Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse chinoise: Hommage a la lecture dans un monde a l’envers
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Tribute to Reading in an Upside Down World

Summary/Abstract: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, the novel by the Chinese and French author Dai Sijie, is inspired by real events. The story takes place at the time when Mao makes the decision to completely change the paradigm of social values during The Cultural Revolution, close universities and “re-educate” intellectuals. But as the novelist himself says, historical events are rather the perfect framework or background of the story than the action itself, as the real subject of the book is a testimony of the effects of the act of reading and its direct consequences. In other words, the actual theme is about how books can thoroughly change one’s destiny and their power to transform lives.

• Details
• Contents