Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel

This book is wonderfully written and depicts a scene that is only recently becoming revealed to the West. While it was known that life was difficult in China and all the more so under Mao Zedong, not until recently was it known to what extent; how things seemed almost pointless in so many ways.The Revolution took on meaning for Mao in such a way as to try to purge the country of anything 'Western.' But this book shows, that what he did was really nothing, with respect to what he wanted. All he did was to rid the country of speaking about how people are people everyday and all of their lives.In a sense, we see much the same in Gao Xingjian's Nobel Prize winning "Soul Mountain." A journey is undertaken. Many things are encountered, yet they are on such a basic and visceral level. Probably because in most of China, that is all there is, abject poverty, party officials, and little villages clustered around mountains.How different is the culture of those living in a primarily agrarian society than living in a 'virtual' society. How the concept of making food for the day is no longer something people of the 'West' even consciously think about, mostly, they just think about getting it and eating it. Here the reader is faced with a very different type of life, and a very different type of education or re-education as the case may be.Whatever it may be, the objective of re-education was never realized, because the objective was to change human beings into something that they were not. This attempt was bound to fail from the beginning. And here we see another example of its failure. Western literature reflects societal values and events. They are human events. They will happen in any society. No attempt by any despot to change human nature will succeed. Human nature can only be changed by humans, perhaps one person at a time, but not by anyone other than themselves.Sijie's book makes that point poignantly, and with great aplomb. The book is truly a terrific one, and it reads quickly, but it's point lingers long after the read is finished. It is highly recommended.

The Chinese cultural revolution, battles of lust and love, and the ultimate depiction of the absolute transforming power of literature left me asking no other question than: what masterpiece did I just read? Blending the plots of struggle under communist rule, and the careful endeavors to learn under a suppressing government, Dai Sijie is able to craft a story that equates the struggle of living under the tyrannical reign of Mao Zedong, while mixing the themes of friendship and literature.Falling victim to the down to the countryside movement, the narrator and his best friend Luo are forced to relocate to a remote mountain village, where they encounter the Little Seamstress. Sijie’s depiction of an “uncultured” young Chinese girl who eventually comes to the realization of her infinite potential drives the book to themes of independence, trust, and self reliance.However, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress wouldn’t be complete with only a plot of societal rebellion under a Communist rule. Luo makes it his goal to educate the uncultured Little Chinese Seamstress, ultimately hoping to give her a more profound sense of independence. Stringing together a series of thoughtful and surprising scenes, from their recent possession of books, the boys and the Little Seamstress quickly find themselves presented with possibilities they never knew existed.Making allies with “Four-Eyes'', one of the few youths selected to live in the city, the boys dangerously obtain a copy of Urusle Miroet. However, their quest to educate and impress the Little Seamstress through literary knowledge, as well as their desire to rebel against the dominating CCP doesn’t even come close to an end here. Encouraged by the Little Seamstress, the group steals the books Four-Eyes has in a hidden suitcase, ultimately casting a series of suspenseful scenes, all falling under the prominent theme of rebellion.The novel’s pages then darken, following the narrator’s realization that Luo has impregnated the Little Seamstress. Knowing that abortion is illegal and that the little Seamstress cannot receive help from a midwife, the novel shifts the reader’s view to fear, doubt, and anger. Sijie’s choice to include this subplot circles to the prominent historical themes of this book, while also offering readers a more specific view of the utter autocracy that possessed China. Even though the description of the narrator’s optimism is encouraging, the totalitarian setting in China remains fully represented nonetheless. By incorporating a tyrannical government into the novel, the predictable prince and pregnant princess story is immediately demolished, leaving readers a remaining thirty pages of surprising and unpredictable scenes.The book then resumes its theme of independence with the Little Seamstress abruptly leaving the seemingly inescapable village to have a life in the city. Knowing that a nuanced level of culture and education now resides with the Little Seamstress, she discerns that her potential is being limited by her life on the mountain. While impacted on an emotional and educational level from her acquisition of books, it is ultimately Luo and the narrator’s appreciation of the Little Seamstress that leads her to the revelation that her beauty is something of great value. Ironically it is Luo’s desperate efforts to “culture” the Little Seamstress that become the reason she leaves the mountain, ultimately stunning readers on one final note.While this novel can be viewed from both moral and psychological standpoints, by casting three characters whose lives are controlled by the Chinese Government, Sijie makes an undying attempt to provide readers a view of the more dominant historical components of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. For anyone who has even the slightest amount of interest in Chinese culture, a story of friendship crossed with love, or the totalitarian government run by Mao Zedong, this book will not disappoint.

This book is a quick and beautiful read, detailing a brief span in the life of two Chinese youths who have been sent to a remote village to be "re-educated." The boys discover Western literature and the reader sees the almost magical effect it has on these two boys' lives and the no less profound effect it has on the object of their affections, the Little Seamstress.The story is told almost entirely from the perspective of the unnamed narrator except for the pivotal moment in the story, which is told from the perspective of the multiple participants in the scene. The ending is a bit unexpected, but then again, given the liberating power of literature, it is not a total surprise that Little Seamstress undergoes a metamorphosis and leaves her cocoon. As heartbreaking as it is for the boys, if she had stayed where she was it would be almost like a betrayal to the liberating ideas she learned through Balzac.Sijie blends humor, romance, and beauty together to create a book that is unforgettable and impossible to put down. It is lamentable how short-sighted and misguided China's "Cultural Revolution" was, and it is amazing that Sijie could spin this touching of a tale from that hard and unforgiving period. "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" is a must read.

It drew me in… I loved it! Highly recommend

This book is really well written, takes you right into the lives and thoughts of the characters. Taught me things I didn't know about the cultural revolution.

A delightful story, well written and gives a good flavour of that time in rural China. 👍

The media could not be loaded.

Das Buch erzählt eindrücklich vom Leben für Ma und Luo in der Umerziehung auf dem Lande während der Kulturrevolution. Ihre Eltern gehören dem Bürgertum an und deshalb besteht für sie kaum eine Chance, wieder in die Stadt zurückzukehren. Sie lernen das harte Leben auf dem Phönixberg kennen, müssen Gülle in Bottichen den Berg hochtragen und Reisfelder mit einem Wasserbüffel pflügen. Dazu noch die hohlen Reden vom Dorfvorsteher und Kommunismus. Im Kontrast dazu steht die kleine chinesische Schneiderin, die zwar anfangs naiv ist, aber schon geschickt und im Laufe der Zeit von ihnen Lesen lernt (mit Honore Balzac und anderen verbotenen klassischen westlichen Werken).Das Buch gibt es auch auf deutsch und für Leute mit wenig Zeit auch als Film, bei dem der Autor auch Regisseur war.