you can't go wrong with Dai's novel. Fantastic !

Luo and the narrator are sent to a remote mountain village to be "Re-educated" in proletariat life; victims of Mao's 'Cultural' revolution. But when another 'class enemy' sent with them from the city is discovered to have a suitcase of western books, they become absorbed in the stories. Luo falls in love with the beautiful seamstress and he tells her the stories in the books; Balzac's being a particular favourite and a real re education takes place....
A fable that is not so much an account of Mao's tyranny but more about the human spirit that no politics can ever extinguish. Mao-like all the despots before and since-together with their dogma's and terror-are doomed to fail as they are all anti human ; fascism, communism -and todays extremist islam-all fail; they cannot hold back true humanity ,no matter what terror or tyranny they use. It's a shame that politico's don't realise this and save us all from their miseries-but then again, politics and fanaticism are fertile grounds for the 3% of psychopaths and 11% of sadists that make up these vile groups. History warns us of them and the need to always oppose. As Dai Sijie tells us; the world of Balzac, free thought and imagination will always win.
Uplifting and simply told, an easy to read book that you will get a lot from.

I enjoyed this book. I found it poignant, well written and thought provoking. Unlike other reviewers on this site, I felt that the ending was the best part of this book. Great literature can trigger uncomfortable thoughts and actions. Without ruining too much, there was a book burning scene, which I found deeply unsettling as a lover of literature.
However, I believe that the author could have developed his characters better. In addition, I wished he had delved deeper into the literary exchanges between the two main characters and the seamstress.
If you are considering reading this book, I would say go ahead. It will not take you a lot of time. It will provoke some interesting thoughts. But it may not be the best or the greatest book you ever read in your lifetime-or even this year.

This book was a charming vignette about a most unlikely subject: the re-education of two city boys during Mao's cultural revolution in China. The two young men are sent to a remote mountain called Phoenix of the Sky where they work like peasants in the fields and are allowed no books. But life in the remote mountains is never dull. You will meet Four-Eyes and his mother, Balzac, the tailor, the little chinese seamstress, the miller, and of course the headman and his abcessed tooth. The young narrator's performance of Mozart Is Thinking of Chairman Mao is not to be missed.

The book portrays the grimness of life during the cultural revolution with a delightful fairy-tale quality and sense of humor that are both completely unexpected.

It was a pleasure to read.

I hope the following review is read and appreciated by anyone considering the purchase of this book. It was loaned to me by a friend who knows my taste for well-written material and it did not disappoint. I loved reading this little book. And that's exactly what it is: a well-written, fine little book. Read it quickly and applaud yourself for doing so.

The titled seamstress is a secondary character in this story of two young men on their forced journey through Mao's reign in modern China. She is, however, pivotal to the plot and quite compelling. One doesn't need to know the basis of this historical Cultural Revolution to appreciate or understand the main characters' lust for "worldly" reading material because it is drawn out in a plain and understandable language for the readers of this fine work. Well done and I highly recommend.

Michele Cozzens, Author of A Line Between Friends and The Things I Wish I'd Said.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Sijie Dai, presents the story of two young men moved from the city to the Chinese countryside to be re-educated during Mao's Cultural Revolution. The young men discover and read a number of foreign books (forbidden during the revolution), the contents of which captivate their thinking.
BLCS is beautifully written and has an evenly flowing prose. It gives a glimpse into the toils and struggles so many in history have had to endure. For the most part, I found reading it relaxing and enjoyable.
As a whole, though, I cannot give an enthusiastic recommendation. First, the plot wasn't overly gripping; while I finished it in two sittings, there was rarely a spot where it wouldn't have been easy to put it down. While the narrative contained some twists and turns, it was for the most part linear and often predictable. Ultimately, the story's conclusion left me unsatisfied.
I think a word of warning is also in order for those who are sensitive about mature themes. BLCS contains some crudeness and graphic imagery, as well as some explicit sensuality. Additionally, an important component of the plot deals in a matter-of-fact way with a subject that is divisive and many find offensive.

