Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

The thing I liked about Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is its powerful illustration of how important books and ideas are in the midst of the toughest of physical and political situations. This story of two young friends being "re-educated" in newly-Communist China as part of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution (circa 1968) is a simple but stirring tribute to literature and love, two of the most influential, impacting forces the world has known.

Dai Sijie (himself "re-educated" between 1971 and 1974) writes a supposedly true story told from the perspective of the narrator who, with his friend Luo and his girlfriend (known only as the Little Seamstress), live in a village of imposed isolation away from all forms of civilization and culture.

As the story progresses, the boys discover that one of their young acquaintances somehow has come into possession of the most forbidden of contraband - books! - and they become enamored with this opportunity to read and be transfered to entirely new and transcending realities as a result. An excerpt:

"We crept up to the suitcase. It was tied with a thick rope of plaited straw, knotted crosses. We removed the rope and raised the lid in silence. Inside, piles of books shone in the light of our torch: a company of great Western writers welcomed us with open arms. On top was our old friend Balzac, Stendhal, Dumas, Falubert, Baudelaire, Romain Rolland, Rousseau, Tolstoy, Gogol, Dostoyevsky, and some English writers, too: Dickens, Kipling, Emily Bronte...

We were beside ourselves. My head reeled, as if I'd had too much to drink. I took the novels out of the suitcase one by one, opened them, studied the portraits of the authors, and passed them on to Luo. Brushing them with the tips of my fingers made me feel as if my pale hands were in touch with human lives."

It takes reading a story like this to really appreciate how little of an excuse we have in our free and modern society not to fill our heads with the thoughts of others, especially when these ideas are so accessible and within our reach. Good book. You will be inspired.