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House of Earth #1
袘谢邪谐芯写邪褌薪邪 蟹械屑褟
鈥炐懶恍靶承拘葱把傂叫� 蟹械屑褟鈥� 褖械 胁懈 锌褉械薪械褋械 胁 袣懈褌邪泄 锌褉械蟹 写胁邪泄褋械褌褌械 谐芯写懈薪懈 薪邪 啸啸 胁械泻 鈥� 屑褟褋褌芯, 械泻蟹芯褌懈褔薪芯 泻邪褌芯 芯斜褋褌邪薪芯胁泻邪 懈 薪褉邪胁懈, 薪芯 褋褗斜懈褌懈褟褌邪, 胁褉褗褏谢械褌械谢懈 褋械屑械泄褋褌胁芯褌芯 薪邪 谐械褉芯褟, 锌褉邪胁褟褌 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟褌邪 褌芯谢泻芯胁邪 褔芯胁械褕泻邪 懈 锌芯泻褗褉褌懈褌械谢薪邪, 泻芯谢泻芯褌芯 懈 薪邪胁褋褟泻褗写械 写褉褍谐邪写械 锌芯 褋胁械褌邪. 小褞卸械褌褗褌 械 懈蟹锌褗谢薪械薪 褋 写褉邪屑邪褌懈蟹褗屑 懈 薪械芯褔邪泻胁邪薪懈 芯斜褉邪褌懈 胁褗胁 胁褉械屑械薪邪 薪邪 谐谢邪写 懈 褋屑褗褉褌, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 褏芯褉邪褌邪 褋邪 褋械 芯锌懈褉邪谢懈 薪邪 褋械屑械泄薪懈褌械 褑械薪薪芯褋褌懈, 蟹邪 写邪 芯褑械谢械褟褌; 薪芯 懈 褌芯胁邪 薪械 谐懈 械 蟹邪褋褌褉邪褏芯胁邪谢芯 芯褌 锌褉械胁褉邪褌薪芯褋褌懈褌械 胁 卸懈胁芯褌邪.
孝芯蟹懈 褉芯屑邪薪 蟹邪 泻懈褌邪泄褋泻芯褌芯 褋械谢芯 锌芯 芯薪芯胁邪 胁褉械屑械 芯锌懈褋胁邪 卸懈胁芯褌邪 薪邪 斜械写薪褟泻邪 校邪薪 袥褍薪 鈥� 斜邪褖邪 薪邪 褌褉懈屑邪 褋懈薪芯胁械 懈 写胁械 写褗褖械褉懈, 泻芯泄褌芯 蟹邪斜芯谐邪褌褟胁邪 芯褌 褌械卸泻懈褟 褋懈 褌褉褍写 懈 蟹邪锌芯褔胁邪 写邪 谐谢械写邪 薪邪 褋胁械褌邪 锌芯 褉邪蟹谢懈褔械薪 薪邪褔懈薪.
孝芯蟹懈 褉芯屑邪薪 蟹邪 泻懈褌邪泄褋泻芯褌芯 褋械谢芯 锌芯 芯薪芯胁邪 胁褉械屑械 芯锌懈褋胁邪 卸懈胁芯褌邪 薪邪 斜械写薪褟泻邪 校邪薪 袥褍薪 鈥� 斜邪褖邪 薪邪 褌褉懈屑邪 褋懈薪芯胁械 懈 写胁械 写褗褖械褉懈, 泻芯泄褌芯 蟹邪斜芯谐邪褌褟胁邪 芯褌 褌械卸泻懈褟 褋懈 褌褉褍写 懈 蟹邪锌芯褔胁邪 写邪 谐谢械写邪 薪邪 褋胁械褌邪 锌芯 褉邪蟹谢懈褔械薪 薪邪褔懈薪.
248 pages, Paperback
First published March 2, 1931
6,759 people are currently reading
118k people want to read
About the author
Pearl S. Buck
711听books2,914听followersPearl Comfort Sydenstricker Buck was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for The Good Earth, the best-selling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and which won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, Buck became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China" and for her "masterpieces", two memoir-biographies of her missionary parents.
