Book Review: Dai Sije Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Sijie. Dai. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Translated from the French by Ina Rilke. Anchor Books. A Division of Random House, Inc. New York. 2000.





Set during the China’s cultural revolution Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is the tale of two friends Luo and the narrator, (name never gets mentioned) who get sent to work in the coal mines for “ re-education” to the ways of Mao. It is there they become acquainted with the beautiful “Little Seamstress” and both fall in love with her. They also encounter a suitcase of the classics and get transported to the inspirational world of literature. The classic books they read give them the strength and inspiration to survive the harshness of their daily existence in their small village in communist China, where food is scarce, their clothes are lice ridden and people enjoy a an elixir of buffalo blood . Their mutual admiration for the “ Little Seamstress” gives the young men with their first taste of true love, boyish romance and fantasy. The “little seamstress” although very beautiful is just a simple, unsophisticated village girl. It is her lover Lou’s ambition to refine the “ little seamstress” by reading to her the words of Balzac. But in the end, it is the “little seamstress” that is most influenced by the power of literature as revealed when she decides to run away from the village surreptitiously. Confronted by Lou as to why she is leaving the village for the city, she explains,” that she had learnt one thing from Balzac: that a woman’s beauty is a treasure beyond price.” (184).



Dai Sijie pays tribute to the power of literature to influence, transport you to other lands, give hope, nourish the mind and brain cells with intellectual food, and most importantly inspire you to be better than who you are. In Balzac and the Little Seamstress, Dai Sijie´s spins a charming tale of friendship, first love and the suffering of those that experienced communist “ re-education” . Dai Sijie in his simple and short book, has very wisely introduced the historical milieu of China in the seventies. He has done this in a very subtle and circuitous way so that the reader can readily identify with the first whisperings of love and romance and is reminded of their own first impressions of classic literature. Dai Sijie, himself a film-maker was sent for re-education between 1971 and 1974. He has made his home in France since 1984.









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Wordless Wednesdays - Renaissance

Take in Bath, England, August 2009

This Photo is of Pulteney Bridge in Bath, England. Putleney Bridge is modeled after the Ponte Vechio in Florence Italy.These two bridges are the only two in the world that have shops inside the bridge. I can't help but think of the Renaissance when I look at this bridge.

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Book Review: Benito Perez Galdos- Two Tales of Married Women

Fortunata and Jacinta: Two Stories of Married Women by Benito Pérez Galdós

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Galdos is the Spanish Dickens. He's completely underrated and if you like Victorian literature you are certain to like this too.



Galdós, Benito Pérez, Fortunata and Jacinta. Two Stories of Married Women. Translated with an Introductionby Anges Moncy Gullón. The University of Georgia Press. Athens. 1985.

Galdós masterpiece work Fortunata y Jacinta: Two stories of married women is , an accurately drawn social portrait of nineteenth century Madrid. Written in four parts from 1886-1887. According to Turner, who wrote the introduction for Fortunata and Jacinta , the novel is set in the following historical background: Carlist wars, palace of intrigues, the revolution of 1868, an overthrow of the Queen Isabella, the brief reign of Amadeo of Savoy, the abort of the First Republic and the Bourbon restoration ( Alfonso XII ).

The book depicts both the lower class and bourgeois society through two female Fortunata and Jacinta. Galdós weaves a witty, entertaining yet complicated and engaging plot. The story is told between huge dynasties, and close knit families where cousins marry cousins and your next door neighbor is likely to be your relative. Set in Madrid Spain, Galdós true to the tenets of realism, gives the reader an actual true to life portrayal of the shopkeepers, egg sellers, hookers, merchants, clerks, government officials, aristocracy, entrepreneurs, and neighbor all coming and going vibrantly within the stark contrast of the lower, and upper class neighborhoods of Madrid. Galdós powerful use of imagery gives you a feeling of being in Madrid: smelling the smell of hot chocolate and doughnuts, smelling the rain or seeing the mist frost a train window. Hearing the loud mouth vulgar hookers and gypsies that put their hands on their hips, or whether it’s with the bourgeois Santa Cruz family enjoying a night at the Opera at the Royal Theatre of Madrid not so much because they enjoy opera, but because they can afford to go. Perhaps, Barbara Santa Cruz taking a trip to the tailors in Madrid’s finest boutiques to buy the best chambray linen or going shopping to buy the best sirloin and the best tobacco for her husband Baldomero to enjoy on Sundays.

Galdós writing is a great historian much of his writing takes place in the 1870´s, during the Alfonsine era of Spain. Fortunata and Jacinta is such an intellectually rich novel that it can be analyzed on many levels: psychologically, historically, religiously, and even from the feminist point of view. Galdós tells this story in four parts, as each part subsequently unfolds it draws you deeper into the mystery of these interesting, yet all too human and loveable characters. With characters as real and familiar we can not help but recognize ourselves are shortcomings and at the same time our beauty.

What is unique about Galdós, that I haven’t seen in the Russian and French writers is his complete absorption and intricate detail that is at once captivating and intriguing. His narrative structure and style is utterly powerful and mesmerizing drawing the reader, into the unknown world of Madrid Spain in the late nineteenth century, where the use of the phaeton was still in vogue and it was customary for women to wear a flower in their hair. In the introduction of Fortunata and Jacinta, Page after page, Galdós, tells this story and you don’t want to put the book down. This should be required reading for anyone studying World Literature so they can compare with other writers from the realism literary movement like Dickens, and Balzac.





