Customer Reviews

Kinfolk

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4 star:		(1)
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This story covers the coming-of-age of four American-raised Chinese young people in the early 1900's. James, a talented young surgeon, decides to devote his life to serving the poor in China, and his siblings follow him. His teacher-sister Mary is equally devoted, but their younger brother Peter is disillusioned by the China he sees & listens sympathetically to the growing communist party. The youngest sister, Louise, has become very westernized & can imagine no home for herself but America. The story paints an interesting picture of how these brothers & sisters struggle to find their own identity in a world that is no longer simple.

This is Pearl S. Buck at her most bewitching. At first she draws figures as clear as those in a coloring book. But soon, no one is quite who they seemed at first. The wise father is a bit cowardly and impure. The pesty little sister has great emphathy. The unsophisticated mother displays immense insight, and so on. Through their travails in New York, and in their ancestral village near Peking, the 4 Liang children and their parents will stay in your mind as fully-fleshed characters you were happy to know, and learned something in the process.

I have loved Pearl S. Buck's writing since I first read her novel, "The Good Earth," when I was a kid. She fostered in me a curiosity about China mixed with a respect for the people and the culture. When I discovered an old, hardback copy of "Kinfolk" in a used bookstore, I snatched it up! Little did I realize the copy I bought was from 1948, and had the originial owner's name/address on the cover - an extra bonus!

The story revolves around the Liang family: proud, arrogant, scholarly Mr. Liang, his simple, timid, but kind wife, and their 4 children. James, the oldest, has just finished medical school, Mary is calm and steady, Louise is a "typical" young woman by American standards, and Peter is determined to become a civil engineer. Mr and Mrs Liang have escaped China - and the oncoming Communist regime - for the freedom of New York City. However, along with that comes a severe clash of cultures: New York City in the 1940s is not very sensitive to the Chinese way of life, outside of Chinatown - much to the dissatisfaction of Mr. Liang.

James, who could have a brilliant career as a surgeon in New York, feels the pull of his ancestral China and his one desire is to return to the land of his parents. What results is a study of parents - displaced from an Oriental culture - into one from the West. And one of the children - displaced from a Western culture - into one from the East. Ms Buck, herself having lived both cultures, wonderfully brings the reader into the story and makes both, New York City AND Peking, come alive. The struggles, the clash of cultures, the joys, the sorrows, the small victories, the strength of spirit, all seem so real, so vibrant.

I had never heard of this novel, indeed I don't even think this is one of Ms. Buck's best. However, her writing style is so easy to get caught up in, so easy to feel part of the characters, it doesn't matter if this is the best or the least! This is a totally enjoyable story!

I love Pearl S. Buck and I've read about 15 of her novels. I have to say thus far, this one is my
favorite. I'm not certain why. It is originally set in New York; I suppose this is a departure from the others which could be
why it is so interesting. Just don't read it when you are hungry...

This could well be my favorite of Pearl Buck's books...right up there with PEONY. One thing I liked was that there was no war in it, just family relations. Oh, there was mention of communism rising, but that was incidental.