Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: a novel by Dai Sijie

A Book Review
Reviewed by Marci G. Baun © 2004

Wild Child Publishing.com © 2004

Last summer one of my husband's friends lent me this book. She had thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommended it. On that alone, I decided, that while she and I have distinctly different tastes in literature, I would at least read it to see why this little book had generated so many glowing reviews. (Even now on Amazon readers have rated it at 4 1/2 stars.)

People, two pages in and I had to talk myself into continuing. Yes, the writing really was that bad. While not excruciatingly horrible, it was bad enough that, even as I forced myself to read, a rant of the idiocy in the literary world began in my head. No wonder the literary world loses readers! Awkward sentences and passive voice littered the page, causing me to stop and have to re-read them to make sure I'd read it correctly. Transitions that would make a five year old shake his head and say "I can do better than that" ran rampant through this book. Antecedents were separated too far from their nouns. (Second sentence of the first paragraph reads: Among the possessions brought to this mountain village by the two "city youths" -- which was how they saw Luo and me -- it was the sole item that exuded an air of foreignness, of civilization, and therefore aroused suspicion. Violin is the antecedent to it. Violin is in the sentence preceding this one. One would expect possessions to be the antecedent but possessions is plural and it is singular. On top of that, the dependent clause which was how they saw Luo and me is completely unnecessary. We know who the "city youths" would be in the eyes of the villagers.)

And this was a best seller? But I slogged ahead, determined to find some thing that explained the hype over this book.

Eventually, I did develop a fondness for the characters, although I never succeeded in quieting the silent scream at the abuse of language and frequently found myself having to plow through sections where the problem of its composition brought the story to a standstill. That being said Sijie does a marvelous job creating these two likable, teenage boys and their struggle after being banished to the peasant villages for "re-education" during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. They manage to escape being "re-educated" when they find a trunk full of books of forbidden Western literature, expanding their world while adding the spice of possible discovery to their otherwise tedious lives. The fascinating glimpse into life during the Chinese Cultural Revolution is most likely what captures those who read it.

However, I am still baffled that this book became a bestseller first in France and then here in the States. The characters may be interesting, but the writing is not. Even if this is a poor translation from French to English, I am not sure that excuses the multiple errors and sloppy writing. And I have to wonder if this is not one those books that a few literary critics raved about then every one else jumped on the bandwagon just to appear erudite. I say this because when I have spoken frankly with others about the book and my opinion of the author's writing skill, every single one of them has agreed with me. The writing really was poor. And yet here are just a few comments about this book:

• Elsa Gaztambide of Booklist says, "His (Sijie's) book is truly enchanting, written with the rhythm of a fable."
• Los Angeles Times Book Review: An unexpected miracle... a delicate, and often hilarious, tale.
• Chicago Tribune: A wonderful novel... formed by detailed layering and exquisite craftsmanship, like a beautifully tailored garment.

The list and accolades go on and on and on until I wonder if they read the same novel as I did or if perhaps the award it garnered in France, and the book's decidedly anti-Communist message, blinded everyone to all of its many faults.

While I will include a link to Amazon so that you can purchase Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress if you are so inclined, I highly recommend either borrowing it from a friend or checking it out of the library. Even eight dollars is too much to spend on this book.