Buck was born in West Virginia, but in October 1892, her parents took their 4-month-old baby to China. As the daughter of missionaries and later as a missionary herself, Buck spent most of her life before 1934 in Zhenjiang, with her parents, and in Nanjing, with her first husband. She and her parents spent their summers in a villa in Kuling, Mount Lu, Jiujiang, and it was during this annual pilgrimage that the young girl decided to become a writer. She graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, then returned to China. From 1914 to 1932, after marrying John Lossing Buck she served as a Presbyterian missionary, but she came to doubt the need for foreign missions. Her views became controversial during the Fundamentalist鈥揗odernist controversy, leading to her resignation. After returning to the United States in 1935, she married the publisher Richard J. Walsh and continued writing prolifically. She became an activist and prominent advocate of the rights of women and racial equality, and wrote widely on Chinese and Asian cultures, becoming particularly well known for her efforts on behalf of Asian and mixed-race adoption.
Buck was born in West Virginia, but in October 1892, her parents took their 4-month-old baby to China. As the daughter of missionaries and later as a missionary herself, Buck spent most of her life before 1934 in Zhenjiang, with her parents, and in Nanjing, with her first husband. She and her parents spent their summers in a villa in Kuling, Mount Lu, Jiujiang, and it was during this annual pilgrimage that the young girl decided to become a writer. She graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, then returned to China. From 1914 to 1932, after marrying John Lossing Buck she served as a Presbyterian missionary, but she came to doubt the need for foreign missions. Her views became controversial during the Fundamentalist鈥揗odernist controversy, leading to her resignation. After returning to the United States in 1935, she married the publisher Richard J. Walsh and continued writing prolifically. She became an activist and prominent advocate of the rights of women and racial equality, and wrote widely on Chinese and Asian cultures, becoming particularly well known for her efforts on behalf of Asian and mixed-race adoption.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 12,263 reviews
February 22, 2010
It's difficult for me to explain how much I hate this book, and even harder to explain why. I don't think it's just because I hated the main character so much, and in this case at least, I don't think it's because of the weirdness that arises from a Westerner writing about a colonized country.
I do know that *part* of my intense dislike for this book comes from how it is viewed by other people (usually non-Chinese). Read the reviews and you'll see one word come up over and over again: "portrait." Says one reviewer, "In addition to lovely, rich writing, the novel provided much-needed Chinese history, class and culture lessons." Am I the only person whose hackles go up when someone refers refers to a novel like a textbook? Of course there is some historical fact in The Good Earth, and in other novels, but I have a serious problem with people conflating (and equating) fiction and history. While there's some truth in the book's portrayal, it perpetuates a lot of stereotypes about the Chinese. What's more, this book has shaped a lot of people's perceptions of China and the Chinese, not necessarily for the better. I know this happens with other cultures--but often to a greater extent with The Good Earth. Do we read Anna Karenina and feel that we now know everything about Russia? Does anyone read Midnight's Children as a straight-up account of Indian history? Yet for some reason, for a lot of people The Good Earth is *it*, the one lesson in Chinese culture and history that they will read in their lives. They end up thinking, "This is how China IS," not "This is a portrayal of how one part of China was at one point in time."
Of course, most of the above complaint about this book has to do with the reactions of the people reading it, not with the book itself. But I think there's something in how the book is pitched, and in the narrative itself, that invites that. As a story of love, partnership, and sacrifice in a marriage and family--this book does well. But it's not THE portrait of China that many readers unfortunately make it out to be.
For more thoughts on this, see my post at the Huffington Post:
I do know that *part* of my intense dislike for this book comes from how it is viewed by other people (usually non-Chinese). Read the reviews and you'll see one word come up over and over again: "portrait." Says one reviewer, "In addition to lovely, rich writing, the novel provided much-needed Chinese history, class and culture lessons." Am I the only person whose hackles go up when someone refers refers to a novel like a textbook? Of course there is some historical fact in The Good Earth, and in other novels, but I have a serious problem with people conflating (and equating) fiction and history. While there's some truth in the book's portrayal, it perpetuates a lot of stereotypes about the Chinese. What's more, this book has shaped a lot of people's perceptions of China and the Chinese, not necessarily for the better. I know this happens with other cultures--but often to a greater extent with The Good Earth. Do we read Anna Karenina and feel that we now know everything about Russia? Does anyone read Midnight's Children as a straight-up account of Indian history? Yet for some reason, for a lot of people The Good Earth is *it*, the one lesson in Chinese culture and history that they will read in their lives. They end up thinking, "This is how China IS," not "This is a portrayal of how one part of China was at one point in time."
