Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

I like the book a lot. It was interesting to see two teens in the midst of culture re-education. However I was confused towards the end of the book. The author switched tactics of writing with no warning and wrote from the view point of other characters in the book. The ending didn't seem to go with the beginning of the book.

I got this book as a gift, and it checks a lot of boxes for me: it's about two boys exiled to the countryside during China's cultural revolution who come across some Western literature that changes their lives. It was a little clunky, but had a lot to like.

Pros:
A quick, breezy read. It's easy to sympathize with and cheer for the main characters in their ordeal. It's also pretty funny at times, like a scene in the middle where they find themselves to be impromptu dentists. The magic of reading is also handled quite well, like a long scene in the middle where a boy tells the story of the Count of Monte Cristo over many nights. The romance is sweet, if a bit uncomfortable at times, and I thought a plot point towards the end about women's health issues was handled well and provided a real lens into the era.

I also learned a lot more about the Cultural Revolution, which I didn't know very much about besides the scenes in Three-Body Problem. I also thought that, similarly to Jojo Rabbit and The Death of Stalin, this book did a pretty good job of 1) revealing the fundamental absurdity and arbitrariness of draconian, authoritarian governments, and 2) still having a serious enough tone at times to point out the real consequences of such regimes.

Cons:
Aesthetically, I think this is one of those books that loses something in translation. Some of the phrasing is a little clunky, and there's a bit in the middle where the narration style switches abruptly to an interview format, which really confused me. I'm sure it's much more cohesive and prettier in the original language.

I enjoyed the first two parts of this book but was rather disappointed by the underwhelming ending. The setting is very vivid, with the scenic location really setting the tone of the story. Some parts are also quite unexpectedly funny, although the narrative lost its focus and the latter part of the book felt quite disjointed. Still quite an easy and enjoyable read if you're interested in the time period discussed and if you want to read about the importance of intellectual freedom and the potency of literature.