The Promise (Oriental Novels of Pearl S. Buck Series)

Rating:
Summary: Not one of Buck's best, but eminently readable
Review: "The Promise" like all Buck's books I have read that are set in China, gives a compelling portrait of the country and its people. Set during the early years of World War II when the Japanese army was pounding the Burma Road, "The Promise" relates the story of a brave division of Chinese who have been sent on a suicide mission to rescue the remnants of an Anglo-American force trapped in Burma. There are a couple of telling portraits of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his wife that show them in all their venality; their remoteness from the individual masses of Chinese arouses more contempt than admiration. What really affects the reader is the disdain of the Anglo soldiers toward the Chinese who attempt to rescue them and whom, in their desperation to escape from the Japanese, they abandon to their fate, cutting off their retreat and leaving them to save themselves. The open contempt the English express towards the native Burmese ("We own this country, after all; it's part of our Empire"), and their genuine puzzlement when the Chinese confront them about their attitudes, shows up all too clearly their inherent sense of superiority which is based on nothing but a blind ethnocentricism. Buck's sympathies clearly lie with the valiant Chinese who are seething under a viciously brutal Japanese occupation and longing for freedom, but not at the price of European domination. We don't get to know her characters in "The Promise" as intimately as in some of her other books, but we admire them none the less for their courage and their self-sacrifice. "The Promise" is not on a par with "The Good Earth" or "The Three Daughters of Madame Liang", but it's definitely a worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: A book you HAVE to read, but might be dissappointed.....
Review: If you read Dragon Seed, the prequel to this book, you will know that you read this book because you couldn't live with the ending that was given! So you read this book and it continues to provide more historical information and answer some of those questions that you had from the last book. However, by the time this book ends, you seem to have more questions than before. I won't spoil it for you, but I was thinking that perhaps the title might explain all unanswered questions simutaneously! Also, the book tends to become a little boring at some parts. Yet every second of boredom is compensated for by later events of extreme excitement. Doubtlessly though, it is a GREAT book and a fine sequel, though more could have been done with the plot. Read it!

Rating:
Summary: Pearl S. Buck's The Promise My favourite book
Review: Well, I might say this is a great book, believe me. It was the first book i read of the author and I enjoy it for over 7 years. And for 6 years i looked it all over my country and didn't found it. [thanks God there are places like Amazon.com :-) ] This novel makes you dream inside the characters. I love China, although I am not of that country and this book makes me feel the difficulties of the epoch, the thinking and the hope of people. I can grant that you won't be dissapointed. 4 stars up! ENJOY