Of course, most of the above complaint about this book has to do with the reactions of the people reading it, not with the book itself. But I think there's something in how the book is pitched, and in the narrative itself, that invites that. As a story of love, partnership, and sacrifice in a marriage and family--this book does well. But it's not THE portrait of China that many readers unfortunately make it out to be.
For more thoughts on this, see my post at the Huffington Post:
February 7, 2020
This is almost spiritual in it's beauty and simplicity.
First published by Pearl Buck in 1931, this later won the Pulitzer Prize and had a significant affect on Buck鈥檚 winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1938.
The author displayed her genius ability to observe and relate the cultural and day-to-day lives of Chinese peasants at the turn of the century. This American Christian missionary told the story of a rural Chinese man and perceptively embraced vast cultural differences, while at the same time telling a story that is universal in its relevance.
A wonderful book, should be on a short list of books that should be read in a lifetime.
First published by Pearl Buck in 1931, this later won the Pulitzer Prize and had a significant affect on Buck鈥檚 winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1938.
The author displayed her genius ability to observe and relate the cultural and day-to-day lives of Chinese peasants at the turn of the century. This American Christian missionary told the story of a rural Chinese man and perceptively embraced vast cultural differences, while at the same time telling a story that is universal in its relevance.
A wonderful book, should be on a short list of books that should be read in a lifetime.
September 26, 2015
There is a gush of red, marvelous, and mysterious blood running through my veins. I am part Chinese. A race that has given me these small eyes and this yellowish complexion. A race that I have associated with frugality, hard work, mass production, internet restrictions, and Jackie Chan. China, I've only been there once as a tourist when I was a bit younger. And as much as I'd like to think that I am familiar with the Chinese culture, I have to admit that my knowledge about that is limited and my views about them a bit stereotypical. My Grandma, the real Chinese in the family, still brings Moon Cakes during the Chinese New Year and we do maintain fireworks when celebrating. We also drink herbal tea at home and have this uncanny favoritism for Chinese restaurants during family get-togethers. Aside from that, you could say that I'm really much more familiar with Filipino and Western cultures. So when I picked up this book, I didn't know what to expect. My only assurances were that it won the Pulitzer Prize and the author is a Nobel Prize winner. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck is a beautiful and sweeping story of farmer Wang Lu and his wife O-lan. The Land, the man, and their bond. This beautiful tale left me thirsty and craving for knowledge about this race that resides within me yet has not fully manifested itself. This may sound fancy but I have to say what I feel. This book made me fall in love with China, the Chinese culture, my Chinese roots.
鈥淎nd roots, if they are to bear fruits, must be kept well in the soil of the land.鈥�
The beauty of this sweeping tale can be understood by hearing its voice, its message. It whispers an earnest plea of the oldest kind, it whispers "Remember the land." The land which has provided for your father, your father's father, and countless generations before him. In this age of technology, internet, GMOs and fast foods, we forget the land. We ignore the Good Earth that has sustained the lives of everyone before us, and lives of this generation.
"If you sell the land it is the end.
And his two sons held him, one on either side, each holding his arm, and he held in his hand the warm loose earth. And they soothed him and they said over and over, the elder son and the second son,
Rest assured, our father, rest assured. The land is not to be sold.
But over the old man's head they looked at each other and smiled."
This book, written in the year 1931, exposes a problem that has continually been growing worse as each generation progresses. Each son telling his father "the land will not be sold" but inwardly smiling at this statement he knows to be untrue. Each son, each daughter, each generation, saying we will save this good earth. But for every tree he plants, he cuts down two more. For every bottle she recycles, she throws out two more. For every plot turned into a garden, there are two plots turned into garbage dumps. Each man, woman, son, daughter thinking about their self, their success apart from the land. They forget that their success lies with the land. They forget the Earth that has been good to them.