The narrator and his friend Luo are the privileged children of city intellectuals, until they are sent into the country to be reeducated through work, to better conform to the ideals of Communist China. During their story they meet the little Chinese seamstress, and come across a forbidden stash of western literary works, including by Balzac, which become very influential in their lives. Are the western works really as dangerous as their leaders would have them believe?

Quote: "At that instant, the glint of the vigilant Communist reappeared in the headman's eyes, and his voice turned hostile. `What's the name of this song of yours?' . . . `Mozart is thinking of Chairman Mao.'"

I really wanted to like this book more than I did, but it didn't work out. I just couldn't get in to it, and it took me over a month to finish, despite the fact that it is only like 200 pages long. Oh well, you can't win them all.

"Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" is pretty significant on all levels. It opened my eyes to communism in China in the 60's and 70's in that although I had heard of the "re-education" of the youths from intellectual and political families, I had never really considered the harshness of it all.

This novel touches upon the humanity of man in ways that, I suspect, are as common as when civilization first began. I was especially captivated by the manner in which myths and legends probably appeared among unsophisticated and rather simple people who are closed off from the communications of the larger cities.

I was intrigued that his friend found the beautiful little seamstress "too uncultured" to love at first, even though he made love to her. And was mesmerized with the actions of the beautiful girl once she is exposed to knowledge.

This book was vivid and different. It had been on my list to read for a long time. The writing was rich, the vocabulary expansive, and the metaphors florid. Taking place during Mao's Cultural Revolution, the main characters are being "re-educated" by hard labor in the remote mountains, where they make the acquaintance of a lovely little seamstress. Having absconded with a bootleg cache of illegal western literature, they lavish it on her and end up squandering it in the end.

I give this book only four stars. This is not because of the gruesome details I hated to hear about, which ranged from raging lice infestation, to drinking warm, curdled ox blood, or drilling a tooth with a sewing machine -- although I could have definitely done without any of that! It is more the fact that the beginning of the book depicted how hard their life was under their reeducation, which was made all the more palpably authentic since the author, Dai Sijie, had lived through this himself. But by the end of the book, there is such free coming and going from the little seamstress' house -- including leisurely, idyllic swims in a hidden, limpid pool -- that it illegitimatized all that you were made to understand about the oppressive strictures of their situation. This inconsistency was distracting and undermined the story for me.

The aspect regarding the effect of great literature on starving minds was interesting, but after the extraordinary weight put on plumbing the depths of this, its eventual flippant destruction was not believable. This was to serve, I suppose, as evidence that their "re-education" was actual and complete, despite having access to powerful and influential material.

I am left sad, but with a curiosity about the acclaimed author, Balzac, who I know nothing about, but for whom I now entertain a possible desire to read. I may have gotten more out of this book if I had been familiar with Balzac, as I presume many French readers would be. (This book was expertly translated from its original French and won many accolades there.) What the little seamstress got out of Balzac is a woman's beauty is her treasure. This is a decidedly (and incongruously) French theme for a Chinese book.

It was an interesting story in that it takes place during the Cultural Revolution and I've not read a lot of fiction set during that harrowing time. I also appreciated the main characters' love of words and literature and found this theme enchanting. I liked how it showcased the power of books to heal and change people for the better. That said, although the book kept my attention, I'm pretty lukewarm on it overall mostly because I felt there was little closure to running themes and the ending was uneventful and sudden.

Two teenage boys are forced to be reeducated during the Chinese revolution. They were sent into the mountains to be separated from their parents, all four of whom were intellectuals, and enemies of the state.
While in exile, the boys came upon a cache of western novels that had been translated into Chinese. They relished these books. However, one of the boys, Luo, used them to help cultivate an uneducated, beautiful mountain girl and instill in her a level of sophistication she was lacking.
He got much more than he bargained for.
This is a tightly constructed, mostly well written novel.