Title: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Author: Dai Sijie
Publisher: Anchor Books, Random House
Publishing Date: November, 2002
ISBN: 0-385-72220-6
Format: paperback
Pages: 184
Price: Cad$16/US$11

Reviewed by J. C. Hall

BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS, by Dai Sijie

The author, Dai Sijie, lived through the Cultural Revolution in China during the early '70s. He left for France in 1984 where he's now a filmmaker and, with this, his first and best-selling novel, an acclaimed novelist.

The novel itself centres around two adolescent boys, the nameless 17-year-old narrator and Luo, his 18-year-old friend. Their common fate-to be sent to the mountain village to be 're-educated'-hinges on the fact that their parents belonged to the 'intellectual bourgeoisie' by way of being medical and dental professionals.

They are 're-educated' by being put to manual work--hauling baskets of nightsoil on their backs up steep mountain paths and working in a dangerous coal-mine. An acquaintance, the myopic Four-Eyes, son of a poetess, is also being re-educated in a neighbouring village, and as the two friends go to visit him, they happen upon the village tailor, father to the titular little seamstress.

Four-Eyes has unearthed a veritable treasure, a stash of novels by Balzac, translated into Chinese. In return for a favour or two, Four-Eyes gifts the young friends with a copy of the Count of Monte Cristo. Soon, the literature of 19th century France, brought to life by Luo (who is gifted with the art of story-telling) is being digested by the Chinese villagers. At the same time, the relationship between Luo and the little seamstress evolves, him trying to 'civilize' her by his half-condescending tutelage, her absorbing more than he had bargained for.

Dai Sijie, having himself been 're-educated', has the experience and the insight to write about the dark days of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Yet not all is dreary and doom-ridden. He injects a healthy and hearty dose of humour into his characters' lives, caught up as they are in dreadful and deplorable conditions and circumstances not of their own making.

This is a story about the power of literature, of story-telling, of imagination, of make-believe, to help us rise above our circumstances. It is a coming-of-age story where two young men fall separately in love with a young girl whose world is transformed and becomes at once stifling and limitless. It is a masterly-crafted novel that lifts us from contemplating the injustices of this world to soar free of man-made atrocities and constraints, as the little seamstress herself learns to swim and then surpasses her teacher by executing perfect dives, free in the spirit if not the body.

(3 out of 5)

J.C. Hall is the author of the fantasy novels 'Legends of the Serai' and 'Lady of the Lakes'. The sequel to Lady of the Lakes will be published by Zumaya Publications. Her poems have appeared in various fantasy magazines while her non-fiction writing includes book reviews and travel articles. To read some of her poems, reviews, and free excerpts from her novels, visit her website at http://www.jc-hall.com