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Summary: offers insight into universal human dilemmas and concerns
Review: Pavilion of Women provokes thought about the nature of women's roles, not only in China, where the novel is set, but also in the world in general. The juxtaposition of ideas from the West and East is exposed through the characters of Madame Wu, a woman newly turned 40, who has decided to end the physical aspect of her relationship with her husband, Brother Andre, an unorthodox, but very intensely committed priest, and Little Sister Hsia, a foil for Brother Andre, offering a more traditional Christianity. Timeless questions about the nature of relationships between women and men, parent and child, and privileged and poor are explored. I found passages so moving and thought-provoking that I saved them in a journal for further contemplation. This is a good book for women--and men! I would also recommend it for my high school-age daughters in order that their consciousness of their roles as women be raised. The issues raised in this book are not limited only to China of the early twentieth century; they are timeless.
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Summary: A story about family, duty, and personal growth
Review: Pearl S. Buck's novel tells the story of the Wu family in pre-communist China. Nobel and respected, they have lived for generations in the same tradition. Madame Wu is the mistress of this household, her whole life spent fulfilling the duties of her sex - ministering to her husband, bearing sons, dealing with servants, maintaining a smooth order in the house. But she is intelligent and deeply emotional, and has felt caged by an existence where everyone else come first. So on her fortieth birthday, Madame Wu decides to "retire" from her duties, to find time for herself. She arranges matters in the house like pieces on a chess board - procuring a concubine for her husband, and marrying off her children, hoping they will no longer demand her attention. But her retreat brings only emptiness, until a foreign priest enters the house to tutor her son. What follows is not a typical "forbidden love" story. Instead, "Pavillion of Women" uses the plot to explore themes of identity, self-love and what our connections with other people really mean. Madame Wu finds that freedom doesn't mean running away from duty. It involves learning to love herself first, setting her spirit free. It is then that she is able to return to her duties with a new sense of content. The conflict between responsibility to the group and personal freedom is played out in the family, as a microcosm of China as a whole at the time. But the issues here transcend time and culture - most of us will be able to relate to them. The book is beautifully written, and I recommend it if you want a story that makes you think.
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Summary: The lesson of life
Review: The final sentence of the book, "she knew she was immortal", describes a women's journey from domination to submission. Madame Wu, a wealthy landowner's wife in pre-war China is in control of her family's destiny. She decides at the age of 40 to retire from being her husband's lover and instead 'buys' him a young concubine so she can spend the rest of her life seeking her own pursuits of the spirit. Instead she finds that all under her own 'control' is falling apart until she meet's her son's tutor, Brother Andre who begins to teach her about life and the immortal decisions she is making. At first she is skeptical but soon she begins to notice that his words and ideas breathe new life into what she begins to understand is her soul. Instead of 'controlling' her family's happiness she begins to understand that happiness comes from setting the soul free so it can truly be itself. In doing that she understands her own immortality and achieves a peace she never thought attainable. Pearl Buck weaves a story of a beautiful, dutiful woman who in the world's view has everything but learns to give it up so she may find the happiness that all souls seek, freedom to be who God intended.
Rating:
Summary: The lesson of life
Review: The final sentence of the book, "she knew she was immortal", describes a women's journey from domination to submission. Madame Wu, a wealthy landowner's wife in pre-war China is in control of her family's destiny. She decides at the age of 40 to retire from being her husband's lover and instead 'buys' him a young concubine so she can spend the rest of her life seeking her own pursuits of the spirit. Instead she finds that all under her own 'control' is falling apart until she meet's her son's tutor, Brother Andre who begins to teach her about life and the immortal decisions she is making. At first she is skeptical but soon she begins to notice that his words and ideas breathe new life into what she begins to understand is her soul. Instead of 'controlling' her family's happiness she begins to understand that happiness comes from setting the soul free so it can truly be itself. In doing that she understands her own immortality and achieves a peace she never thought attainable. Pearl Buck weaves a story of a beautiful, dutiful woman who in the world's view has everything but learns to give it up so she may find the happiness that all souls seek, freedom to be who God intended.
