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Title: Imperial Woman (Buck, Pearl S. Oriental Novels of Pearl S. Buck, 3rd,)
ISBN: 1559210354
Author:
Pearl S. Buck
Publicate Date: 1991-03
Publish: 1991-03
List Price: $13.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.06
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $6.97
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.16
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| Customer Review: |
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1: A Good Read
This story is set as a biography of Yehonala/Yehenara/Tzu Hsi/Empress Dowager Cixi, and was overall a good read. But as a novel only, mind you.
The details of Tzu Hsi's life are largely unknown, and many people smeared her good name (like Edmund Backhouse), so this novel is meant to be just that - a novel. It should not be read as an actual biography of Tzu Hsi's life, though I still recommend this book as a good read.
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2: Empress of the East
Although the language at times was dry, and failed to fully engage me, I really enjoyed Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck.
Tzu Hsi's was a character to be reviled and pitied. Her unequaled ambition led to her eventually claiming the throne for herself (as a Regent of her son) and and ruling all of China. She was spoiled rotten with the good life - she had excellent food, amazing clothing, a home of beauty I can't even imagine - yet in spite of all the indulgences she allowed to her body she never let herself have any spiritual indulgences. She was passionately in love with Jung Lu, her kinsman and her fiance before she was called to be the Emperor's consort, but throughout her life she denied those feelings again and again. It was so sad that for all her power she was lonely and often unhappy. I can't imagine making the choices she made, not because I find them repulsive but simply because I don't think I could have the willpower to be alone. She couldn't see her family because they weren't as socially prominent as she (how could they be when she was an Empress?) or corrupted by the Court. Indeed, in Court she could trust no one because there was intrigue in every heart. I don't think I could live such a isolated life; I would feel trapped like a bird in a cage.
As ruler of China, Tzu Hsi often made choices that seem terrible by today's standards. Again and again she sought to rid the country of foreigners, and refused to have them in her Court because men would not bow to the ground before her. She resisted anything to do with the West - she wouldn't even allow toy trains in her palaces. Near the end of her reign she even authorized the murder of all white foreigners currently living in China.
Yet at the same time, who could blame her? This was the age of Imperialism, when European nations sought to expand their borders and gain control over all of Asia. She needed to fight back to preserver her realm, which was chipped away at the edges all the time by ruthless Europeans hungry for territory. Many of her edicts seem cruel and harsh, but had the situation been reversed I'm sure Queen Victoria would have reacted in a similar manner. (Tzu Hsi was quite fond of Victoria, and often referred to her as the sister-Empress to the West.)
This Empress of the East was a fascinating woman, and this novel does an excellent job of introducing her to the western world.
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3: Fascinating
Written in 1956, it is quite possible that this work is dated and that new information on this Empress and this era have come to light. Perhaps it is true that newer biographies exist which prove Pearl S. Buck's version inadequate or just plain wrong. But who is to say that modern biographies might themselves prove inadequate in another 50 years. This book is written as a novel. It does not contain footnotes or an index and it does not present historical documentation. But it tells an extraordinary story. I urge you not to pass it by entirely in favor of any modern version. Read this book first and then, if your interest is piqued (and it will be), go on to read a modern book like Sterling Seagrave's Dragon Lady, as one reviewer suggested.
This book is just too good to ignore.
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4: An excellent book...
...not a classic in the same sense as The Good Earth, but wonderful reading nonetheless. Pearl Buck had a way of telling stories and drawing characters like no one else. One is always sorry when the book comes to a close, and we wish we could be swept out of our chair and into wherever Mrs. Buck's stories take us. Tzu-Hsi was a fascinating woman that the reader can come very close to in this telling while also wondering what kind of human being she truly was. This book is well worth reading; in fact ANYTHING by Pearl Buck is rewarding and transporting.
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5: Very interesting read
Perhaps not one of Pearl Buck's best known novels, Imperial Woman is still fascinating. It gives the reader a glimpse of the Manchu period of Chinese history.
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