Dai Sijie: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress [2002] paperback ZARTC ' Annette Gordon-Reed

' Annette Gordon-Reed

'Tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome aftermath with thriller-like flair

but there is always time and just so many different ways to say 'I love you'

or you're starting from 'which way do I hold the knife

Dai Sijie: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress [2002] paperback ZARTC ' Annette Gordon-Reed1971: Mao's cultural Revolution is at its peak. Two sons of doctors, sent to 're education' camps, forced to carry buckets of excrement up and down mountain paths, have only their sense of humour to keep them going. Although the attractive daughter of the local tailor also helps to distract them from the task at hand. The boys' true re education starts, however, when they discover a hidden suitcase packed with the great Western novels of the