Today and Forever:
Stories of China
by Pearl S. Buck I found a yellowed - nay, browned - copy at my local library; it appears that this collection of short stories is out of print.
Buck wrote this collection while in the US, basing them - she said - on stories brought to her by visitors from China.
While all the stories are engaging, the collection is fairly uneven; many, while being rollicking good fun, lack depth. A few however are rich and nuanced, especially some of those setting a dramatic tension between Western missionaries and Chinese society.
Buck demonstrates a deep empathy with the Chinese while never becoming patronizing. It is disappointing therefore when she demonizes another culture - the Japanese - lapsing in her manner due to the fact that they were the aggressors and invaders in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).
While the stories would have had a contemporary immediacy at the time, many of the situations come across as naive now, with hindsight; the collection was published in 1941, before the outcome of many of the situations she writes about becomes known. Particularly striking is the optimism around the Communist movement, expecting that to bring a better life to the peasant community.
Another noticeable aspect is the moral ambiguity or naiveté as one travels from story to story; in one, taking a human life is absolutely wrong, while in the next it is necessary or even glorified.
Nevertheless, this collection is well worth reading for those jewels in the basket, and even those less accomplished are readable, if dated.
