Dai Sijie wrote the moving, simple and delicate Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress, a debut novel which has gained cult status since its publication and which has a subtext of the works of the French romantic author Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850). This unusual convergence of western literary references and eastern subject matter and style, made Sijie’s first novel instantly successful, and in Mr Muo and his Travelling Couch he repeated this recipe of multiple subtexts. However, at first glance, it seems he was not as successful this time around. (Continue reading…)
