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We meet the narrator and his best friend Luo, who are both being re-educated in a small, mountainside village. The headman of the village is inspecting a violin the boys brought with them. The narrator gives us some context about the Cultural Revolution and re-education camps. Luo's dad (a famous dentist) is publicly humiliated for mentioning Mao and Jiang Jieshi in the same sentence.

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The narrator - seventeen, main character (?), Luo's best friend, father is a doctor, mother is a parasitic disease specialist, can play violin.

Luo - eighteen, narrator's best friend, quirky, smart, quick thinking, calm, cool and collected, father is a famous dentist who is accused of sleeping with his nursed (didn't actually).

The headman - scary-looking, three spots of blood in his left eye, nose hairs, intimidating, strong communist,

Luo's dad - famous dentist who worked on Mao's teeth, accused of sleeping with his nurse (didn't actually).

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Definition: (adjective) such as to provoke laughter.

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Definition: (adjective) winding or turning one way or another

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Definition: (adjective) irritating or annoying

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The Narrator - really good at violin; plays Mozart, Brahms, and Beethoven, seems kind of shy, stage-fright, seems to be Luo's sidekick.

Luo - good at storytelling, addicted to cigarettes, likes to entertain people, is understandably depressed; three kids in a thousand might get out of re-education, continues to prove that he's quick-witted, smart, and tricky (alarm clock manipulation).

The Headman - he's fascinated by the alarm clock and really likes storytelling, wants to be entertained.

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The narrator describes their living conditions (Phoenix mountain and the house on stilts, as well as their 'job,' moving human and animal excrement from the village to the fields.) We learn the village is not very civilized, as they are curious/confused by the alarm clock. The headman gives the boys a new job - going to the nearby village, watching the movies, and returning to tell the story of what they saw.

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They might be able to use the movie situation to escape the re-education camp.

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The Little Seamstress - daughter of the tailor, can't read much, likes to talk to people who can read and write (likes to hear other ideas), flirting with Luo, alone majority of the time, beautiful, pretty eyes and long eyelashes.

The Tailor - father of the little seamstress, wealthy, powerful, treated like royalty/celebrity, travels from village to village for his tailoring services.

Four-Eyes - Luo and the narrator's friend from the city, being re-educated in a different village.

The Narrator - maybe he likes the little seamstress as well, quiet, he seems to take a backseat to Luo

Luo - appears to like the little seamstress, denies his interest by saying "she's not civilized, at least enough for me" (27), despite poor living conditions, he continues to grow.

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Luo and the narrator have been assigned a new job - working in the coal mine. Luo and the narrator think that they are going to die in the mine, and eventually Luo comes down with malaria. The villagers/coal miners try to whip the sickness out of Luo, but he is still sick. Luo receives a letter from the Little Seamstress in which she tells him that the headman of her village has asked that the boys tell the stories of the movies they have seen.

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Definition: (adjective) disturbing and horrifying because of involvement with or depiction of death and injury

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The Narrator - scared of dying in the mine (would see his life flash before his eyes often), worried he'll never see his parents again.

Luo - scared of dying in the mine, comes down with malaria.

The Little Seamstress - thinking about Luo, can read and write, thanks to her father, flirting with Luo again through the letter, spoke to her village headman to see if Luo and the narrator could come to her village to tell stories of the movies

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Luo and the narrator meet the tailor on their way to visit Four-Eyes. Later, when they go to have Luo's trousers lengthened, they meet the Little Seamstress. They learn more about the tailor from the LS. There is a little bit of flirting between the LS and Luo.

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Definition: (adjective) not embarrassed, disconcerted, or ashamed.

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Definition: (noun) a soft, moist mass of material typically of plant material or flower, applied to the body to relieve pain and inflammation

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The Little Seamstress - good with medicine/remedies, cares about Luo, kisses Luo, doesn't know what a dentist is, but is aware of worms in your teeth.

Luo - still fighting malaria/fever, but still wants to see the little seamstress, second chapter in a row that he has not been the focal point due to his sickness, can still steal the show with a well-timed line.

The Narrator - calls the little seamstress pretty (does he have a crush on her as well?), character development - the narrator has grown more comfortable in his storytelling abilities, telling  the entire story of the little flower to the little seamstress and the four sorceresses, he's still not as good as Luo, but he is improving, smaller crowd (?), Luo wasn't there to demand the spotlight (?), maybe he wants to impress the little seamstress (?).

