Details
Synopsis
In this novella, set in 1971 China at the height of the Cultural Revolution, two young men have been sent away to the mountains for "reeducation" through hard labor. There they encounter a novel by Balzac--a Western book forbidden under the Mao regime--and it changes their lives and the life of the seamstress with whom one of them falls in love. Among other things, she constructs a brassiere, a piece of lingerie hitherto unknown among the Chinese.
| Size | | Length: | 197 pages | | Height: | 7.5 in | | Width: | 4.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 10.4 oz |
Industry Reviews
"The desires of Dai Sijie's people to expand their intellectual horizons are nicely realized, but several of this brief story's episodes digress to no discernible purpose, failing to either advance its narrative or deepen our understanding of its (more or less generic) characters. Literate and moderately engaging...."
Kirkus Reviews (08/01/2001)
"It isn't a complicated book but its pleasures are considerable. It is written for the most part in a disarmingly candid prose, and its moral--that great literature has a universal power to move--is clearly and joyfully proclaimed."
London Review of Books - Robert Macfarlane (08/23/2001)
"[A] worthwhile book, but in many ways an unsatisfactory one. its problem is that the tale is more interesting than the telling. Dai has elected to present his story as a fable rather than a realistic novel, a perfectly respectable choice except that the descriptions of life in this strangest of times and places are so riveting that the reader longs for more. Dai's decision to streamline his narrative, withholding all but the most significant details..., work[s] against the very real power of his material."
New York Times Book Review - Brooke Allen (09/16/2001)
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