Amazon.com: The Mother (9780330016063): Pearl S. Buck: Books

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12 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
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4.1 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ASubtle Look into Chinese Peasant Life at the Dawn of an Era, February 5, 2002

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

This review is from: The Mother (Paperback)

Pearl Buck's books of the 1930s and 1940s were among the first to introduce Americans to the Chinese way of life. In "The Mother," Ms. Buck takes an in-depth look into the life of a peasant woman who lives in a poor hamlet at the dawn of the communist era - when ancient and modern Chinese ideals collided. Her life is fraught with hardship, and her views are tainted by centuries-old patriarchal tradition. Her few joys are simple - a love of food and the longing for male grandchildren sustain her through days of drudgery. Her life is touched by the consequences of both "old" and "new" Chinese culture in ways I will not reveal here, as I don't want to ruin the story.

While the book's prose has, on occasion, been criticized for its archaic style, Buck merely presents her story in language that mirrors the peasant colloquial of the day. This use of language and Buck's wonderful descriptive abilities transport the reader to the nameless mother's home, and open a window into the thought processes that governed her daily travails and simple pleasures. Buck's gift for storytelling is once again in evidence in "The Mother," and her elegant writing style evokes vivid imagery. All of the book's characters remain nameless throughout the novel - an effective convention used by the author to emphasize the fact that this story could be applied to any of millions of "faceless" Chinese peasant families. It also references the way peasant women may have felt about themselves - faceless servants at the will of their husbands, families, and circumstance. There is a subtle political message within the story as well - it isn't difficult to discern how Ms. Buck felt about Communists and the role of the peasant class in Chinese society.

"The Mother" is an excellent story - this quick read will leave a lasting impression on you.

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A womans spirit!, August 6, 2002

By	Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Mother (Paperback)

For any woman who's feeling a bit put-upon, a bit hard done by, "The Woman" would soon shake her back into perspective.I know that this has ever been the lot of women in poor farming communities in third world countries, but it's frightening to realise just how little things have changed since these long past times of the beginning of the beginning of communism in China.We never learn the mothers name as she is simply that--the mother of the children of a poor farmer, a co-worker in the fields and the carer of his elderly mother. It's a hand to mouth existence with only the hope of enough food to sustain them on a daily basis and enough money from the crops that they can spare to be sold, to pay the rent of their fields. When her husband runs off in search of a more exciting life, the mother is left with the care of the family and is forced to work like a beast of burden in order to exist. Only her indomitable spirit sustains them ,even though her life is shattered by a series of events that would break a lesser woman.

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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mother is a literary canvas, painted by a gifted artist, February 24, 2002

By	mary alice cook (Eagle River, Alaska United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mother (Paperback)

In Pearl Buck's autobiography, "My Several Worlds," she reveals that she almost destroyed the manuscript of "The Mother", feeling that it was not worthy of publication. Had this happened, literature would have suffered a great loss. The characters that Ms. Buck created here - the tragically blind daughter, the grandmother who wears her own shroud in anticipation of death, and especially the mother - are exquisitely drawn and memorable. The suffering of the mother, whose life after the strange disappearance of her husband seems an endless series of heartbreaks, is almost unbearable for the reader. But ultimately the mother is comforted, as is every mother, by the birth of children and grandchildren. This is the story of a seemingly insignificant woman, worlds away from me, whose dreams and longings and difficulties are not so very different from my own. This book is definitely and very enthusiastically recommended.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind Expanding
Powerful story with incredible characters that really broadened my understanding of life at that time in China. Excellent!

Published 8 months ago by CLK

2.0 out of 5 stars Not her best work
I am a big fan of Ms. Buck's work. I read and loved 'Pavilion of Women', 'Imperial Woman', and 'Peony', but this book was lacking. Read more

Published 11 months ago by M

5.0 out of 5 stars MOTHER
I really enjoyed this book. As a parent myself you only want what is best for your child.Sometimes you make choices as mother did with her daughter that you cannot forsee and in... Read more

Published 17 months ago by Jeri L. Dougherty

5.0 out of 5 stars I Loved this Book and Highly Recommend it
For those who didn't like this book as much, I believe they missed something. I thought this was great writing and in many ways her best. Read more

Published on March 28, 2007 by Karol D. Trujillo

2.0 out of 5 stars Skimworthy, perhaps, but Buck had the right of it.
Pearl S. Buck, The Mother (Pocket, 1934)

It is hard to know what to make of this early novel (her fourth) by Pearl S. Read more

Published on June 20, 2003 by Robert P. Beveridge

4.0 out of 5 stars ASubtle Look into Chinese Peasant Life at the Dawn of an Era
Pearl Buck's books of the 1930s and 1940s were among the first to introduce Americans to the Chinese way of life. In "The Mother," Ms. Read more

Published on February 5, 2002 by Xoe Li Lu

5.0 out of 5 stars A story of biblical power and simplicity
If you like The Good Earth, you will love this book - written in a similar style, which some have called mechanical, but is, in actuality, an archaic form of language - I always... Read more

Published on August 12, 2001 by C.Solis

5.0 out of 5 stars i truly do love this book!
Let me explain this book to you. It has very little historical references. To those who are familiar with Mrs. Read more

Published on June 24, 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars one of Buck's better books
The Mother is one of Pearl Buck's better books. Unlike her sweeping historical fictions, where she is often superficial, this story focuses on the family travails of one woman in... Read more

Published on March 26, 2000

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