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Book Review: The Second Sex, by Simone De Beauvoir

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

De Beauvoir. Simone. The Second Sex. Translated and Edited by H. M. Parshley. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.

Simone De Beauvoir, is the writer of many books of fiction including Les Mandarins (The Mandarins,1954); Memoires d'une jeune fille rangée (Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, 1958). Her philosophical, existentialist feminist treatise, The Second Sex, was written when she was close friends with existentialists Jean Paul Sartre. In this controversial non-fiction book, De Beauvoir states that women are not the first sex, but the second sex, the “Other.” We are not the first chromosome, we are the second chromosome. She describes women as being in relation to men, not as a separate identity, but existing as an attached appendage. Her book´s treatise and primary purpose was to demonstrate the many myths that have perpetuated throughout history, religion and science that say both directly and indirectly that women, is "the Other", that women are the weaker sex, less qualified for everything under the sun.

For me, when I read The Second Sex, I was utterly fascinated and enthralled. This book gave me a richer foundation from which I can look and revere my own womanhood. It also gives me a more profound sense of pride of being born with two XX chromosomes instead of just an XY.

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Wordless Wednesdays- An Oxford Scholar goes for a Walk

 Taken from my Archives-  August 2009- Oxford

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Take a good look at this photo, this is an absolute serene day, a coterie of bikes are parked, by the local cafe, the Bodleian Library is just a stone's throw. It's a quiet street not to many people are walking about, which is perfect for daydreaming. Imagine you are in the 14th century, you are an Oxford don have a respite from your studies, perhaps, a gingerly walk in the refreshing crisp breeze and an idle cup of tea and a scone, and a chat with your professor about the meaning of life.

All blogs are written by Sabrina Rongstad-Bravo More Tales and Adventures in Sabrina's London Diaries

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Letter and Update to Readers of Sabrina's London Diaries

Dear Readers of Sabrina's London Diaries and once and awhile pop in people:


 I am wanted to inform of you of my latest intentions with this wonderful, modern outlet for self-expression, the blog. I wanted to let you know that in future, I will be writing more regular posts. There will be interesting and fun photos taken from my archives for Wordless Wednesdays, on Fridays there will be book reviews of books I have already read and am reading currently, which are mostly of the Classic Literature genre, there will be Shakespeare Sundays. I adore Shakespeare and will use my blog not only to learn more about this wonderful man but to write about the bard and share my knowledge. I'd like to write about his contribution to the English Language and Literature. Being and Austenite, I will be writing about Jane Austen, her life, her novels, characters in her novels, movies made about her books, balls ( in London and abroad) English dating in the 18th Century and now. And, of course, my blog won't be complete without adding  some juicy tid bits of my dating experiences both in London and abroad, which I know you are just dying to read. ( Lol!) After all is said in done, I hope that I will also have time to work, start my Phd, publish a book of poetry, get married, travel abroad and volunteer in UGANDA. Well, as John Lennon said, " Life is what happens when your busy making other plans." So, will just have to see what happens.


Thank you for your continued loyalty in reading my blog.


much love and affection,


Sabrina Grace~



All blogs are written by Sabrina Rongstad-Bravo More Tales and Adventures in Sabrina's London Diaries

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Blog has Gone Haywire- Not to Worry

Dear Readers,
Not sure what has happened but all of my side bar widgets and gadgets have dissappeared, including the Drop Card Box to drop your card, and the box to subscribe. I have tried to upgrade and upload new blog, to no avai. My blog has gone haywire so lease, be patient while I figure out how to solve this. I'm sure it's nothing major and will be up again soon.

Thank you for your support and readership.

Sabrina Grace~

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Shakespeare: Contribution to the English Language

This is my favorite of all the favorite quotes in the world.
"All the world's a stage"..

Meaning

Life is like a play - we merely go through the stages of our life acting it out.

Origin
From Shakespeare's As You Like It, 1600:

JAQUES:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

MORE IN SABRINA'S LONDON DIARIES

• Dating in London-Finding Mr.Darcy
•  Book Reviews on Classic Literature
• Shakespeare's Contribution to the English Language

Book Review- Anne Bronte- Agnes Grey- The Private Life of a Governess

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bronte, Anne. Agnes Grey. London: Oxford University Press. 1845.

Agnes Grey written by Anne Bronte, the youngest of the Bronte sisters, is an autobiographical account of her life and experiences as a governess. Anne Bronte has set out in her own first personal narrative voice to describe the dark side of governesship. In Agnes Grey , Anne Bronte depicts her experiences with two families that employed her, the Murray’s and the Bloomfield’s. Within both families she has to tolerate vile, spoiled children, disrespectful parents, and jealous servants. Agnes Grey is not just governess novel, but a historical novel that depicts what daily life was for a young middle class governess in nineteenth century England. In this novel Anne Bronte was able to record for posterity, point out the specific obstacles and humiliations that many governesses herself included endured to ultimately elevate her status in society’s eyes and gain dignity. This novel Agnes Grey although a real depiction of governess life, is predictable and sometimes lacks sophistication of plot and story telling.

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Wordless Wednesdays-Love

                                         Taken from the Archives 2009

                                                           Hyde Park

                                                   Love  in Spring Time  

                                                From Wordless Wednesdays