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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Luo and the unnmaed narrator are sent to a remote mountain for re-education. While there Luo falls for the daughter of the only tailor on the mountain. The two also get there hands on a stash of frobidden western books which helps open their eyes to the world. I found this to be an enjoyable...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “this book is about reeducation at the time of Chairman Mao” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“It gets 4 stars instead of the 3 that it probably deserves, because it captures the excitement of dicovering and reading new books very well.”
Hemanshu wrote this review 9 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I may have found this book more fun than it was intended to be...not exactly sure! I loved the tone and the brightness of the characters. It was very colorful. And light. Light but rich- like a great flaky pastry. The taste dissolves in your mouth, but the memory vividly remains. Quick read, recommended. ”
RoxyAlexander wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“ Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Dai Sijie
Tenia F wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
3 stars
When two chinese boys are sent to a mountain village for reeducation during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, they long for books. Another boy, in a different town, also sent for reeducation, has a hidden stash of books, and does not want to share them. One of the boys falls in love with the daughter of a Chinese Taylor and wants to steal the books to impress her. ”“this book is about reeducation at the time of Chairman Mao”
Katty D wrote this review Wednesday, December 2 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book was a great find for me and I really found it a easy and enjoyable read. It was educational for me to hear about Mao's 're-education' plan for China, and I loved the author's theme of the spellbinding power of fiction and how something so readily available to us is forbidden and considered dangerous to others. The quiet sense of humor in this book appealed to me, and I also enjoyed the shift in narratives throughout the book. Short and smooth, it was well worth my time to read.”
Stella Nox wrote this review Monday, November 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This was a quick read for me and was unaware of the re-educating that was going on in China. Found that to be interesting. A very graphic book and not so sure that I found it romantic more like eye-opening. Loved the emphasis of this book.
Tammy R wrote this review Friday, November 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Again, a book from a different part of the world that I am unaware of their culture and so enjoyed learning from reading this book. It was just an ok book .”
“I have conflicted feelings about Balzac. I enjoyed reading it because Dai Sijie wrote it in a very interesting way with cliffhangers and little details that make you overthink sometimes. Overall, it was a great book because it informed me about the Chinese Cultural Revolution in a fun and interesting way. Instead of reading a textbook which would be extremely boring, Dai Sijie made it very personal, incorporating his own experiences into his story. This book gave me insight on how the Cultural Revolution really affected the people. However, one thing I didn't like about the story was the ending. I felt it was too abrupt and made no sense. Maybe it's because I have a soft spot for romance but I felt the book didn't do Ma (the main character) any justice. He was the one that truly loved the Little Seamstress (even though I don't think she deserved him since she was so ungrateful) and yet she didn't even give him the time of day, always doing this and that for Luo. I doubt he truly loved her for who she was. His love for her was driven by teenage hormones, not true feelings. All he thought about was, "Whoa Little Seamstress is so hot" while Ma truly loved her. And what is wrong with the Little Seamstress I mean, Ma did all that crap for her and she didn't even breath a freakin' "thank you." Seriously, Ma shouldn't have done anything for her, that ingrate!! Still, I secretly wished the Little Seamstress would realize how awesome Ma was and run off with him instead but hey, we can't have everything we want can we? ”
Anna Saw wrote this review Sunday, November 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book was about two young men who are sent to be re-educated at Pheonix Mountain. One of the men is called Luo and the other man is the narrator of the story. Luo falls in love with the Little Chinese Seamstress in Pheonix Mountain and Luo and the narrator have many great adventures with her and alone. The story is about how much one can change in isolation. They discover that their friend Four-Eyes had a suitcase filled with banned books and they convince him to let them borrow them. They read the books to the Little Chinese Seamstress and they stay educated intellectually by reading these books. In the end the Little Chinese Seamstress decides to go and experience city life for herself and moves to the city. Reading all of the books made her realize how many aspects of life she was missing out on. The men were able to experience a form of life that they would not have been introduced to if they had not been sent to Pheonix Mountain. These two city men had the ability to transform an entire town and they used this ability to improve and modernize the lives of the people. The members of the town began wearing modern clothing and became more educated. Luo and the narrator were highly respected for their story telling skills and were sent into town to see the films played in the nearest larger town, which had a movie theatre, and reenact the film for the people of the town when they returned. They brought great change to the town and helped the town develop and form more modern traditions built off of traditional practices. I recommend this book to high school students and adults. Children would not be able to grasp many of the concepts discussed. I liked how the story developed and how real it seemed but at times it got a tad bit boring. But once I was past the boring bits it was once again hard to put down.”
Frankie B wrote this review Sunday, November 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This story is about the narrator and his friend Luo two teenagers living during the Cultural Revolution of China's Chairman Mao Zedong. During this time, boys were taken from their homes and put to work in the "country" for re-educational purposes. Upon being on the mountain, working in hopes of returning to the village the boys find love, hope, and inspirational. Both Luo and the narrator end up falling in love with the towns' tailor's daughter. This story is about how the character's change from hard manual labor, and the friendships that they make. Near the end of the book, they discover that their friend Four-Eyes, has forbidden books, and the narrator falls in love with the French writer, Balzac.
CALLA K wrote this review Sunday, November 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Though this book is considered really good by many critics, I didn't find it that entertaining. It didn't compel me to read it, to be honest I really didn't enjoy it at all. The characters weren't very interesting and the plot was very shallow. It didn't present it's self as a book that should be read because of it's story line or for any other factor either. This book wasn't very difficult for me to read, and so I do not attribute my boredom to the difficultly of the book, but more to the direct boring nature of the book. ”
“Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is about a man (whose name we never find out) and his friend Lou who are sent to a small village in order to be re-educated. While there they meet the Little Seamstress who is from a nearby village. Later she becomes Lous girlfriend and together they all secretly try to better their education by reading the books that they had stolen from their once friend whom they called Glasses. The main characters favorite author of these books was Balzac. In the end of the book the Little Seamstress leaves her village to move to the city and become a city girl. The ending of this book dissapointed me. It basically showed that the Little Seamstress cared more about becoming and city girl then about the narrator, Lou or her father. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in forbidden knowledge. ”
ADRIANCE B wrote this review Sunday, November 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
