mochirae's review against another edition
3.0
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Rating: ★★★☆☆
“Let woman out of the home, let man into it, should be the aim of education. The home needs man, and the world outside needs woman.”
___________________________________________________
Peony is a fascinating look on the Jews of Kaifeng who first settled in China in the Middle Ages. This book takes place in the 1850s as we follow Peony, a Chinese servant in the House of Ezra, who experiences the decline of the Jew community and the clash with the Chinese culture.
Plot: Pearl S. Buck writes in a very simplistic and candid style so i found the book very easy to read. I was effortlessly transported to the scenarios she described and it was an absolute pleasure to experience it.
On a plot standpoint however, i was slightly disappointed. Peony is advertised as being a forbidden romance novel but that is clearly not what it is. I dived into it thinking i was reading an epic love story, but the romantic plot was only introduced in the last 30 pages of the book.
I ended up not DNFing it because of how interested i was in the struggles the Jews faced when trying to maintain their religious traditions against the pressure to assimilate.
Characters: I adore Peony and she was the only character with whom i felt a connection with. Throughout the book we can clearly see her growth, both physically and mentally. It was a pleasure to see her little self navigate life to try and find her place in a house that stopped feeling like her own.
Ending: I found the ending a bit clunky. While the beginning of the book was very slow paced, the ending felt a bit rushed.
Final thoughts: Peony is definitely a very enjoyable novel if the reader dives into it with the idea that it’s an historical fiction book and not a romance one. Nevertheless, i sincerely enjoyed it and found a great deal to ponder about while reading it.
___________________________________________________
Rating: ★★★☆☆
“Let woman out of the home, let man into it, should be the aim of education. The home needs man, and the world outside needs woman.”
___________________________________________________
Peony is a fascinating look on the Jews of Kaifeng who first settled in China in the Middle Ages. This book takes place in the 1850s as we follow Peony, a Chinese servant in the House of Ezra, who experiences the decline of the Jew community and the clash with the Chinese culture.
Plot: Pearl S. Buck writes in a very simplistic and candid style so i found the book very easy to read. I was effortlessly transported to the scenarios she described and it was an absolute pleasure to experience it.
On a plot standpoint however, i was slightly disappointed. Peony is advertised as being a forbidden romance novel but that is clearly not what it is. I dived into it thinking i was reading an epic love story, but the romantic plot was only introduced in the last 30 pages of the book.
I ended up not DNFing it because of how interested i was in the struggles the Jews faced when trying to maintain their religious traditions against the pressure to assimilate.
Characters: I adore Peony and she was the only character with whom i felt a connection with. Throughout the book we can clearly see her growth, both physically and mentally. It was a pleasure to see her little self navigate life to try and find her place in a house that stopped feeling like her own.
Ending: I found the ending a bit clunky. While the beginning of the book was very slow paced, the ending felt a bit rushed.
Final thoughts: Peony is definitely a very enjoyable novel if the reader dives into it with the idea that it’s an historical fiction book and not a romance one. Nevertheless, i sincerely enjoyed it and found a great deal to ponder about while reading it.
___________________________________________________
imyerhero's review against another edition
3.0
Having read “The Good Earth” as my first foray into Buck’s novels, everything else by her has had a tough climb to reach the pinnacle I’ve put “Earth” on. This book does a very good job, but still doesn’t topple “Earth.” I liked Peony and David as characters, but I never really could find myself enjoying the story. I wanted to know what happened next, but I wasn’t compelled to keep on reading it. Halfway through the book, it seemed like the story lost steam and veered off into a completely different direction than it originally intended…leaving me wondering what the heck was going on.
akayeh's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing book! It's a simple story to follow, told in a soft, quiet way about a young Chinese girl who is a bondservant (slightly higher than slave) and grows up serving a Jewish family living in Old China. It follows both her and the young man of the family who is her age; at first she is to be only his playmate until she is old enough for simple tasks. They are raised as almost siblings, and she eventually helps set up his marriage and many other things to keep the house running. It also shows the interactions between the small community of Chinese Jews--whether among themselves or with their native Chinese neighbors. There is birth, death, love, anger, and a whole lot of drama! Oh, and one very interesting sword.... Don't miss Peony!
lpm100's review against another edition
1.0
One single word: BORING.