鈥淲ang Lung sat smoking, thinking of the silver as it had lain upon the table. It had come out of the earth, this silver, out of the earth that he ploughed and turned and spent himself upon. He took his life from the earth; drop by drop by his sweat he wrung food from it and from the food, silver."
This book touches a lot of other social issues like Feminism, Slavery, Concubinage, Civil Wars, etc. I will not discuss much of these issues and will only say in passing that a different culture enabled them to see nothing wrong with things we in modern times would consider abhorrent and terrifying. Things like selling daughters, feet-binding, polygamy aren't limited to China as these practices can also be found in other Asian countries. But I marvel at how Mrs. Buck was able to make it feel natural despite all these cultural differences. She effected a normalcy on these weird practices that I didn't once think that I was unfamiliar with them. This speaks of her grace and her skill as a writer. She writes with a natural grace and an earnest plea. I am engrossed by her writing, her message, her book.
The Good Earth is a timeless, moving story that depicts the sweeping changes that have occurred not only in the lives of the Chinese people during the last century, but also of everyone who has walked a part of this good earth. She traces the whole cycle of life: its terrors, its passions, its ambitions, its rewards. Her beloved and brilliant novel is a universal tale of the destiny of mankind.
"Out of the Land we came and into it we must go."
鈥淎nd roots, if they are to bear fruits, must be kept well in the soil of the land.鈥�
The beauty of this sweeping tale can be understood by hearing its voice, its message. It whispers an earnest plea of the oldest kind, it whispers "Remember the land." The land which has provided for your father, your father's father, and countless generations before him. In this age of technology, internet, GMOs and fast foods, we forget the land. We ignore the Good Earth that has sustained the lives of everyone before us, and lives of this generation.
"If you sell the land it is the end.
And his two sons held him, one on either side, each holding his arm, and he held in his hand the warm loose earth. And they soothed him and they said over and over, the elder son and the second son,
Rest assured, our father, rest assured. The land is not to be sold.
But over the old man's head they looked at each other and smiled."
This book, written in the year 1931, exposes a problem that has continually been growing worse as each generation progresses. Each son telling his father "the land will not be sold" but inwardly smiling at this statement he knows to be untrue. Each son, each daughter, each generation, saying we will save this good earth. But for every tree he plants, he cuts down two more. For every bottle she recycles, she throws out two more. For every plot turned into a garden, there are two plots turned into garbage dumps. Each man, woman, son, daughter thinking about their self, their success apart from the land. They forget that their success lies with the land. They forget the Earth that has been good to them.
鈥淲ang Lung sat smoking, thinking of the silver as it had lain upon the table. It had come out of the earth, this silver, out of the earth that he ploughed and turned and spent himself upon. He took his life from the earth; drop by drop by his sweat he wrung food from it and from the food, silver."
This book touches a lot of other social issues like Feminism, Slavery, Concubinage, Civil Wars, etc. I will not discuss much of these issues and will only say in passing that a different culture enabled them to see nothing wrong with things we in modern times would consider abhorrent and terrifying. Things like selling daughters, feet-binding, polygamy aren't limited to China as these practices can also be found in other Asian countries. But I marvel at how Mrs. Buck was able to make it feel natural despite all these cultural differences. She effected a normalcy on these weird practices that I didn't once think that I was unfamiliar with them. This speaks of her grace and her skill as a writer. She writes with a natural grace and an earnest plea. I am engrossed by her writing, her message, her book.
The Good Earth is a timeless, moving story that depicts the sweeping changes that have occurred not only in the lives of the Chinese people during the last century, but also of everyone who has walked a part of this good earth. She traces the whole cycle of life: its terrors, its passions, its ambitions, its rewards. Her beloved and brilliant novel is a universal tale of the destiny of mankind.
"Out of the Land we came and into it we must go."
November 6, 2022
The livelong interest in Asian culture manifests on each page of this unique novel.
