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Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. HTML: The story of Tzu Hsi is the story of the last Empress in China. In this audio book, Pearl S. Buck recreates the life of one of the most intriguing rules during a time of intense turbulence. Tzu Hsi was born into one of the lowly ranks of the Imperial dynasty. According to custom, she moved to the Forbidden City at the age of seventeen to become one of hundreds of concubines. But her singular beauty and powers of manipulation quickly moved her into the position of Second Consort. Tzu Hsi was feared and hated by many in the court, but adored by the people. The Empress's rise to power (even during her husband's life) parallels the story of China's transition from the ancient to the modern way. Pearl S. Buck's knowledge of and fascination with the Empress's life are contagious. She reveals the essence of this self-involved and infamous last Empress, at the same time she takes the listener through China's struggle for freedom and democracy..… (more)
User reviews
Such is not the case with Imperial
Buck presents what should be a fascinating story about the last, and most famous, empress of China, Tzu Hsi. Instead Buck has taken the easy route and presented what is very nearly a Harlequin romance, instead of a tightly written novel rife with the subtleties and intrigues of the Imperial Court. There were moments I asked myself how many times we were going to be told about the beauty and grace of the Empress.
When Buck does present historical facts, it ends up being a dry, drawn-out narrative heavy on the expository and devoid of deep character point of view or input.
The result is a novel which feels interminable, plodding between longings of the heart and retention of power.
I am sure many readers would take issue with my assessment. That is the joy of debate and variety. But for me, this is a novel which falls into an epic fail category.
Reading it again in my adult years, I found my interests focused
Buck has us believe that the child Tzu Hsi bore was actually fathered by her kinsman, an Imperial Guard she had been betrothed to before being chosen for the Emperor's harem, a man who served as an advisor to her throughout her long reign. I have not seen the existence of such a person suggested in historical accounts, which do mention contemporary suspicions that the Dowager Empress poisoned either her son, her nephew, or both. Buck does not include those allegations in her version.
I really enjoyed getting lost in this story; it took me back to the days when every book I picked up was a treat, I couldn't tell the good ones from the bad ones and didn't care, and the world between the covers was a magical unfamiliar place I could happily explore for hours. I'm going to give Pearl Buck a chance to do that for me again.
June 2019
Really good novel, though, and a
I did find this book a little more detailed about her rule over the country, and her decisions to her peoples needs.
I know enough about Chinese history to know that Dowager Empress Cixi was an intelligent and ruthless palace schemer who, but the luck of having given birth to the only surviving male child of the Emperor, quickly maneuvered herself from position of lowly concubine to that of Second Consort, and then seized power in her own right and, through her arrogance and hubris largely caused the fall of the Qing dynasty.
Buck, however, while showcasing Cixi's intelligence, also portrays her as a lovesick female over her kinsman and former lover, Jung Lu. Maybe this is because Buck in her own life developed a cult of the personality around herself.and earned was regarded by many as being a spiteful and thoroughly disagreeable woman. Perhaps she identified with the Dowager Empress, but for whatever reason, this is a poorly written book that paints the Dowager Empress in a dishonest light.