I have enjoyed reading “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” by Dai Sijie. It is an interesting tale of two teenage boys and a teenage girl (seamstress). The story is set in the time of the Cultural Revolution somewhere between 1966-1976.  The two city boys (Lou and his friend, the narrator of the book) are banished for completing high school and sent to the mountains for China’s Re-Education program, to live the life of peasants and “unlearn”. No one being “re-educated” is permitted to read any books except the little red book of sayings written by Chairman Mao. Instead, they do physical and filthy labor for which they are not paid.

The boys obtain a book written by Balzac (the reading of which is now a crime). Suddenly the world of literature and of ideas abruptly opens to them. There is a strong impact of the forbidden books on them and the seamstress. It is interesting to see they way they evolve and change character in the book. This excerpt from the book sums up the changes seen in the characters:

“Picture if you will, a boy of nineteen still slumbering in the limbo of adolescence, having heard nothing but revolutionary blather about patriotism, Communism, and ideology and propaganda all his life, falling headlong into a story of awakening desire, passion, impulsive action, love, of all the subjects that had, until then, been hidden from me”

The story about relationships and love, about the spirit of youth to rebound back in spite of facing difficulties, and the power of imagination to change the word,  has an unexpected ending! It wold be a spoiler if I had to say anything more here.

It is hard for me to imagine not having access to books and with no hope to nurture intellectual curiosity. This book has definitely sparked my interest in wanting to learn more about the Cultural Revolution in such a powerful nation. I will be reading more on this topic in the next months.