HILARY SPURLING – BURYING THE BONES

REVIEW BY MAGGIE PERKOVIC ON SHOW 17TH JUNE
I AM SURE SOME OF OUR LISTENERS WILL REMEMBER THE BOOKS OF PEARL BUCK, WRITTEN MANY YEARS AGO AND FEATURING THE LIFE OF THE CHINESE BEFORE THE COMMUNIST REGIME.
HILARY SPURLING HAS WRITTEN HER LIFE STORY DETAILING HOW SHE, AS THE DAUGHTER OF MISSIONARIES, GREW UP IN A HARD FEUDAL SYSTEM WHERE THE LANDLORDS RULED THE PEASANTS AND LIFE WAS VERY DIFFICULT.
I WAS INTRIGUED TO LEARN THAT THE STORIES I SO ENJOYED WERE ALL BASED ON TRUE INCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED IN PEARL BUCKS LIFE.
THE MOTHER WAS BASED ON ONE OF THEIR SERVANTS WHO HAD INDEED BEEN DESERTED BY HER HUSBAND AND WAS LEFT TO BRING UP HER THREE CHILDREN ALONE, “ DRAGON SEED” DESCRIBED THE SUFFERING OF THE CHINESE UNDER THE JAPANESE INVASION, SOMETHING THAT WAS TO EFFECT HER FAMILY AS WELL . THE ‘GOOD EARTH’ WRITTEN IN 1931 WON PEARL BUCK THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE AND IT WAS LATER MADE INTO A FILM, TELLING THE STORY OF CHINESE FOLK WHO COPED WITH FLOOD, FAMINE AND DISEASE AND SURVIVED.
PEARL BUCK GREW UP IN AN IMPERIAL CHINA, UNCHANGED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. SHE SPOKE CHINESE BEFORE SHE LEARNED ENGLISH AND HER FRIENDS WERE THE CHILDREN OF CHINESE FARMERS. WHEN THE BOXERS TERRORIST UPRISING CAME SHE AND HER FAMILY WERE FORCED TO FLEE FOR THEIR LIVES. SHE LIVED IN SO MANY PLACES BUT MANAGED TO EMERGE WITH THE STRONG PERSONALITY THAT ENABLED HER TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE PEASANTS AND COMMON FOLK OF CHINA.
HER PARENTS WHO LEFT FOR CHINA FROM AMERICA IN 1880 LIVED A TYPICAL MISSIONARIES LIFE, WHERE THEY TRIED TO PERSUADE THE PEASANTS TO BECOME CHRISTIAN, DESPITE THE FACT THAT PERL BUCK’S MOTHER LOST BABIES AND BECAME QUITE ILL UNDER DIFFICULT TERRAIN, HER FATHER WAS SINGLE MINDED IN HIS PURPOSE FINALLY DYING AFTER HIS WIFE FEELING HE HAD NOT SUCCEEDED IN HIS LIFE’S MISSION.
THIS IS A WELL WRITTEN BOOK WITH PHOTOS AND DETAIL OF A LIFE THAT WAS BOTH DIFFICULT AND INSPIRING.
IF YOU WANT TO LEARN ABOUT A DIFFEENT CULTURE AND OF A LIFE THAT LEARNT TO ENCOMPASS THE PRIMITIVE LAND OF HER BIRTH AND THE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHINA AND AMERICA YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK FETURED ON BBC RADIO 4.

REVIEW BY MAGGIE