The Promise

Pearl S Buck

I picked up an old hardback version of this book from a local little free library, as I have had a long interest in China and knew Pearl Buck’s books to be interesting and well-written – she won the Nobel Prize for Literature! This was my pick for the most recent Classics Club spin, but I discovered that it is actually a sequel, so went on the hunt for the first novel, Dragon Seed. Luckily I found an audio version and was glad I did, because it was all about the background of the main characters appearing in The Promise. So, I managed to finish both books in time to claim success in completing Classics Club Spin #35.

I am hopelessly remiss and slow in blogging, mostly because I would rather be reading than writing, but have tried to at least blog about my Spin reads. At the time of writing this, it is months since I completed the book, so it’s just lasting impressions that are included here. I found the story fascinating, because it depicts the experiences of various members of a Chinese family during a little-known (to most westerners) period of WW2. This description is taken from the Goodreads blurb:

The Promise chronicles a band of Chinese soldiers who are sent to rescue a British-American platoon, pinned down in Burma, while the Japanese army attacks Burma Road during World War II. The dangers that await the brave soldiers are heightened, as they encounter unthankfulness and ingratitude from the foreign soldiers that they hadn’t expected. Confronted with an impending attack from the Japanese, growing tension from the Anglo-American forces, the Chinese soldiers must make a difficult choice: abandon their posts or continue on with a suicidal mission.

Pearl Buck (who was American but grew up in China and lived there for many years as an adult) always demonstrates a deep understanding and love for all levels of Chinese society, but particularly for the peasant class. Her skill was in describing the lives of people in a society very different from our own, but in such a way that we can easily relate to them as people just like us in terms of their human desires and weaknesses, and the difficulties in dealing with the complexity of family relationships. So, although the novel’s storyline is about the war, what remains in the mind are the internal struggles of the characters who are faced with a variety of very confronting situations. Themes of racism and colonialism are very evident, and somewhat stereotypical, though this is hardly surprising as the book was published in 1944 while the war with the Japanese was ongoing.

I really enjoyed this book, and its prequel, and it reminded me to look out for more books by this Nobel prizewinner.