Second book of 2010

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie.

In 1971, during Mao's cultural revolution, 2 sons of doctors are sent to be 're-educated' by living with peasants in a mountain village. They meet the daughter of a local tailor and both fall in love with her, and with Western literature when they get their hands on a suitcase of illicit novels (all books banned at the time). Various little scenes and adventures abound.

The writer was apparently 're-educated' himself, and left China to live in France in 1984. The book was translated by Ina Rilke. I found this quite a nice read, feeling like I was reading a folk tale. I wish I had read some of the books the boys found - some Balzac for instance! - as I think that'd add another dimension to the story.

Onto book 3 now - It by Stephen King. This massive brick of a book is quite hard to hold! But it needs to be read. Borrowed it from Notwelshman.

I have quite a few books on the menu now thanks to my incredibly thoughtful ex-workmates, who snuck onto my Amazon wish list and got me a selection for my leaving pressie! Bless them. I'm so excited about getting into some of these!