Here you will find resources related to the book we have chosen for our all-school reading, a project designed to unite the entire College Prep community as we learn about and gain new perspectives of people and a country beyond our borders. The entire student body, faculty, and staff will be reading the same book.
The all-school book for 2011-2012 is Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie.
This summer, College Prep students and faculty will be reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie. This fable-like novel tells the story of two teenaged boys who are sent off to a remote mountain in China to be “re-educated” during Mao's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s-70s. The boys soon discover that one of their fellow laborers has a suitcase full of contraband Western classics. They persuade him to loan them a book by Honoré de Balzac that they secretly read and share with the local seamstress' daughter.
We will be exploring the cultural context and history of China through forums and events this upcoming school year (2011-2012). If you have any ideas or speaker suggestions, please contact Andy Dean, Dean of Students.
Additional information:
- This novel is loosely based upon the author's memories from his time in a reeducation camp during the 1970s.
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The author was originally a filmmaker who turned to fiction after
limited success with films. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is
his first novel.