Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Bought this book at a whim and did not wish to read it for a long long time, till I picked it up and then could not stop until I had reached the very last page.
   Sijie’s first novel or rather novella (considering it is only something like 184 pages long) begins with the Chinese Revolution headed by General Mao and the concept of “re-education” – as a result of which two teenagers are transported to an ancient village away from civilization.
   No one being re-educated is permitted to read any books excepting the little book of sayings written by Chairman Mao. It is when, through a series of events, they obtain a book written by Balzac (the reading of which is now a crime) that suddenly the world of literature and of ideas abruptly opens to them. They are so hungry for more that all they can do is dream (and scheme) about getting other such books. They later meet the third primary character in this book, the very beautiful young seamstress , and, by relating to her the words of Balzac , produce in her too the desire for more such words and thoughts. She is as hungry for new stories and ideas as are the two boys.
   Luo, now in love with the girl, wants to obtain more books for her, not only to please her but also to raise her up from her lack of education to become something other than the peasant girl she is (albeit a beautiful one). In that desire to “re-educate” the girl he loves resides their ultimate future.
   This is a wonderful story about relationships and love, about the buoyancy of youthful souls thrown into the cold and potentially drowning waters of very trying circumstances, and, lastly, about the need for those things in our lives that stir our imaginations to life and so generate fresh desires and new dreams within us. It is the stirring of human imagination that ultimately changes the world.