A precious scroll inscribed with a lost Buddhist sutra--once owned by Pu Yi, the last emperor of China--is illicitly sold to an eccentric French... read full description
reviews
Dec 30, 2010
Chris
rated it: 
I'm not sure quite how I feel about this book.
It's beautiful, but there doesn't seem to be much plot. This is strange because usually a lack of plot will drive me up a wall. It makes me want to fling the book across the room and consider revoking my "don't burn books" rule. Worse, the narrator is a woman, but I consistently forgot that. (Oh that's right, she has a womb because she is a she). That usually clinches the deal.
But not this one. Not this time.
More...
It's beautiful, but there doesn't seem to be much plot. This is strange because usually a lack of plot will drive me up a wall. It makes me want to fling the book across the room and consider revoking my "don't burn books" rule. Worse, the narrator is a woman, but I consistently forgot that. (Oh that's right, she has a womb because she is a she). That usually clinches the deal.
But not this one. Not this time.
More...
6 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Jul 29, 2011
THe book and the author are transitioning between two cultures--China and France, and the dance between the two is very unusual. What a fascinating book. On the surface it is part language study, part romance, and part mystery. It also has adventure, tragedy and awakening. Deeper, it takes the reader on a trip through a millennium.
Sijie, though writing in French, maintains a Chinese style of story telling. We always sense there is something more just outside our conscious understanding of what More...
Sijie, though writing in French, maintains a Chinese style of story telling. We always sense there is something more just outside our conscious understanding of what More...
Jun 15, 2011
Georgia
rated it: 
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is one of my all-time favorites, but I was completely unable to read Dai Sijie's following book, Mr. Muo's traveling couch, despite picking it up repeatedly. I think it just had too much of the depression and melancholy that defines much of Chinese literature. (A professor of Chinese literature once explained Chinese novels to me by telling me that one of the most famous books in Chinese literature ends with everyone dieing, even the dogs. Only the flies
More...
Jul 14, 2010
Kelle
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Aug 25, 2011
Emily
rated it:
I was a bit disappointed by "Once on a Moonless Night" after reading "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress". I thought that the plot of this book was all over the place and difficult to follow. It bounces all over the world and it is hard to find any kind of point; it just feels like a bunch of disparate events with no connection to each other. Also in many places it seems like the plot would get sidetracked with long anecdotes I found it difficult to sympathize with or u
More...
May 16, 2010
John
rated it:
I really wanted to like this book. I like Sijie's "Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress." My wife likes the book and recommended it for our book club. But I just couldn't get into it. I re-read the first 20 pages about three times trying to make sense of it. Names pop up without any introduction and then when they're mentioned again, I had to go back and try to figure out who that character is. There are essentially three narrators, and the point of view keeps shifting without warni
More...
Nov 28, 2011
Elsa
rated it:
Une très belle découverte sur le chemin de la sagesse en Chine.
Ce roman raconte les souvenirs d'une jeune occidentale, son amour pour un jeune garçon chinois et de l'histoire qui le lie à un parchemin de soie, écrit dans une langue mystérieuse, le tumchouq, et longtemps détenu dans les collections des empereurs de Chine. Il a passionné le dernier empereur mais la moitié s'est perdue du temps. Chaque personnage du récit est lié de prêt ou de loin à ce texte dont on ne connait plus la fi More...
Ce roman raconte les souvenirs d'une jeune occidentale, son amour pour un jeune garçon chinois et de l'histoire qui le lie à un parchemin de soie, écrit dans une langue mystérieuse, le tumchouq, et longtemps détenu dans les collections des empereurs de Chine. Il a passionné le dernier empereur mais la moitié s'est perdue du temps. Chaque personnage du récit est lié de prêt ou de loin à ce texte dont on ne connait plus la fi More...
