Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

If we look to the tradition of Balzac and his contemporaries, we are left with some hope that these young men and the Little Seamstress will reappear in some future novel. can be an inspiration to those who wish to escape. Dai Sijie demonstrates that, in a time when freedom is in short supply, lessons about liberty from another time or tradition. Dai Sijie's novel is a tribute to art's power of transformation.' -Helen Mitsios, Philadelphia Inquirer 'Dai Sijie gives the rest of the world a glimpse into that dark place where the human spirit continues, against all the odds, to shine its light into the farthest corners.' -Bella English, Boston Globe 'A wonderful novel. a shrewd commentary on knowledge and power, and an affirmation that the pen is mightier than the sword-or the dollar. This is a very wise little story of love and illusion.

'Dai Sijie's debut novella is an unexpected miracle-a delicate, and often hilarious, tale set amid the ham-fisted brutalities of the Cultural Revolution.' -Mark Rozzo, Los Angeles Times 'Part fairy tale, part political allegory, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress seduces the reader into its world. From within the hopelessness and terror of one of the darkest passages in human history, Dai Sijie has fashioned a beguiling and unexpected story about the resilience of the human spirit, the wonder of romantic awakening and the magical power of storytelling. And after listening to their dangerously seductive retellings of Balzac, even the Little Seamstress will be forever transformed. While ingeniously concealing their forbidden treasure, the boys find transit to worlds they had thought lost forever. But it is when the two discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation that their re-education takes its most surprising turn. Their meager distractions include a violin-as well as, before long, the beautiful daughter of the local tailor. At the height of Mao's infamous Cultural Revolution, two boys are among hundreds of thousands exiled to the countryside for 're-education.' The narrator and his best friend, Luo, guilty of being the sons of doctors, find themselves in a remote village where, among the peasants of Phoenix mountain, they are made to cart buckets of excrement up and down precipitous winding paths. An enchanting literary debut-already an international best-seller.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie