Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress By Dai Sijie
52 Books In 52 Weeks: #15 of 52
If there was one good thing that came out of that “Honoré de Ballsack” thing is that it reminded me that I never read Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress. The idiosyncratic title had stuck in my mind, and the setting, which had been communicated to me through a review or two, also elicited my curiosity.
Taking place at the height of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, two privileged fresh-out-of-high-school youths are sent into a rural, mountainside village for “re-education,” in which they are expected to lose their bourgeois ways by learning life in a harsh, impoverished community. Through the discovery of a forbidden stash of classic Western novels and the romantic liaison developed with a beautiful seamstress girl, their story becomes a fable of the unwavering strength of the human spirit in the face of complete darkness. Placed in an environment which is supposed to “break” them, the novels nourish their souls and give them faith in the beauty, wonder, and simplicity of life.
Being a semi-autobiographical novel, we are presented with the opportunity to peek into a China which was wrestling against itself, defying the reality of a changing social landscape and evolving global trends. Shards of modernity puncture the musty, oppressive veil, with the conclusion of the novel setting the ultimate message that society will change through the will of individuals, no matter how oppressed they may be.
It’s a very textured and impressionistic book which is easily gobbled up.
Book: Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress
Publisher: Anchor Books
Next: The Bell Jar
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