Peony [Hardcover]

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.

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 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 business) 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 step even further 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.