Sep 21, 2010
Sharon
rated it:
Dai Sijie has written this book using the longest sentences ever,all filled with elaborate and detailed imagery. He has twisted his stories in and out of worlds ranging from ancient Chinese Empires through Communist China to modern Beijing and in so doing, you have a history lesson of China told from a very intimate point of view. The stories are all tied together by the overarching story of the eight hundred year old silk scroll inscribed with a lost sutra composed by the Buddha. I feel I kn
More...
Mar 12, 2009
Stephanie
rated it:
China-born French novelist and filmmaker Dai Sijie has a thing for stories involving stories. In his acclaimed debut novel Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress (2000), three Chinese teenagers during the Cultural Revolution find escape in a forbidden stash of Western novels. His second, Mr Muo's Travelling Couch (2003), combines Freud's The Interpretation Of Dreams with allusions to Cervantes' Don Quixote.
In his latest novel Once Upon A Moonless Night, translated from the French b More...
In his latest novel Once Upon A Moonless Night, translated from the French b More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 12, 2012
Lavinia
rated it:
Very complex and in certain points hard to follow - at a certain point the authour was being told a story by a guy, who was telling the story that a friend of his had told him, and the friend had heard the story from another guy... Add to that the oriental names, which for me sound the same, since I'm not used to them and you'll understand that from time to time I got confused. But still a very nice and interesting story, it is so easy to believe you are reading real history, and not fiction. An
More...
Oct 10, 2011
Virginia
rated it:
Tanto quanto "Balzac e la piccola sarta cinese" mi aveva emozionato, questo romanzo mi ha annoiato.
Alcuni pezzi sono interessanti e molto prosaici, ma dopo la prima parte, incentrata su Puyi, il ritmo cede, le motivazioni dei protagonisti si perdono in esercizi di lingua, fino a scivolare in un finale che non si sembra tale. Girata l'ultima pagina, mi sono chiesta: "Tutto qui? Hanno dimenticato di stampare il finale..."
Alcuni pezzi sono interessanti e molto prosaici, ma dopo la prima parte, incentrata su Puyi, il ritmo cede, le motivazioni dei protagonisti si perdono in esercizi di lingua, fino a scivolare in un finale che non si sembra tale. Girata l'ultima pagina, mi sono chiesta: "Tutto qui? Hanno dimenticato di stampare il finale..."
Jan 24, 2012
Dania
rated it: 
I gave this book a real shot. I need to admit that I only read it thoroughly up until about the 63rd page and then a skimmed the rest... It's sad because I was really excited and looking forward to reading this one. While reading it, it felt like the author was just rambling on in a stream of consciousness filled with historical information. My mind kept wandering and I could feel myself drift off, which is such a pity.
Jul 24, 2011
Helen
rated it:
I loved his other book which was Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress but this one did not impress me. It was about a search for an ancient scroll and the story keeps geting sidetracked by stories about the languages on the scroll and the harsh life of the people trying to find it. There were a lot of stories and fables in it about China but as a whole the story seemed disconnected and went on too long.
Feb 13, 2009
Writerlibrarian
rated it:
More like 3 3/4 stars, just shy of 4. The middle part lagged a little hence three stars. This is Dai Sijie third novels, his first since winning the Femina in 2003 with "Le complexe de Di". It's a slow and somewhat nostalgic narrative. We follow the narrator, a young French woman who studied Chinese in Beijing in the late 1970's, fell in love with a young Chinese man with a troubled past. Both their lives are entwined in the most singular yet delightful way. Both become obsessed with a
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 20, 2011
Cmorice
rated it:
Les péripéties au cours des siècles d'un manuscrit sur rouleau de soie forment le fil conducteur de ce roman aux récits savamment emboîtés.
Dai Sijie, revisitant l'histoire de la Chine et celle du bouddhisme, y rend un hommage fervent aux créations de l'esprit les plus subtiles - et notamment à la langue écrite ou calligraphiée, qui répand sur chaque page son mystère obsédant.
Dai Sijie, revisitant l'histoire de la Chine et celle du bouddhisme, y rend un hommage fervent aux créations de l'esprit les plus subtiles - et notamment à la langue écrite ou calligraphiée, qui répand sur chaque page son mystère obsédant.
