Summer Reading List: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

The UC Berkeley Summer Reading List is an annual compilation of recommended (though not required) readings suggested by Cal faculty, staff, and students as a welcome to incoming freshmen and transfer students.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

A semi-autobiographical novel by Chinese-born author Dai Sijie who also made its movie adaptation in 2002. It tells the story of two teenagers who are sent to the mountains to get re-educated during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and of the adventures resulting from their first encounter with the Western culture through a forbidden book that they come across: a short story, “Ursula,” by HonorĂ© de Balzac.

VESNA RODIC Lecturer, French Department


Post contributed by:
Michael Larkin Lecturer, College Writing Programs
Tim Dilworth First Year Coordinator, Library