The Sorceresses - old, ugly crones (witches), one has a bow to protect them from demons, the first audience for the narrator's storytelling adventure.

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Why doesn't anyone in this story have a name (besides Luo)?

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Why doesn't anyone in this story have a name (besides Luo)?

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could be foreshadowing something about Luo?

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Luo is still sick. They go to the Little Seamstress to tell the story. The Little Seamstress brings the sorceresses to help with Luo's sickness. The narrator tells the story of the movie, and with Luo's help, brings the sorceresses to tears. The Little Seamstress kisses Luo.

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Definition: (adjective) deriving gratification from one's own pain or humiliation

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Four Eyes - secret suitcase filled with books, broken glasses, frantic/nervous about having to stay in re-education for life

Luo - still sick, was right about four eyes' suitcase, wants one of Four Eyes' books.

The Narrator -

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Luo and the narrator were reunited with Four Eyes. They noticed that he had a mysterious suitcase, and were curious as to what was in it. When Luo asked him, he avoided the conversation. Luo had a theory that he had books inside of it, and at the end of the chapter we find out he was right.

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Vocabulary Word - somnambulates (pg. 58)

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Vocabulary Word - somnambulates (pg. 58)

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Definition: (verb) to sleepwalk

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Luo - talks about the Little Seamstress, offers to get the old miller to sing folk songs for more books by Balzac.

The Narrator - interested in reading more

Four Eyes - lice from going to the thousand-metre- cliff to get the old miller to sing folk songs for him (for a job offer), but accidentally offends him

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Luo and the narrator go to visit the old miller and pretend they are communist officials. They ask him about the old mountain songs that Four Eyes was trying to get, but the old miller stalls. They agree to eat his boiled rocks with salt as they do not want to insult him. Finally, the old miller agrees and sings an old mountain song for them.

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Luo -

The Old Miller - ignorant, never even heard of the capital of his country

The Narrator - speaks Mandarin, stubborn

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Luo and the narrator bring the songs back to Four Eyes. He freaks out and becomes short-tempered over the songs because he doesn't think he'll get hired. He's going off on the narrator and Luo until the narrator lunges at him, accidentally punching him in the jaw.

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Definition: (noun) sudden, forward thrust of the body, typically with an arm outstretched to attack someone or seize something

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Luo -

The Narrator - attacks Four Eyes

Four Eyes - arrogant, short-tempered

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Luo, the Little Seamstress and the narrator go to town and watch the film The Little Flower Seller. The narrator starts to reveal his crush on the Little Seamstress. They find out that someone is getting out of re-education, and they try to figure it out until the narrator meets Four Eyes' mom, revealing it is Four Eyes.

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Definition: (noun) a person employed to carry luggage and other loads

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The Little Seamstress - tells the narrator she thinks it's better when he tells the story than the film

The Narrator - has feelings for the little seamstress

Four Eyes' Mom - wealthy, four eyes can do no wrong in her eyes, protective of him

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Vocabulary Word - superannuated (pg. 95)

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Vocabulary Word - superannuated (pg. 95)

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Definition: (adjective) obsolete through age or new technological or intellectual developments

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narrator - realizes he is a bit of a sadist (ch15), according to luo he is getting better at storytelling than luo (ch14), when the headman discovers the narrator telling stories, he's scared of torture/never getting off the mountain (ch14)

luo - comes up with the sewing machine/drill idea to help save the narrator, (ch15) loyal to his friend - insists that he accompany the narrator if he is taken away by the headmaster (ch14)

tailor - apparently doesn't need sleep - works all day  and listens to the boys' stories all night, the western literature is influencing him as well, he is incorporating french styles from the book into the clothes he makes for the villagers (ch14)

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Luo -secretly attached to his keys, worries that he will never leave the mountain to use his keys in his home, so throws them in the natural pool, the pool that once was his paradise with the little seamstress, he never wants to visit again because of his feels of dread

the little seamstress -

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narrator - starts to speak about himself in third person, gets closer with the little seamstress - definitely has feelings for her, he gets struck in his hear by a catapult

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the little seamstress - had an abortion, conflicted/terrified

the narrator - loyal, selfless, cares for the little seamstress, brave, puts her feelings above his - mature

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the little seamstress - realizes her worth, goes to the city

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I did like the book, I think it had a good story and it was interesting but I didn't like the ending because I feel like it was unsatisfying.