Living what one writes
Some authors have the ability to absorb the mentality of cultures they live in and are fascinated by to create works that are simply impossible to copy because they stand unique in their style, language and deep, hidden messages, references and innuendos. Similar to Arthur Goldens' work Memoirs of a Geisha, Buck麓s work integrates key elements of Asian mentality, history, and the authentic life of a hard-working farmer and is close to a real historic description, a great alternative to a history book.
Culture forming behaviour
If the setting would be in another culture, the whole behavior of many of the roles of the key characters might the different and the story could develop in a completely different direction. Let麓s imagine an author would have lived together with a tribe or studied indigene populations for his whole life or had an interest in an advanced ancient civilization a written a novel about it. There could be more monuments of human history like this one written by historians going the Follett way.
No alternatives
It might be difficult to impossible for an author who has no lifelong interest, ten thousands of hours of thinking and reflecting about the culture and the love to finetune a book until total perfection, to create something like this. And to a certain extent this is great too, because in this way works like this will be very difficult to produce in inflationary, mainstream amounts.
Tropes show how literature is conceived and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
Living what one writes
Some authors have the ability to absorb the mentality of cultures they live in and are fascinated by to create works that are simply impossible to copy because they stand unique in their style, language and deep, hidden messages, references and innuendos. Similar to Arthur Goldens' work Memoirs of a Geisha, Buck麓s work integrates key elements of Asian mentality, history, and the authentic life of a hard-working farmer and is close to a real historic description, a great alternative to a history book.
Culture forming behaviour
If the setting would be in another culture, the whole behavior of many of the roles of the key characters might the different and the story could develop in a completely different direction. Let麓s imagine an author would have lived together with a tribe or studied indigene populations for his whole life or had an interest in an advanced ancient civilization a written a novel about it. There could be more monuments of human history like this one written by historians going the Follett way.
No alternatives
It might be difficult to impossible for an author who has no lifelong interest, ten thousands of hours of thinking and reflecting about the culture and the love to finetune a book until total perfection, to create something like this. And to a certain extent this is great too, because in this way works like this will be very difficult to produce in inflationary, mainstream amounts.
Tropes show how literature is conceived and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
September 28, 2021
The Good Earth (House of Earth #1), Pearl S. Buck
The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1932.
The best-selling novel in the United States in both 1931 and 1932 was an influential factor in Buck's winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938.
It is the first book in a trilogy that includes Sons (1932) and A House Divided (1935). The story begins on Wang Lung's wedding day and follows the rise and fall of his fortunes.
The House of Hwang, a family of wealthy landowners, lives in the nearby town, where Wang Lung's future wife, O-Lan, lives as a slave. However, the House of Hwang slowly declines due to opium use, frequent spending, and uncontrolled borrowing.
Meanwhile, Wang Lung, through his own hard work and the skill of his wife, O-Lan, slowly earns enough money to buy land from the Hwang family, piece by piece. O-Lan delivers three sons and three daughters; the first daughter becomes mentally handicapped as a result of severe malnutrition brought on by famine.
Her father greatly pities her and calls her "Poor Fool," a name by which she is addressed throughout her life. O-Lan kills her second daughter at birth to spare her the misery of growing up in such hard times, and to give the remaining family a better chance to survive.
During the devastating famine and drought, the family must flee to a large city in the south to find work. Wang Lung's malevolent uncle offers to buy his possessions and land, but for significantly less than their value. The family sells everything except the land and the house.
Wang Lung then faces the long journey south, contemplating how the family will survive walking, when he discovers that the "firewagon" (the Chinese word for the newly built train) takes people south for a fee. In the city, O-Lan and the children beg while Wang Lung pulls a rickshaw.
Wang Lung's father begs but does not earn any money, and sits looking at the city instead. They find themselves aliens among their more metropolitan countrymen who look different and speak in a fast accent. They no longer starve, due to the one-cent charitable meals of congee, but still live in abject poverty.
Wang Lung longs to return to his land. When armies approach the city he can only work at night hauling merchandise out of fear of being conscripted. One time, his son brings home stolen meat. Furious, Wang Lung throws the meat on the ground, not wanting his sons to grow up as thieves. O-Lan, however, calmly picks up the meat and cooks it. When a food riot erupts, Wang Lung is swept up in a mob that is looting a rich man's house and corners the man himself, who fears for his life and gives Wang Lung all his money in order to buy his safety.