We already know the fate of the Kaifeng Jews, and that is that they were steamrolled in the same way that so many other tribes in China have fallen under the Han Chinese steamroller.
Did it really take that many words to explain that?
I was hoping for something that would give me a bit of insight into the daily lives of these people (which the author, Pearl S Buck may never have seen any more than Harriet Beecher Stowe--she of Uncle Tom's Cabin-- may have seen a slave). What I got instead was a mushy romance that dragged on interminably.
Verdict: Not recommended.
We already know the fate of the Kaifeng Jews, and that is that they were steamrolled in the same way that so many other tribes in China have fallen under the Han Chinese steamroller.
Did it really take that many words to explain that?
I was hoping for something that would give me a bit of insight into the daily lives of these people (which the author, Pearl S Buck may never have seen any more than Harriet Beecher Stowe--she of Uncle Tom's Cabin-- may have seen a slave). What I got instead was a mushy romance that dragged on interminably.
Verdict: Not recommended.
halkid2's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars is probably more accurate a rating. Pearl S. Buck has a lovely way of conveying Chinese sensibility in her writing. So, this is a pleasure to read. From a plot standpoint however, I found the resolution of the plot a bit clunky.
PEONY is fundamentally a romance focused on the first born son of a wealthy merchant and a bondmaid in his parent's employ and as such, it is a story of classes in China. But I became much more fascinated with the parallel story of a waning population of Jews in one city in China, as they struggle between maintaining their religious traditions and the pressure for assimilation. (The book ends with a chapter by a scholar summarizing the history of Jews in China, which began in the 600s. Who knew?)
PEONY takes place in the late 1800s or early 1900s - so there's an opportunity to learn about Chinese life at that time -- like how trade was conducted, how marriages were arranged, how large households operated, and the ways in which families functioned together. All in all, it's an interesting exploration of the culture of China.
PEONY is fundamentally a romance focused on the first born son of a wealthy merchant and a bondmaid in his parent's employ and as such, it is a story of classes in China. But I became much more fascinated with the parallel story of a waning population of Jews in one city in China, as they struggle between maintaining their religious traditions and the pressure for assimilation. (The book ends with a chapter by a scholar summarizing the history of Jews in China, which began in the 600s. Who knew?)
PEONY takes place in the late 1800s or early 1900s - so there's an opportunity to learn about Chinese life at that time -- like how trade was conducted, how marriages were arranged, how large households operated, and the ways in which families functioned together. All in all, it's an interesting exploration of the culture of China.
gbmadureira12's review against another edition
5.0
4,5 ⭐
Jews have settled in the city of Kaifeng, China since the middle ages. Now in mid-nineteenth century, the community starts to decline in number. Peony is a bondmaid of a child named David, son of Ezra ben Israel, a wealthy jew in the city of Kaifeng. As David grows, Peony grows alongside him, and feelings between the two flourish. Peony is quite aware that she loves David, however she has no pretensions in projecting those feelings further from her heart, as she knows that she is a simple maid. "Peony" is a portrait of a jewish family in China through the lens of the character that gives te title of the romance.
It is written in a beautiful language and sometimes it seems that Pearl S. Buck uses elements of the greek tragedy in its narrative. In fact, one of the main themes regards the forbbiden love of a simple maid that knows her fatum (i.e. her own destiny), there is conflict and then there is catharsis. I will not explore further the narrative so as not to give any spoilers.
However there are several themes that are brought to light in this romance:
1. Aculturation, Intermarriage and Identity:
The family of Ezra ben Israel lives in China, free from antisemitism and with total religious liberty. However Ezra lives in conflict between its jewish faith (regarded as strict, sad and fatidical) and the chinese culture that provides him pleasure, wealth and prosperity. Naomi, his wife, is an orthodox jew who acts as a moral compass for Ezra, and rejects any trace of chinese aculturation of her family. She educates her son, David, as a jew, and tries to solidify that, by trying to marry him with Leah, the daughter of the Rabi. However as the story unfolds, the Ezra family becomes more and more chinese in its customs. This is a major point of inner conflict for everyone in the family and shapes deeply David's psychological development. The synagogue becomes a symbol used by Pearl S. Buck to represent the idea of a "melting pot", as the synagogue becomes more degraded as fewer and fewer jews attend cerimonies.