Oct 19, 2009
Stacie
rated it:
Both of Dai Sigie's earlier works are favorites of mine, but Once on a Moonless Night did not live up to my expectations. It could be in part due to my sporadic reading of the book - for the first three-quarters I would only read it two pages at a time; the last quarter I was just trying to finish it. (Yes, I'm one of those insane individuals that needs to finish a book.) This left me constantly backtracking and wondering who was describing what.
Despite my reading habits the past few More...
Despite my reading habits the past few More...
Aug 17, 2010
Katy
rated it:
I almost didn't finish this book. It's very stream of consciousness with very complicated voices, so I'd often have trouble remembering who was talking about whom. It has random passages that don't seem to link to the rest of the story. It gives you that feeling that if you were just a bit smarter and could GET IT, you'd have this really deep and fantastic story... but too bad, you're not smart enough.
May 07, 2010
Jeremy
rated it:
This book was a real snooze-fest. the way the plot tied into historical events and musings were neat which is why I gave it two stars rather than one. Really it was the middle of the book that made this book hard to endure. The plot went absolutely nowhere. I kept expecting something interesting to happen but it was just page after page of the same boredom.
Mar 17, 2010
Wendy
rated it: 
Thinner than Balzac, I still loved the backstory of the French prisoner, his son and his admirer. Like most prisoners who are torture the will to survive is great until the psychotic break. People, these stories never never ever have a happy ending. China, prison, torture, psychosis, the end, death...
Aug 16, 2010
Satia
rated it:
I would very much like to know if anyone who has read this novel and the author's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress noticed the same things as I. At this point, I'll eagerly read anything else Dai Sijie publishes. For more, read my full review:
http://satia.blogspot.com/2010/08/once-o...
http://satia.blogspot.com/2010/08/once-o...
Jan 07, 2012
imakecake
rated it:
This was a beautiful book. A tale of French translator and a lost Buddhist sutra in a dead language. This novel is probably a linguists delight, and I'm sure that I missed a lot of the subtleties because of this. The book is filled with history and wonder and restrained passion and hope.
Sep 21, 2010
Lyra
rated it:
I read Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress straight through one long winter night several years back and adored it. Sijie's last book was a disappointment. This one, although it didn't grip quite like Seamstress, was a similar weaving together of history and love story that was very nice.
Sep 09, 2009
Somewhat mystical (Buddhist overtones) involving China's past and present. Author paints beautiful and vivid images (note is translated from the French). Shows strength of love for both a language and between people.
Oct 22, 2009
Dianaserbanescu
rated it:
spirituality. scholars. looking for the beauty. the spiritual beauty. all the way down through madness and time. across the world and through several generations. sacrifice and patience. the value of life.
Feb 25, 2010
Shuriu
rated it:
Not nearly as charming as his first book or unfortunately, as his second. A real fetish for the beauty of languages here -- vive la france, avec les mots superbs! as the pop song goes....
A disappointment, but not a bad book.
A disappointment, but not a bad book.
Sep 25, 2010
I'm so disappointed. I wish I could have enjoyed this book but, as others have said, I found it way too confusing and disjointed. Sijie writes beautifully though. Maybe someday I will finish this book.
Nov 07, 2009
Heidi
rated it:
Gave up before Chapter 2---too language- and story-complex for this 3-page-at-a-time bedtime reader. Beautiful writing; wish I didn't have a day job and a life to manage so I could enjoy.
Aug 25, 2009
Carolyn
rated it:
Fun to follow, although you have to read patiently. One of those stories that keeps giving you information little by little, while you keep waiting expectantly for more.
Sep 12, 2009
Mary
rated it:
It happens. Maybe I am not in the right place for this book right now, but I'm not gonna finish it. It's overdue at the library and it's going back.
Apr 06, 2010
Book Concierge
rated it:
Very disappointing. Disjointed. I really coudln't get into it. Can't begin to describe it. There are a few poetic phrases worth 1 star.
