Peony [Hardcover]

Pearl S. BUCK (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Pocket Book (1950)
• ASIN: B000KPEUDI
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker was born on June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Her parents were Southern Presbyterian missionaries, most often stationed in China, and from childhood, Pearl spoke both English and Chinese. She returned to China shortly after graduation from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1914, and the following year, she met a young agricultural economist named John Lossing Buck. They married in 1917, and immediately moved to Nanhsuchou in rural Anhwei province. In this impoverished community, Pearl Buck gathered the material that she would later use in The Good Earth and other stories of China.
Pearl began to publish stories and essays in the 1920s, in magazines such as The Nation, The Chinese Recorder, Asia, and The Atlantic Monthly. Her first novel, East Wind, West Wind, was published by the John Day Company in 1930. John Day's publisher, Richard Walsh, would eventually become Pearl's second husband, in 1935, after both received divorces.

In 1931, John Day published Pearl's second novel, The Good Earth. This became the bestselling book of both 1931 and 1932, won the Pulitzer Prize and the Howells Medal in 1935, and would be adapted as a major MGM film in 1937. Other novels and books of nonfiction quickly followed. In 1938, less than a decade after her first book had appeared, Pearl won the Nobel Prize in literature, the first American woman to do so. By the time of her death in 1973, Pearl had published more than seventy books: novels, collections of stories, biography and autobiography, poetry, drama, children's literature, and translations from the Chinese. She is buried at Green Hills Farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Subtle and Moving - One of Pearl Buck's Best, February 18, 2001

By 

Xoe Li Lu "xoelilu" (Sea Girt, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Peony: A Novel of China (Paperback)

"Peony" is a subtle, quiet novel - an excellent example of Pearl Buck's elegant and dignified style. Based on true events, the novel chronicles the life of Peony, a bondmaid who was sold to a wealthy Chinese/Jewish family. "Peony" can be considered a work of historical fiction, as Ms. Buck's excellent research provides accurate and extremely interesting information on Jews in China.

The story takes place over a century ago in K'aifeng, the home of the largest Jewish colony in China. At the time, Jews were rapidly assimilating into Chinese society and culture, and losing their Jewish identity. "Peony" tells the story of one particularly prominent Jewish family through the eyes of the ethnic Chinese bondmaid, and how the problem of assimilation effects each family member individually. The topic - Jewish identity in China - is fascinating and not commonly discussed.

Ms. Buck's amazing ability to create depth of character is in strong evidence in "Peony," and all of the characters are extremely well developed and realistic. While the story incorporates a historic element, it also includes interesting subplots of unrequited love, familial strife, and the age-old Chinese (and Jewish) concept of filial duty and respect.

This book is indicative of Pearl Buck's genius and gift for storytelling. Ms. Buck doesn't need to resort to hyperbole to get her point across - the words are carefully chosen and the story is beautifully constructed. Her writing style is gorgeous and evocative. The author's famous love for China and its many cultures is evident in her delicate prose - she treats the characters and the plot with utmost respect and historical accuracy. The beauty of China and the Chinese and Jewish cultures are done tremendous justice by this lovely book.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful novel that is worth reading and re-reading, April 3, 2001

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Peony: A Novel of China (Paperback)

This was the first Pearl Buck book I ever read. I still re-read it with a lot of enjoyment.

The language Pearl Buck uses is clever; in the Good Earth she keeps the language simple, to catch the thought patterns of the peasant farmers. In Peony, she tries to capture the formal interactions between masters and servants, between men and women both Chinese and of foreign descent. She succeeds brilliantly in making the speech patterns of each character suit their role.

The story is wide-ranging, from inside the walls of a Chinese-Jewish household with its extended family and servants, all the way to the Manchu court of the Western Empress Tzu Hsi. The story of the Jews in China is well-told and interesting.

And of course Pearl Buck is first and foremost a wonderful story teller. If you like Amy Tan, you are sure to enjoy this book too.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what a pleasant surprise, July 12, 2004

By 

Joan C. Frank (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Peony (Hardcover)

I accidentally found "Peony" while I was trying to find a book that would teach me how to grow peonies. The title, the topic and Buck's reputation helped me decide to read it. I am so glad that I did.

Other reviewers have told of the understated, beautiful use of language. They have spoken of the interesting juxtaposition of the Jewish and Chinese cultures, the gentleness of the story, and Buck's decision not to satisfy our need for a Hollywood ending.

All of these wonderful aspects allowed me to focus on other layers of the novel. The fact that the Jewish community in Kaifeng eventually allowed themselves to forget their own culture was fascinating. Their acceptance of and integration into the Chinese culture is portrayed as inexorable. Most slipped away easily; others faced the loss with overwhelming grief. Buck describes the Chinese characters in this book as being accepting of others while being a bit hedonistic themselves. They choose to seek pleasure and temporal fullfillment while the Jews focus on the horror of oppression, complex ritual and the absolute truth of their history and destiny. In other words, it seemed that the Jews were willing to give up their faith because it was difficult to maintain personally and for the community as a whole.

The final destruction of the core of the Jewish community is, ironically, a product of being a "chosen people." Kao Lien (a business associate of the Ezra family) tells David ben Ezra (Peony's young master) that the Jews, "were hated because they separated themselves from the rest of mankind. They called themselves chosen of God." This is David's first inkling that the world has alternate views of the Jewish people. This is a pivotable moment in the novel. This conversation gives David enough distance from his own culture to allow him to choose a Chinese wife and to move farther from the religion of his mother. Because he chooses not to become a leader of the Jews in his city, the Temple and the culture eventually fall into ruin.

More than most novels, this one is a rare combination of attributes. It is entertaining, informative, thought provoking and good literature. I will certainly read more of Buck's work and urge others to read this novel.