2. Proto-zionism and anti-semitism:
Naomi believes that she does not belong in China and hopes to return to the "Promised Land". She is a fierce defensor of the ideas that later in history became known as zionism. However, with no land, Naomi believes that her people share the metaphysical land of faith and as such, she tries to preserve the "purity of the blood". Her attempts to marry Leah and David are motivated by the firm belief that her people should remain pure, in order to maintain the jewish faith alive (an thus her metaphysical promised land) until someone guides them back to their physical promised land, according to the prophecies. Anti-semitism doesn't exist in China, but when Kao Lien (a business partner of Ezra) returns from a trip to the West with the news that their people are being murdered, an inner conflict and turmoil emerges in David and the anger towards anti-semitic people shape him deeply.
3. The feminine figure:
In the novel, there are several strong feminine figures that dominate the family. Naomi, as stated before, acts as a moral compass and shadows every thought of Ezra. Peony, the main character, is not only the lens through whom we see the Ezra family, but she is also a major power figure in the house, using psychological tactics to get what she wants and to also guide the family. These two different women clash as one tries to preserve identity and the other tries to accommodate their customs into the chinese way of living. Leah, the daughter of the rabi, commands her own house and bonds with Naomi in an effort to guide David to accept his jewish roots and reject any chinese aculturation. It is also worth mentioning that the elder maid, Wang Ma, acts as Peony's guide, reviewing herself in Peony.
4. David's development and influences:
David is a splited spirited person. On one hand he identifies himself as jew, and the influence of Naomi and Leah shape his heart as such. But on the other hand he preferes the idle life that the chinese provide him. He lives in constant inner turmoil because of these two different dimensions that are antagonic. David makes the reader reflect that the role of parents in shaping one's character is limited and that there are other pressures acting in it, sometimes conflictual pressures. It is interesting to analyze David's growth along the novel and to consider the conflict of "identity vs difusion" that he experiences.
To sum up, "Peony" is a beautiful written novel that provides a glimpse on the jewish diaspora, particularly in the Eastern Asia. Although sometimes melodramatic and soap-operish, Pearl S Buck uses the elements of the narrative in communion with the elements of style to create a dense and rich story, easy to read, being able to bring to light interesting topics. It was a pleasure reading "Peony".
Jews have settled in the city of Kaifeng, China since the middle ages. Now in mid-nineteenth century, the community starts to decline in number. Peony is a bondmaid of a child named David, son of Ezra ben Israel, a wealthy jew in the city of Kaifeng. As David grows, Peony grows alongside him, and feelings between the two flourish. Peony is quite aware that she loves David, however she has no pretensions in projecting those feelings further from her heart, as she knows that she is a simple maid. "Peony" is a portrait of a jewish family in China through the lens of the character that gives te title of the romance.
It is written in a beautiful language and sometimes it seems that Pearl S. Buck uses elements of the greek tragedy in its narrative. In fact, one of the main themes regards the forbbiden love of a simple maid that knows her fatum (i.e. her own destiny), there is conflict and then there is catharsis. I will not explore further the narrative so as not to give any spoilers.
However there are several themes that are brought to light in this romance:
1. Aculturation, Intermarriage and Identity:
The family of Ezra ben Israel lives in China, free from antisemitism and with total religious liberty. However Ezra lives in conflict between its jewish faith (regarded as strict, sad and fatidical) and the chinese culture that provides him pleasure, wealth and prosperity. Naomi, his wife, is an orthodox jew who acts as a moral compass for Ezra, and rejects any trace of chinese aculturation of her family. She educates her son, David, as a jew, and tries to solidify that, by trying to marry him with Leah, the daughter of the Rabi. However as the story unfolds, the Ezra family becomes more and more chinese in its customs. This is a major point of inner conflict for everyone in the family and shapes deeply David's psychological development. The synagogue becomes a symbol used by Pearl S. Buck to represent the idea of a "melting pot", as the synagogue becomes more degraded as fewer and fewer jews attend cerimonies.