Meanwhile, his wife finds jewels in a hiding place in another house, hiding them between her breasts. Wang Lung uses this money to bring the family home, buy a new ox and farm tools, and hire servants to work the land for him.
In time, the youngest children are born, a twin son and daughter. When he discovers the jewels O-Lan looted from the house in the southern city, Wang Lung buys the House of Hwang's remaining land. He is eventually able to send his first two sons to school (also apprenticing the second one as a merchant) and retains the third one on the land.
As Wang Lung becomes more prosperous, he buys a concubine named Lotus. O-Lan endures the betrayal of her husband when he takes the only jewels she had asked to keep for herself, the two pearls, so that he can make them into earrings to present to Lotus. O-Lan's morale suffers and she eventually dies, but not before witnessing her first son's wedding.
Wang Lung finally appreciates her place in his life, as he mourns her passing. Lung and his family move into town and rent the old House of Hwang.
Wang Lung, now an old man, wants peace, but there are always disputes, especially between his first and second sons, and particularly their wives.
Wang Lung's third son runs away to become a soldier. At the end of the novel, Wang Lung overhears his sons planning to sell the land and tries to dissuade them. They say that they will do as he wishes, but smile knowingly at each other.
毓賳賵丕賳賴丕蹖 趩丕倬 卮丿賴 丿乇 丕蹖乇丕賳: 芦禺丕讴 禺賵亘禄貨 芦夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘禄貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 倬乇賱 爻. 亘丕讴貨 鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 乇賵夭 丿賵賲 賲丕賴 跇賵卅賳 爻丕賱 1976賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 倬乇賱 亘丕讴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賮乇蹖丿賵賳 亘丿乇賴 丕蹖 賱乇爻鬲丕賳蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲乇噩丕賳貙 1336貙 丿乇 364氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 1368貨 丿乇 413氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9649049339貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 1380貨 賲賵囟賵毓 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 趩蹖賳蹖 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕蹖丕賱丕鬲 賲鬲丨丿賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕 - 爻丿賴 20賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 禺丕讴 禺賵亘貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 倬乇賱 亘丕讴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 睾賮賵乇 丌賱亘丕貨 倬丕倬 丕賵賱 1340貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丕賲蹖乇讴亘蹖乇貙 1347貙 丿乇 