Shantung Compound: The Story of Men and Women Under Pressure (9780060631123): Langdon Gilkey: Books
Top Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 starsA candid look at human nature
By David Graham on March 17, 1998
Format: Paperback
Langdon Gilkey's account of his internment at the Shantung Compound in China during WW II paints a vivid picture of what humans are like: and it is not pretty. Selfish, base, mean spirited, quarrelsome - it didn't seem to matter what anyone's ideology consisted of, for the most part people acted in whatever ways promoted their own self interest. (One notable exception was Eric "Ridley" (Eric Liddell), the Olympic gold medalist in track whose story was featured years later in the film Chariots of Fire. His unselfishness was notable for being so unique in this camp.) Gilkey makes insightful comments about law and human nature based on his observations, concluding that laws are not made to abstractly state what is right and what is wrong, but are implemented to restrain destructive self-interested behavior and turn socially impoverishing habits into socially constructive ones. I didn't agree with everything Gilkey said, but this book is an eye opener and definitely worth reading.
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5.0 out of 5 starsSurvival under stress
By Jerry Bruemmer on December 1, 2001
Format: Paperback
Gilkey's academic liberalism is tested by the reality of the stress he observes as a mid-20's, very involved leader under prison conditions. His insights in the complex areas of law, food distribution, justice, work (his insight into lazy workers is very good), equality, theology, among other topics makes this book required reading for all managers, supervisors, teachers, religious leaders and lawyers. His associations with gifted intellects as well as self serving persons during his incarceration allowed him to validate his presuppositions. This is one of the most insightful books I've read in a long time. I now know why he is such an highly respected, revered teacher, mentor and theologian. His insight into the original sin of mankind is worth the price of the book! This book is truly a blessing.
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5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the most insightful books on the human condition.
By A Customer on September 11, 1998
Format: Paperback
Sociologists and psychologists have case studies that enable them to draw various conclusions about human nature and the human condition. Often these studies are severely biased by the various presuppositions of the discipline. In this magnificent book by Langdon Gilkey, the reader gets a first hand account of a mini "civilization". The entire book is insightful. The most rewarding part is the last section. Gilkey's reflections about the human longing for God and trust in providence is brilliant. Gilkey writes from experience, not from the comfort zone of unattached research.
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5.0 out of 5 starschanged my life (pardon the cliché)
By D.A. Lentz on December 21, 2010
Format: Paperback
I was assigned this book in uni for a freshman religion class. In the years since, I have found both my politics and my choices in life influenced more by what I read in this book than by any other book I've ever read, before or since, despite being a voracious reader and having read many other (auto)biographies, memoirs, travelogues etc. since. Every time I vote for or against a particular tax increase or cut, or spending package (directly on the issues themselves, or indirectly via political candidates), I think back to Gilkey's account of the care packages received by the prisoners interred in Shatung Compound. It is his observations about human nature, more so than any other author's, against which I compare my own expectations and observations as I go through life.
I know that "This book changed my life!" is a terrible cliché, but honestly, I don't know a better way to put it. This is the book you should read.
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5.0 out of 5 starsI wish I had read this book 30 years ago
By David Bailey on April 14, 2012
Format: Paperback
I only picked up this book because I was curious about what it said about Eric Liddell, the subject of the film "Chariots of Fire". Once I started reading it, however, I realized it was a profound book about the human soul. It is a fascinating description and analysis of how a group of middle-class western men, women, and children act when they have to set up a new society with limited resources and little outside contact or control. The author is not a great stylist or storyteller, but he describes how people really act, not how they wish or believe they might act. It describes an accidental sociological experiment that has lessons for everyone: politicians and voters, left and right, religious and secular. I have read many books in recent years on how people think, how they rationalize the decisions they make and the positions they take, both as individuals and in groups. I give this book my highest recommendation to anyone who cares about humanity, and who wants to better understand the issues we must all face when trying to understand why we all can't just "do the right thing".
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5.0 out of 5 starsA Kinder, Gentler "Lord of the Flies"
By Smallchief on November 26, 2006
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
"For even saintly folk will act like sinners, Unless they have their customary dinners."
That's the theme of "Shantung Compound." It's the best sociology laboratory one can imagine. Take a diverse group of 1,500 Brits and Americans, shut them up in close quarters for two and one-half years in an internment camp, feed them barely enough to survive, let them rule themselves, and see what happens. That's what happened to the foreigners in the Japanese-controlled parts of China in World War II.
The situation at the internment camp in Shantung starts hopefully as the foreign internees elect a government, set up hospitals and kitchens, allocate space (9 feet by 4 and one-half feet per person), and establish a thriving black market. After that things go downhill. Some people won't work; others steal; and the community can't find any way to impose its will on the offenders. Missionaries comprise a large number of the internees but they are as lazy, morally obtuse, and uncooperative as many of the less savory members of the group. The most interesting and divisive moral issue comes up when the Americans internees receive food packages from the Red Cross. Should they share with the British or not? Another good story concerns the sex lives of the teenagers in the camp which became, to put it mildly, scandalous.
The author is a theologian and looks at both the moral and material issues. The book is not all bleak. The moral lapses and disputes of the internees do not destroy the community -- although one suspects than another year of internment would have seen that happen. One of the positive notes of the book is the character of Eric Liddell, the Olympic champion runner portrayed in "Chariot of the Gods" -- who is one of the few human beings in the book to come through as wholesomely good. (The author changes the names of all the internees mentions in the book but Liddell is easy to identify.) "Shantung Compound" is a classic of its kind and is perhaps the best book I have read on the behavior of human beings under stress.
Smallchief
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