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Summary: A thought-provoking gem of literature
Review: The Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck is a true gem of literature. It follows the story of Madame Wu, a respectable and beautiful Chinese noble, who, on her fortieth birthday, decides that she has fufilled her physical needs to her husband. Her decision causes an uproar in the household, making everyone, including herself, restless. When she hires a foreign priest, Brother Andre, to come teach her son, he introduces a new world to her through his thought-provoking preaching and words of wisdom. Through him, Madame Wu learns to make peace with herself by helping others. This book really made me think about my morals and outlook on life. That is very rare in a book. It is simply wonderful.
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Summary: Another fabulous Chinese Buck Novel
Review: The story is the typical Chinese setting: wife brings in a concubine for husband. The sad thing was that when Lady Wu was carrying out family traditions that started from centuries ago, they never went through. A very well developed and pessimistic tale of how modernisation has destructed history and long lived conventional ideas. A masterpiece for lovers of THE GOOD EARTH.
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Summary: A strange love story set in pre-Revolutionary China
Review: This is a strange love story. The setting is the time of Chinese nationalization, just before the Communist revolution. The main character is Madame Wu, an accomplished lady and wife of a wealthy landower. She is agelessly beautiful, she rules her household with its extended family of sons, wives and grandchildren with the cool control and wisdom learned from Chinese Tao. Her intelligence soars above everyone elses. She has has a dear friend Madam Wang, but no peer or equal. That is, until she meets Brother Andre, who seems to be a Christian monk, but is something else entirely. Madam Wu hires the unusual Brother Andre to teach English to her son, but ends up being Andre's best student. What Andre teaches Madam Wu turns out to change her life forever. This is a touching novel and the love story that unfolds is unusual and unforgettable. A very enjoyable, emotional book.
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Summary: A wonderful book !!
Review: This is my 2nd favourite Pearl Buck novel-the first being "The Good Earth".It describes in detail the everyday lives of the women of a wealthy household in the 1930's,before and during WW2 and before the rise of communism.They are pampered,waited upon and their only real duties are to satisfy the needs of their husbands and to produce sons.Despite their lives of ease, they are totally cloistered women who rarely leave the confines of the huge,multi-generational home and are ,for the most part,uneducated and completely ignorant od anything except events which happen to their immediate families. The true head of this family is a rare person of this class-an educated woman who hires a Christian priest to tutor her sons and who begins to absorb his teachings herself.I loved the rich details of their lives-the food,clothing,furnishings and all the things which made up their world. It was a wonderful read.
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Summary: An exploration of the impact of Western ideas upon China in the 1940s.
Review: This novel begins in the world of the classic Chinese novel--it could be The Dream of the Red Chamber or a Judge Dee tale. All is beautiful, precise, elegant, traditional ... But soon Madame Wu realizes that the traditional ways are not working anymore. She tries to use tradition to satisfy Western, feminist cravings to find deeper meaning for her life. Understanding and then loving a Western man, Madame Wu suddenly sees her life and family in an entirely new way. The novel is poetic, philosophical, and yet personal. As Madame Wu and the world politics of the 40s change forever the Wu family, the mind of the reader is changed as well.
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Summary: A haunting, thought provoking book.
Review: When I first read "Pavilion of Women" I was unsure whether I like it or not...in fact I was a little disappoionted. But over the months I found my thoughts constantly flitting back to it-- to some bit of dialog, some passage in this book. A year later, drawn by something I could not describe, I re-read this book. It is not a book for girls, or even young women. It is a book for women. Women who have been married a long time. They alone, I think, would understand, sympathize and identify with the actions of the main character, Madame Wu, who, on her 40th b'day, arranges for her husband to take a "little wife",and the consquences of this action on the family. I know the premise sounds simple but this book explores the very deep waters of the human heart. To be honest, even after a second reading I am not sure I actually like Madame Wu, and , I must admit, it is not Mrs. Buck's greatest works but , as said before, there is something haunting about this book...
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