Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress cover art

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

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Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

By: Dai Sijie, Ina Rilke - translator
Narrated by: B.D. Wong
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About this listen

 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 the Phoenix mountains, they are made to cart buckets of excrement up and down the precipitous winding paths. Their meager distractions include a violin - and, before long, the beautiful daughter of the local tailor.

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. While ingeniously concealing their forbidden treasure, the boys find transit to worlds they had thought lost forever. And after listening to their dangerously seductive retellings of Balzac, even the Little Seamstress will be forever transformed.

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.

©2001 Dai Sijie (P)2002 Random House Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House Inc. Education Fiction Genre Fiction Higher & Continuing Education Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Parenting & Families Parents & Adult Children World Literature

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Critic reviews

"An unexpected miracle - a delicate, and often hilarious, tale." ( Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"A funny, touching, sly and altogether delightful novel...about the power of art to enlarge our imaginations." ( Washington Post Book World)
"Poetic and affecting...riveting." ( New York Times Book Review)
All stars
Most relevant  
A generation of Chinese writers, artists and film-makers are growing up and finding a home in the minds, sensitivities and subsidies of the French cultural machine. Dai Sijie's novel must be read as essentially the screenplay to his 2002 film 'Xiao cai feng.' Where the film gives us the stunning landscapes of Northern China, it falls someway short of the book in developing the characters of Ma and Luo.
Still a mile behind Ha Jin and Won Kar Wei - we wait to see the next output of Dai Sijie and hope that it comes quickly to audio.

The age still to come.....

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Given that the book is both a relationship story and also specific to a period in Chinese history I don't know of many friends who would find the book to their taste or interest. I think that the setting and the relationships are well told, so I like the book, but its not a genre novel; it isn't that easily categorized. The appeal might be that the book is somewhat unique. A personal rather than a historical view of being re-educated as part of China's cultural revolution is unusual. Being written by a Chinese author, but published first in French, indicates the unique nature of the novel. Its also a quietly humorous novel, which makes it appealing.

What other book might you compare Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress to, and why?

The stories of Eileen Chang might be compared to this novel. Both authors write relationship stories within a Chinese setting. They are Chinese authors, but write within a naturalistic style, that of the European novel. The stories take place at authentic moments in Chinese history, but are fictions, part-autobiography, part fiction. The reference to Balzac in the title links the book to the naturalist tradition in French literature of the 1800's, and this is the written style of the story: small scale characters within a larger historical setting. The characters in the book are individuals but they cannot live apart from their societies and their histories.

What does B.D. Wong bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The book is an account of a personal experience, so an audio book gives the author a actual voice. I didn't really notice the reading of the audio book in terms of who was reading it. The voice just matched what I expected from the novel, so the audio seemed like a perfect fit for the narrator.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The book represents a meeting between cosmopolitan Chinese who have European tastes and communist Chinese villagers who understand this European influence as corrupt. The story of the violin shows this conflict and also how there is a shared humanity in the experience of music. What makes the book moving rather than simply a love story in an exotic setting is the fact that the 'Little Seamstress' in an insightful and intelligent person. This relates to Eileen Chang's representation of Chinese women: these are women who need to fulfill their social role, which can make them seem subservient and ornamental, but this simplistic view is is not the case if one considers these women's lives in depth and detail.

Any additional comments?

The novel is something of a contradiction which makes its a stimulating book. Its sensitive tone suggest that it takes a conciliatory approach to the cultural revolution, there are no evil villains. The book might also be understood as condescending towards the village-based Chinese as they are shown to be ignorant, so that the book represents a Western based superiority towards Chinese culture - hence its popularity in the West, perhaps. However, looking at the the story more closely, it also mocks the European educated men who are exiled in the village, and the Little Seamstress might be seen as a woman who has to make her own path within Chinese society where there are two opposing and conflicted cultural and political forces: Modern China shifting towards a European social and cultural model, and authentic Chinese life with its long standing and complex history. The story of the Little Seamstress is an account of a woman living within a specific social setting where European ideas and culture are an intrusion and not necessarily a solution.

A Romance Within The Cultural Revolution

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I adored this book from start to finish. I am holding off listening to it a second time for now but I know I won't wait for long. A truelly wonderful story of forbidden beauty.

I adored this book

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Really enjoyed this book well worth buying I will be looking for similar authors. Good narrator. Beautiful descriptions in this writing..

lovely writing

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Id looked at getting this book all year but always went for something a little more bulky to fill my day but eventually gave in to its pretty little cover and title and im glad I did. While the cover is pretty the book is beautiful. Iv bought a couple paperbacks for gifts this christmas.

Brilliant

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I started listening to this book but got bored and returned it. In the first hour it had described some problems in the lives of two boys who are subsequently taken to a rural area for re-education during the cultural revolution.
The narrator was American and I think it should have been read by someone with a Chinese accent but there was nothing wrong with the narration.
I have read quite a lot of books about the cultural revolution. I think it was starting to turn into a love story but there wasn’t time enough left for the story to gain any complexities and, without anything to really grip my attention, I decided to return it rather than battle through something that I wasn’t invested in.

I only listened to an hour

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