As
often happens these days, I ran across this book quite by accident. It is distressing
to think of how many great writers like Sijie Dai we miss because of their lack
of access to the media blitz given to other authors by their publishing giants.
This
is a lovely, quiet, seemingly simple book. It has the feel of a parable, though
it is not. The novel’s disarming simplicity, however, holds greater themes.
Among them: political and personal suppression, duplicity and honesty, love
gained and lost and the power of the written word to change lives.
Balzac and The Little
Chinese Seamstress gives us a glimpse into China during the 1940’s Revolution. It was a
violent, irrational time in which intellectuals were punished for being more
well-educated and cultured than the proletariat. Two boys, scholars and sons of
a physician and a dentist (subversives!) first are subjected to the humiliation
of their families and then are sent to the mountains to be “re-educated.” This
education consisted, among other things, of backbreaking work, isolation and
lack of all but the most basic resources.
Yet,
Dai’s light touch and humor make this easy, uncomplicated reading.
A
glimmer of hope comes for the boys with two things, meeting a lovely young
girl, a seamstress, from a nearby village and the discovery of a hidden cache
of books. The impact of these two events is pivotal. We become invested in the
boy’s ability to not only survive but find a way to grow.
Because Dai himself spent time being re-educated in this way, though written as fiction, I suspect much of this novel is based on his own experience. Dai pays homage to
the invincibility of the human spirit in a beautiful, uncontrived way.
Highly
Recommend.
No comments:
Post a Comment