In Seiji 's, Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress, many books get mentioned that relate to the time, era and setting where the book takes place. The novel occurs during the cultural revolution, and talks about two boys who got taken away from their houses and sent into a village in the mountain to get “reeducated”. Throughout the book the author mentions some historically famous books that relate to what was going on in the novel. Many people question why Sijie´s chose to title the novel after Balzac’s work Ursule Mirouet, why not after Jean Christophe, Hunchback of Notre Dame or Count of Monte Cristo. Some themes that are similar in all of these books is love, resistance to the authorities and escape.
Love is a theme that appears throughout the whole novel, between the two main characters, Luo and the Narrator and the love triangle that exists between them and the Seamstress. Even though the Seamstress is from an “upper class” or “better class” than Luo and the Narrator, these does not prevent her from having feeling or affection for these characters. These relates to the book mentioned by Seiji 's, Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor
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Balzac 's book Ursule Mirouet is the book which is mentioned the most throughout the novel. This is because not only it relates to the theme of love, but also to the theme of standinding up against authorities. In Ursule Mirouet, Balzac talks about these women who decided to stand up against the government. This relates to the Balzac and the little chinese Seamstress because of how Luo and the Narrator stood up against the government, and did not accept the fact of being re-educated and working extra hours at the mine. This book is read by Luo to the Seamstress, causing them to fall in love with each other. This gives extra importance to the fact of it being chosen as the title of Seiji’s