Pearl S. Buck's Chinese Women Characters

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Summary: Pearl S. Buck's Chinese women characters
Review: Gao (Southern Univ., New Orleans) does not cite Kang Liao's "Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Bridge across the Pacific" but both scholars provide contemporary Chinese perspective on the Nobel Prize-winning writer. Gao praises the female portraits in five of Buck's novels: the aristocratic women of East Wind: West Wind and Pavilion of Women, the servant women in Peony, and the peasant women in The Mother and Buck's most famous book, The Good Earth. Especially valuable are Gao's comments on those aspects of Chinese culture that shaped Buck's characterizations. For example, Confucius's low opinion of women had a lasting impact on females' social position, but the nation's increasing contact with the West in the modern era challenged many taditional gender roles. At the end of this slim volume, Gao concludes that "with their different degrees of individuality and typicality, Buck's women characters, taken together, provide the reader with a realistic picture of Chinese women." And, regardless of their rank, "all of Buck's women characters use their limited power to achieve what they deserve." J.W. Hall, University of Mississippi