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 Honoré de Balzac.
VESNA RODIC Lecturer, French Department
Post contributed by:
Michael Larkin Lecturer, College Writing Programs
Tim Dilworth First Year Coordinator, Library