This lovely little novel is in the same vein as many of the books on my bookshelf that explore the transformative power of literature. Two young men find themselves exiled to a tiny village in China's Sichuan province for re-education during the Cultural Revolution; to keep themselves alive, they take forbidden risks to preserve their ties to literature--particularly western literature--and film, and can't help but influence the peasants around them with these ideas, particularly the beautiful seamstress. Dai Sijie has a delicate but powerful way of expressing the hunger of these young men, who are "seduced, overwhelmed, spellbound by the mystery of the outside world." (109) (And for the student of anthropology, there's a very funny chapter in which another exile tries to redeem himself with the Maoists by collecting traditional peasant worksongs from a bawdy miller.) This book has so much to offer on so many levels--thanks to the BookCrossers who recommended it!

This book goes out to StarChaser19 tomorrow--I know she'll enjoy it!

This book was mailed to me by a fellow bookcrossing friend in Annapolis. It is an artistic petite piece of literature painted in bright descritive phrases. It covers a transition in the development of young students and craftsmen in a remote Chinese village during the Cultural Revolution.
It confirms the power of good literature to transcend the difficulty of poverty and repression. The characters all have vibrant personality traits and stretch through repression to a future of opportunity and light.
I held it in hand and read through it in one sitting. It's perfect material for a cross- country air flight. Very enjoyable and artistic in expression.
From here,it's going out to Texas. As Dai Sijie make suggest, the story will shangsheng and then descend again in another's welcome hand.

Received today - thanks, Starchaser19! Going on my to be read pile. Promised to bodesoda next for Thomas Tryon's Harvest Home.