Mandala

Hmm. Pearl S Buck is one of my favorite authors, and 'The Good Earth' is one of my all-time favorite books, so when I heard of this book and that it had some Indian culture in it, I thought hey, this should be worth a try as I've enjoyed like a dozen of Ms. Buck's other works. Whee!

This one, much like the The Mother, is one of Ms. Buck's weaker works. But then, no one, no matter how good an author they are, can write a 5-star book every single time. The adultery aspect of this book was especially detracting from the book and I felt the difference between Occidental and Oriental too hyped up, like the author leaned on that to carry the storytelling.

I was excited to find a Pearl S. Buck book set in India, having enjoyed many of her other books set in China and Korea. I was hoping for some insight into the Indian culture and history. Somehow, I don't feel that this book is it. It felt very much like a Westerner looking into and interpreting the culture of India. Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps I was put off by the long dreary "romance" aspect of the story.

Many of the characters and situations felt as though they had been recycled from other Buck stories and stuck into India. If I never hear the words antipathetic, sympathetic and staccato again, I will be happy.

Like many of Pearl S. Buck's novels, this one is mainly a character novel, showing different personalities in a common setting in a foreign land. The plot meanders a bit, showing an Indian high caste and noble family in the days shortly after their nobility is reduced. The family has to deal with reduced income and lands, while still supporting the local communities, servants, improvident relations and expensive homes. Prince Jagat, his wife, his son and daughter are shown trying to deal with complexities of the New India. The son feels pressure to show his nobility by enlisting in the army to fight the border incursions of China, and is killed. The daughter becomes attracted to an American hotelier who is hired to change a lake palace show more into a modern hotel. Regretfully, she is also engaged in an arranged marriage with another prominent Indian. The wife is a traditional Hindu, who becomes enamored with an English Catholic priest. Prince Jagat becomes attracted to an American heiress and wandering traveler whom he meets, and invites to stay at his new hotel. The story is not well developed, and the characters show uneven development in the novel. However, the difficulties India experienced in the early to mid 1960s is well expressed, as it tries to change from a British colonial possession into a modern and independent state. Pearl S. Buck knows the country well, and interprets the nation and people to those who are not familiar with India. However, this is not at the same level as her novels of China, but is a good back porch read on a lazy summer afternoon. show less

Review: Mandala by Pearl s. Buck.

I kind of liked the Pavilion Women more but this one was good too.

It’s about cultures of the Indians and how they survive after the New India Independence Law took effect. It has its political jargon, war elements, ancestry habits, but the author creates a story of an India family’s turmoil’s.

Prince Jagat is a virile male descendant of the warrior people. He has been reduced of his tittles and most of his wealth, but he holds on to his sense of responsibility to the local people even though his government only gives him fifty percent of what he had been getting before. He is still appreciated and considered of being of high stature among his people. In order to keep helping his people he must show more embark upon finding another means of money. Across the lake from his own palace he has an unused barren palace that he plans on making a tourist hotel to bring in more money. He hires an American contractor to make this happen.

Then bad news comes to him and Moti, his wife of many years which changes they’re lives even more. (I don’t want to reveal any of the story) There is still much more to the story in the life of these people as: they have a beautiful daughter with a pre-plan marriage of their culture, an American woman who plays the piano comes into their lives, Jagat travels to the border where the war is taking place, and secret loves entwines among them.

This is where Pearl Buck explores the mysticism that invades everyday life among their culture. She uses extrasensory perception, reincarnation, and spirits in writing about events and concerns of the Maharana Prince Jagat and his family. The author’s strong presentation about the male and female’s in this culture are what makes the story a little controversial. Yet, this is really the way of their ancestry and how their men perceive women. Prince Jagat shows more of this (don’t give a care) attitude at the end of the story. He just goes back to his everyday life…like saying, Oh Well!

I liked the story because the setting was in India and the culture Pearl Buck wrote about was interesting. show less

This was a classic Buck novel. although it was not set in her beloved China, she does a fantastic job bringing the reader into the story. It is so easy sometimes for we Americans to forget and truely cherish the ways of other countries. I liked the insightful religious ties that bind us all and separate at the same time. There were many great quotes that I will keep close to heart.