yara
First short story featured in regional newspaper
Posts: 139
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Post by yara on Aug 18, 2011 7:54:05 GMT -5
we could read somthing by Balzac for the next book club!
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Post by pia on Aug 18, 2011 15:23:25 GMT -5
It's the first time I've read this book, and I absolutely enjoyed it. I have to admit it was a little tough sometimes, as I was reading it in French, but I definitely got the feel of the story. As most of you I haven't read a lot of books set in communist China, and it was really interesting to see how Sijie, who went through the procedure of being re-eductated himself, described it.
I personally found the relationship between the narrator and Luo much more interesting than the one between Luo and the Little Seamstress. Luo seems to be more self-confident and outgoing, but especially when telling a story I really felt him and the narrator to be a strong team and complementing each other. I think that the narrator kind of looked up to Luo, and that is why he chose to say his name was Luo, instead of his real name. He also doesn't put up a fight, when the relationship between Luo and the Little Seamstress develops. However, I still find it very curious that the narrator's name isn't mentioned at all.
I didn't particularly like Four Eyes, because I always felt him to be calculating and selfish. I don't understand why he made such a big deal about lending Luo and the narrator some of the books to read.
I think it's very interesting that all of the mentioned authors, whose books were hidden by Four Eyes, are Western. I think this is related to communist China absolutely refusing to acknowledge Western ideas and their way of living. If there had been books by Eastern authors, it wouldn't have been as rebellious and daring. It also strengthens Luo's and the narrator's thirst of education and their willingness to differentiate themselves from their fellow-countrymen. I haven't read any works of Balzac yet, so I can't really say anything about his works being chosen as the most important ones in this story.
As to the relationship between Luo and the Little Seamstress, I think that it is less based on love but the need to benefit from each other. The Little Seamstress wants Luo to read to her and tell her the forbidden stories, which ultimately changes her view of life, and Luo wants to become some kind of mentor to the Little Seamstress. I was a little bit surprised by the sexual dimension of their relationship, and I haven't figured out yet, how it fit in.
What I personally liked most about the book is, that these two boys were sent to be re-educated, but in the end re-educated a simple girl themselves.
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Post by Kristie on Aug 18, 2011 21:45:08 GMT -5
When Dai mentioned those authors’ names, I first thought, “Why so many French writers?” Upon thinking it over, it’s possible that these were authors Dai might have read around the time of his own re-education. I mean, be did move to France after he left Communist China. So I’m thinking there are two possibilities: either Dai read these authors when they were forbidden and they made him choose to live in France or he picked French writers because he moved to France.
I am left a little unfulfilled in the respect that I never learned what the narrators name was. He even described the “three figures representing the three Chinese characters constituting my name.” These were a galloping horse, a pointed sword, and a bell with lots of strokes around it. I suppose I could try to figure it out by Googling these descriptions But why did he never say? So many chances to tell, but never did.
“It would evidently take more than a political regime, more than dire poverty to stop a woman from wanting to be well dressed: it was a desire as old as the world, as old as the desire for children.” (p130) ^^^I just found this to be pretty funny
The random chapters narrated by the miller, Luo, and the Little Seamstress I didn’t enjoy very much. I felt they were out of place with the rest of the story, especially because there wasn’t really any significance to the change of voice. Nothing special happened in these chapters to make the narrative switch necessary. Just another somewhat odd question I have (like the narrator’s name).
I was pretty sure that the narrator and the LS were going to betray Luo’s trust. I was thinking of the love triangle in the movie Pearl Harbor where one guy leaves and his best friend moves in on the girl (although in the movie, they thought he was dead, so it was a legit switch). There were lots of clues I saw to that effect. But I was wrong. This didn’t happen, at all. Although I hadn’t really foreseen the LS’s pregnancy. And I definitely didn’t think she’d run off the way she did. I mean, I didn’t think exactly that she and Luo would end up happily ever after. But I hadn’t expected her to run away.
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Post by Hanna on Aug 19, 2011 10:20:01 GMT -5
What I personally liked most about the book is, that these two boys were sent to be re-educated, but in the end re-educated a simple girl themselves. Very well said, Pia! It's been a few years since I read this book, and it took some time for me to accept the ending - at first I did not like the LS for leaving, but what you said there is basically the point it took time for me to get
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Post by Pilleriin on Aug 19, 2011 11:07:27 GMT -5
I found it interesting that Dai Sijie chose Balzac to be the most influential and most intriguing author, the first western author the boys learned about. I actually don't like Balzac and his style, but now having read through this part I want to read his books, at least try to give him another chance. I've never read any Balzac, but I've wanted to lately. I don't know why, exactly. But that's that. Why didn't you care for him?I tried to read Père Goriot by Balzac a year ago. We had to choose between him and Stendhal (The Red and the Black). I found the beginning rather slow. He described to much. And when I had read about 30 pages, I just stopped, because I felt that the story was too forced.
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Post by Pilleriin on Aug 19, 2011 11:25:39 GMT -5
I am left a little unfulfilled in the respect that I never learned what the narrators name was. He even described the “three figures representing the three Chinese characters constituting my name.” These were a galloping horse, a pointed sword, and a bell with lots of strokes around it. I suppose I could try to figure it out by Googling these descriptions But why did he never say? So many chances to tell, but never did.For me it seems, that the author never revealed the narrators name, because it was Luo's story, at least for the main part. I mean, the book is mostly about him. Luo makes it all about him. I think it is more curious, that The Little Seamstress's name wasn't also never said. They only referred to her as LS or her. I was pretty sure that the narrator and the LS were going to betray Luo’s trust. I was thinking of the love triangle in the movie Pearl Harbor where one guy leaves and his best friend moves in on the girl (although in the movie, they thought he was dead, so it was a legit switch). There were lots of clues I saw to that effect. But I was wrong. This didn’t happen, at all. Although I hadn’t really foreseen the LS’s pregnancy. And I definitely didn’t think she’d run off the way she did. I mean, I didn’t think exactly that she and Luo would end up happily ever after. But I hadn’t expected her to run away. I never expected them to betray Luo, because I feel that the love triangle was somewhat non-existant and artificial. The only one, who truly loved someone, was the narrator. He really loved Luo and also I think he was in love with LS. But Luo, he didn't really love LS, it was only lust. And LS, I think she was interested in boys, because they were new and something diffrent. But I would have never expected her to run away. That was a bit of a shock for me.
