I just finished reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress yesterday. I picked this book up a few years ago, read the first two chapters, then let it go. I was at the library the other day, and checked it out again, and it was well worth it. I was swept into the narrator's world ---set during the cultural revolution in China on Phoenix Mountain. Our narrator is the son of a Surgeon and plays the violin while his best friend, Luo, is the son of a Dentist and a passionate storyteller. We meet the boys in a work camp where they have been sent for re-education while their parents are named enemies of the state. The first chapters describe the boys daily lives and grueling work. Half way through, it really became interesting, pitting the lack of culture and backward thinking of those in the village against the curiousity, interest and evolving thirst for books, film, etc.. by the two boys and the Little Seamstress.
I am getting ready for my Mom and Jim to come visit today in Pittsburgh. More later!
