Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

Book description
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. Their meager distractions include a violin—as well as, 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. Published in 2001, 197 pages.
Description from book jacket

Research the author and the book using library resources
Information on the author’s life and works is available through our library’s online resources. Recommended online resources for Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie include Expanded Academic ASAP, Novelist, and Academic Search Premier. Enter your library barcode and then use the author’s name or the book title to search for full-text encyclopedia or magazine articles.

Discussion questions
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress discussion questions from Reading Group Guides
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress discussion questions from Carnegie Mellon University

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