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Post by Pilleriin on Aug 19, 2011 11:37:05 GMT -5
As to the relationship between Luo and the Little Seamstress, I think that it is less based on love but the need to benefit from each other. The Little Seamstress wants Luo to read to her and tell her the forbidden stories, which ultimately changes her view of life, and Luo wants to become some kind of mentor to the Little Seamstress. I was a little bit surprised by the sexual dimension of their relationship, and I haven't figured out yet, how it fit in. I was watching the first season of That 70s show, and there was this girl Chrissy who said to Hyde something that seems to fit here pretty good. "See, the establishment doesn't want us having sex, because they know it makes us feel good. So if we can feel good on our own, what do we need the establishment for? So, every time we have sex, it's a huge protest."
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Post by Kristie on Aug 19, 2011 16:54:10 GMT -5
What I personally liked most about the book is, that these two boys were sent to be re-educated, but in the end re-educated a simple girl themselves. Very well said, Pia! It's been a few years since I read this book, and it took some time for me to accept the ending - at first I did not like the LS for leaving, but what you said there is basically the point it took time for me to get I agree with Hanna: well said, Pia! You put it into such simple words
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Post by Kristie on Aug 19, 2011 16:56:05 GMT -5
I've never read any Balzac, but I've wanted to lately. I don't know why, exactly. But that's that. Why didn't you care for him? I tried to read Père Goriot by Balzac a year ago. We had to choose between him and Stendhal (The Red and the Black). I found the beginning rather slow. He described to much. And when I had read about 30 pages, I just stopped, because I felt that the story was too forced. I'll try to remember that if I do end up reading some Balzac. I won't start with Pere Goriot. I don't like a lot of description in a book. Dialogue is important to me
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Post by Kristie on Aug 19, 2011 16:58:11 GMT -5
As to the relationship between Luo and the Little Seamstress, I think that it is less based on love but the need to benefit from each other. The Little Seamstress wants Luo to read to her and tell her the forbidden stories, which ultimately changes her view of life, and Luo wants to become some kind of mentor to the Little Seamstress. I was a little bit surprised by the sexual dimension of their relationship, and I haven't figured out yet, how it fit in. I was watching the first season of That 70s show, and there was this girl Chrissy who said to Hyde something that seems to fit here pretty good. "See, the establishment doesn't want us having sex, because they know it makes us feel good. So if we can feel good on our own, what do we need the establishment for? So, every time we have sex, it's a huge protest." Haha that's so true (Gotta love that show sometimes...)
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Lu
Administrator
Posts: 5,469
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Post by Lu on Aug 22, 2011 11:43:10 GMT -5
It took me a few more days to finish the second part. I think that the narrator feels inferior to Luo, but he's okay with that. Which I find a little strange. Maybe something that happens later in the book will explain this for me. I agree, that's a bit strange. The only part where he doesn't seem to feel inferior to Luo is when he's talking about Luo's suffering from vertigo. The random chapters narrated by the miller, Luo, and the Little Seamstress I didn’t enjoy very much. I felt they were out of place with the rest of the story, especially because there wasn’t really any significance to the change of voice. Nothing special happened in these chapters to make the narrative switch necessary. Just another somewhat odd question I have (like the narrator’s name). I didn't understand the point of that chapters, I wonder why Dai's chosen to tell THAT part of the story from different points of view, I didn't find that anything special happened either. I was pretty sure that the narrator and the LS were going to betray Luo’s trust. I was thinking of the love triangle in the movie Pearl Harbor where one guy leaves and his best friend moves in on the girl (although in the movie, they thought he was dead, so it was a legit switch). There were lots of clues I saw to that effect. But I was wrong. This didn’t happen, at all. Although I hadn’t really foreseen the LS’s pregnancy. And I definitely didn’t think she’d run off the way she did. I mean, I didn’t think exactly that she and Luo would end up happily ever after. But I hadn’t expected her to run away. I didn't expected her to run away, although I didn't expect the Little Seamstress and Luo would end up happily ever after either, but I really liked the ending! It make sense as an ending, she was fascinated by that forbidden books, by the world Luo and the narrator came from...so it makes sense that she decided to leave and see that world. I am left a little unfulfilled in the respect that I never learned what the narrators name was. He even described the “three figures representing the three Chinese characters constituting my name.” These were a galloping horse, a pointed sword, and a bell with lots of strokes around it. I suppose I could try to figure it out by Googling these descriptions But why did he never say? So many chances to tell, but never did.For me it seems, that the author never revealed the narrators name, because it was Luo's story, at least for the main part. I mean, the book is mostly about him. Luo makes it all about him. I think it is more curious, that The Little Seamstress's name wasn't also never said. They only referred to her as LS or her. I think that's a good point..but I'm still not sure. You're right Pileriin, it's curious that he never told the Little Seamstress name either. Is Luo the only character of whom we know the real name?? I actually thought that the narrator would tell us more about himself by the end of the book and I was surprise he didn't.
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