Mr. Muo's Traveling Couch - Dai Sijie

http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781400042593-4 - Years ago I read and loved Sijie's first novel, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Sijie's second novel features Mr. Muo, back in China after a stint in France learning all he can about Freud and pschoanalysis. Muo, in an effort to free the love of his life from a Chinese prison, hopes to spread his new-found knowledge throughout the country (which resembles and is often mistaken for a sort of fortune-telling). Muo encounters one interesting character after another as it becomes less and less clear what is actually happening in "real" life, and what is simply taking place in Muo's own head. While I enjoy Sijie's writing, I could not get into this book until about page 70. Then after another 100 pages, I lost interest again. It was a little more effort to follow than I was in the mood for, and while Muo is a whimsical character - of the sort I usually enjoy, this one is not high on my list of books to recommend.