Bio about Cultural Revolution in China - A Leaf in the Bitter Wind by Ting-Xing Ye

I couldn't help but think of this book when we read Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. In fact, I think it ruined my reading of the novel because I kept comparing it to this biography! It's a compelling story about a woman who grew up during the Cultural Revolution in China and experienced a similar dismal "re-education" as the narrator of the Little Chinese Seamstress. I definitely recommend it if you are interested in this very volatile and fascinating time.

Did she really learn from Balzac?

These are the questions we should have used for our discussion! A lot better than that poor student's essay questions. We discussed some of these things when we met, including the irony of Luo's desire to "re-educate" the little seamstress when he himself is enduring forced re-education by the state.

http://www.litlovers.com/guide_balzac.html

One thing we didn't discuss was the end of the book and the seamstress's claim she learned from Balzac "that a woman's beauty is treasured beyond price." It's obvious that this novel was influenced by Balzac's writing but what does the seamstress mean by this comment? I like to think that she's a realist, not the romantic dreamer Luo and she's ready to leave the mountain once and for all. She's going to make her fortune however she can rather than leaving her fate to her father or Luo. Thoughts? Counter-arguments? This line left me somewhat stumped when I finished reading and perhaps that's why I was a little dissatisfied as well.