Shantung Compound

"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

This book left me speechless and introspectively questioning the Christian faith I espouse. In Shantung Compound Gilkey, through his experience in the internment camp, stops the "program" of our spiritual doings and forces us to examine the conscience of our spirituality. His book has molded together spirituality, philosophy, psychology, and sociology--all of this together into a powerful delivery that demands a reconstitution of true religion in the hearts of seekers and believers alike. Even now I grapple for words to describe the book because it's just that powerful. Every Christian thinker must have this book as well as those who question Christianity. If anything it should restore faith in faith.

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.

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.

Gilkey shows his readers the weak and pathetic aspects of the often heralded human self. In trying circumstances we often forsake that which should be most dear, furthermore our fragile egos cannot often own up to its actions. We are hypocrite to the bone. Fortunately there is an answer to the human problem, Gilkey demonstrates this also. A challenging but worth while read.