2. Proto-zionism and anti-semitism:
Naomi believes that she does not belong in China and hopes to return to the "Promised Land". She is a fierce defensor of the ideas that later in history became known as zionism. However, with no land, Naomi believes that her people share the metaphysical land of faith and as such, she tries to preserve the "purity of the blood". Her attempts to marry Leah and David are motivated by the firm belief that her people should remain pure, in order to maintain the jewish faith alive (an thus her metaphysical promised land) until someone guides them back to their physical promised land, according to the prophecies. Anti-semitism doesn't exist in China, but when Kao Lien (a business partner of Ezra) returns from a trip to the West with the news that their people are being murdered, an inner conflict and turmoil emerges in David and the anger towards anti-semitic people shape him deeply.
3. The feminine figure:
In the novel, there are several strong feminine figures that dominate the family. Naomi, as stated before, acts as a moral compass and shadows every thought of Ezra. Peony, the main character, is not only the lens through whom we see the Ezra family, but she is also a major power figure in the house, using psychological tactics to get what she wants and to also guide the family. These two different women clash as one tries to preserve identity and the other tries to accommodate their customs into the chinese way of living. Leah, the daughter of the rabi, commands her own house and bonds with Naomi in an effort to guide David to accept his jewish roots and reject any chinese aculturation. It is also worth mentioning that the elder maid, Wang Ma, acts as Peony's guide, reviewing herself in Peony.
4. David's development and influences:
David is a splited spirited person. On one hand he identifies himself as jew, and the influence of Naomi and Leah shape his heart as such. But on the other hand he preferes the idle life that the chinese provide him. He lives in constant inner turmoil because of these two different dimensions that are antagonic. David makes the reader reflect that the role of parents in shaping one's character is limited and that there are other pressures acting in it, sometimes conflictual pressures. It is interesting to analyze David's growth along the novel and to consider the conflict of "identity vs difusion" that he experiences.
To sum up, "Peony" is a beautiful written novel that provides a glimpse on the jewish diaspora, particularly in the Eastern Asia. Although sometimes melodramatic and soap-operish, Pearl S Buck uses the elements of the narrative in communion with the elements of style to create a dense and rich story, easy to read, being able to bring to light interesting topics. It was a pleasure reading "Peony".
ndalum's review against another edition
5.0
As I live in China, I enjoy learning about its history. I had never thought about the foreign populations who had lived here before the European aggressions.
Wendy R. Abraham, Ed.D. writes, " THE CHINESE JEWS OF Kaifeng represent one of the most obscure, and one of the most fascinating chapters in the annals of the Jewish diaspora. Throughout Peony, interwoven within the fictional events surrounding the House of Ezra, Pearl S. Buck has managed to convey with historical accuracy the Jews at the twilight of their existence in Kaifeng—a people at once assimilated and yet set apart from their neighbors. That the daughter of Protestant missionaries could so effectively impart the depth of feeling and concern behind a Jewish family aware of its imminent spiritual demise, yet deeply cognizant of its obligation to carry on the traditions of its forefathers in a foreign land—all the while exhibiting authentic Chinese sensibilities—is a testimony to the greatness of the writer herself."
Wendy R. Abraham, Ed.D. writes, " THE CHINESE JEWS OF Kaifeng represent one of the most obscure, and one of the most fascinating chapters in the annals of the Jewish diaspora. Throughout Peony, interwoven within the fictional events surrounding the House of Ezra, Pearl S. Buck has managed to convey with historical accuracy the Jews at the twilight of their existence in Kaifeng—a people at once assimilated and yet set apart from their neighbors. That the daughter of Protestant missionaries could so effectively impart the depth of feeling and concern behind a Jewish family aware of its imminent spiritual demise, yet deeply cognizant of its obligation to carry on the traditions of its forefathers in a foreign land—all the while exhibiting authentic Chinese sensibilities—is a testimony to the greatness of the writer herself."
karenks's review against another edition
3.0
I did enjoy this book, I actually give this book 3.5 stars however it's not The Good Earth which is a favorite of mine. But I learned some interesting facts about Jews living in China and that is what reading is all about learning new and different things :)
psitssarahhhh's review against another edition
3.0
I'm left feeling.....almost empty. This book was amazing and fascinating but I just wanted more! Less description of the area and more fleshing out of the characters.
I don't know. I think I need to let it just sit and marinate in my mind. I think the ending just let me down - I just wanted so much more for all the characters and am currently feeling emotionally compromised.
I don't know. I think I need to let it just sit and marinate in my mind. I think the ending just let me down - I just wanted so much more for all the characters and am currently feeling emotionally compromised.