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Rating: 
Summary: BAD PORTRAYAL
Review: As an Indian, I strongly feel that Pearl Buck has not done a good job of portraying a real Indian character. Her descriptive writing is great, however the characters she has, such as Jagat, are not portrayed as a proper Indian. Pearl Buck might have tried to intertwine East and West together in this book, but in the attempt, she strechted the "trueness" of the character, resulting in the characters to sound fake. For a traveller who has never gone to India or travelled in it, it will reveal the beauty of this country. However, if this book is to be read to know about the Indian culture, this is clearly not the book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeless love story with hints of reincarnation
Review: Having never been to India, I cannot judge this book on its cultural authenticity. The India that Buck portrays here is a country in transition (right after her independence), as are the characters within the book itself. Buck's gentle, touching explorations of arranged marriages versus "falling in love" could probably be applied to any traditional culture that is confronted with modernism. Can romantic love alone overcome differences of culture, caste, social and economic status? Perhaps because the book was published in 1970, it deals with the sexual themes modestly and gracefully, without degenerating into gratuitous porn like so many of today's novels. It is enough to know that the characters sleep together, we do not need the details. More important is Jagat's discovery that "love" and "sexual intercourse" are not the same thing. In the case of the relationship between Moti and Father Paul, there is no physical sex at all -- just a deep, platonic love bordering on the mystical. And although Bert and Veera are deeply attracted to each other, neither could live "happily ever after" in the other's world. These are timeless themes, regardless of the setting. There are hints of reincarnation in the book, too, suggesting that perhaps the lovers had known each other in another life and found each other again in this one. Reincarnation becomes more obvious toward the end of the book, after Jagat's son, Jai, is killed in battle. His mother is convinced that he still lives -- and perhaps he does, in the body of a 9-month-old child who reaches for a mummified tiger's paw that used to belong to Jai. Was he Jai returned? You decide.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless love story with hints of reincarnation
Review: Having never been to India, I cannot judge this book on its cultural authenticity. The India that Buck portrays here is a country in transition (right after her independence), as are the characters within the book itself. Buck's gentle, touching explorations of arranged marriages versus "falling in love" could probably be applied to any traditional culture that is confronted with modernism. Can romantic love alone overcome differences of culture, caste, social and economic status? Perhaps because the book was published in 1970, it deals with the sexual themes modestly and gracefully, without degenerating into gratuitous porn like so many of today's novels. It is enough to know that the characters sleep together, we do not need the details. More important is Jagat's discovery that "love" and "sexual intercourse" are not the same thing. In the case of the relationship between Moti and Father Paul, there is no physical sex at all -- just a deep, platonic love bordering on the mystical. And although Bert and Veera are deeply attracted to each other, neither could live "happily ever after" in the other's world. These are timeless themes, regardless of the setting. There are hints of reincarnation in the book, too, suggesting that perhaps the lovers had known each other in another life and found each other again in this one. Reincarnation becomes more obvious toward the end of the book, after Jagat's son, Jai, is killed in battle. His mother is convinced that he still lives -- and perhaps he does, in the body of a 9-month-old child who reaches for a mummified tiger's paw that used to belong to Jai. Was he Jai returned? You decide.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking!
Review: Mandala gives a fascinating view into the class structure of Indian society. Buck paints a wonderful portrait of the traditions, geography and people of India. The plot centers around Jagat, an aristocratic married man who unwillingly begins to fall in love with a younger American woman. By the end of the novel, the reader is engrossed by both the spirituality of the characters and the country.
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