Balzac and the Little Chinese Steamstress (Dai Sijie)

I picked this book up used at the library for $.75, mostly because the cover design and title attracted me. Intriguing and colorful yet simple, short enough to take on vacation. Turns out that most of my observations about the exterior held true for the inside. Sijie writes clean fiction, with brilliantly done subtext and tone, that speeds the pages along a simple, everyday storyline that is still artistic, poignant and... good. Yes, good. Very good.

This book is the tale of two Chinese boys, city boys of well-educated parents, parents who became "class enemies" during the Cultural Revolution. These two best friends are sent deep into China's countryside for their rural, prolitariat "re-education." It is, of course, mostly a coming of age story--love, naivite, and how to fit in the big, bad world. But what I love is the historical context. Now this is how you do historical fiction! The tale is technically and truly about universal themes but every aspect of these boys lives is regulated by the time period and geography that they inhabit. Chinese Communism effects every turn--their relationship to the rural locals, their distance and precarious relationship to their parents, and the education they do receive during this re-education, mainly through illicit books by Western authors. Books that expand their minds to distant places and dangerous points of view.

Yes, I really liked this book on all the fronts that I judge literature--great tale, excellent writing style, and ideas that will stick with me, that will grow and radiate through my brain through my life. It taught me so much about how that era felt, what it meant, and made these two little boys bright, real characters that walk straight off the page.