343氐貨 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 1347貨 爻賵賲 1350貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳丕賴蹖丿貙 1371貨 丿乇 343氐貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 禺丕讴 禺賵亘貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 倬乇賱 亘丕讴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 丿丕乇蹖賵卮 卮丕賴蹖賳貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 噩丕賵蹖丿丕賳貙 1362貙 丿乇 533氐貨 趩丕倬 卮卮賲 1379貨 賴賮鬲賲 賵 賴卮鬲賲 1390貨 趩丕倬 蹖丕夭丿賴賲 1385貨
禺丕讴 禺賵亘 (夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘)貙 讴鬲丕亘 賳禺爻鬲貙 丕夭 乇賲丕賳蹖 爻賴 诏丕賳賴 芦禺丕賳賴 蹖 夭賲蹖賳禄 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 亘乇丕蹖 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 亘丕乇 丿乇 爻丕賱 1930賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 丕賳鬲卮丕乇 蹖丕賮鬲貙 賵 亘賴 丿賳亘丕賱 丌賳貙 讴鬲丕亘賴丕蹖 芦倬爻乇丕賳禄 丿乇 爻丕賱 (1932賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 賵 芦禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 倬乇丕讴賳丿賴禄 丿乇 爻丕賱 (1935賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 賲賳鬲卮乇 卮丿賳丿貨 丿乇 芦禺丕讴 禺賵亘 (夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘)禄貙 夭賳丿诏蹖 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄貙 丿賴賯丕賳 賮賯蹖乇 卮賴乇爻鬲丕賳 芦丌賳 賴賵卅蹖禄 亘丕夭诏賵 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 亘丕賵乇賴丕蹖 丿賴賯丕賳丕賳 賲蹖丕賳賴 丨丕賱 芦趩蹖賳蹖禄 乇丕貙 讴賴 亘丕 賮賯乇 賵 诏乇爻賳诏蹖 賵 噩賳诏賴丕蹖 丿丕禺賱蹖 倬蹖卮 丕夭 丕賳賯賱丕亘貙 丿乇诏蹖乇 亘賵丿賳丿貙 亘丕 丿賯鬲蹖 亘丕賵乇賲賳丿丕賳賴 賲蹖賳賲丕蹖丕賳賳丿貨 丕賲丕貙 丕夭 賵乇丕蹖 卮禺氐蹖鬲 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 乇賵丨蹖賴 蹖 芦趩蹖賳蹖禄 爻乇 亘乇賲蹖鈥屫ж必�
賴卮丿丕乇: 丕诏乇 丕蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 乇丕 賳禺賵丕賳丿賴 丕蹖丿 賵 賲蹖禺賵丕賴蹖丿 禺賵丿 亘禺賵丕賳蹖丿貙 丕夭 禺賵丕賳卮 丕丿丕賲賴 乇蹖賵蹖賵 禺賵丿丿丕乇蹖 讴賳蹖丿
丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳貨 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 倬丕蹖鈥屫ㄙ嗀� 丕爻鬲貙 夭蹖乇丕 夭賲蹖賳 芦禺賵賳 賵 诏賵卮鬲 賴乇 讴爻禄 丕爻鬲貨 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄 賳蹖夭貙 亘丕 丕爻鬲賮丕丿賴 丕夭 丌卮賮鬲诏蹖 丌賳乇賵夭賴丕貙 禺賵丿貙 賲丕賱讴蹖 亘夭乇诏 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 亘丕 丕蹖賳丨丕賱貙 芦禺丕讴 禺賵亘 (夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘)禄貙 鬲賳賴丕 乇卮丿 賵 亘丕賱賳丿诏蹖 蹖讴 丿賴賯丕賳 賳蹖爻鬲貙 讴賴 丿乇 丕蹖丕賲 讴賴賵賱鬲貙 亘賴 芦诏賱 诏賱丕亘蹖禄 丿賱賮乇蹖亘貙 丿賱 賲蹖鈥屫ㄘж藏� 賵 賲賵噩亘 賳丕禺卮賳賵丿蹖 倬爻乇丕賳卮 賲蹖鈥屭必� 亘賱讴賴 丕蹖賳 丕孬乇貙 亘丕 丕蹖賳讴賴 蹖讴 乇賲丕賳 丕爻鬲貙 賳賵卮鬲賴 丕蹖 賲爻鬲賳丿 賵 丕乇夭卮賲賳丿 賳蹖夭 賴爻鬲貙 丿乇亘丕乇賴 蹖 丿賵乇丕賳蹖讴賴貙 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄 賴賳賵夭 賮賯蹖乇 亘賵丿貨 丿賵乇丕賳蹖讴賴 禺賵丿 丕賵 賮乇蹖丕丿 亘乇丿丕卮鬲賴 亘賵丿: 芦丿蹖诏乇 趩賴! 倬爻 丕蹖賳 賵囟毓 賴乇诏夭 毓賵囟 賳禺賵丕賴丿 卮丿責禄貙 賵 亘賴 丕賵 倬丕爻禺 丿丕丿賴 亘賵丿賳丿: 芦趩乇丕貙 乇賮蹖賯貙 乇賵夭蹖 毓賵囟 禺賵丕賴丿 卮丿貨 賵賯鬲蹖 讴賴 孬乇賵鬲賲賳丿賴丕 夭蹖丕丿蹖 孬乇賵鬲賲賳丿賳丿貙 丕賲讴丕賳丕鬲蹖 賵噩賵丿 丿丕乇丿貨 賵 賵賯鬲蹖 讴賴 賮賯蹖乇賴丕 夭蹖丕丿蹖 賮賯蹖乇賳丿貙 丕賲讴丕賳丕鬲蹖 賵噩賵丿 丿丕乇丿.禄貨
倬爻乇丕賳卮: 芦賵丕賳诏禄 丕乇卮丿貙 芦賵丕賳诏禄 丿賵賲貙 賵 芦賵丕賳诏禄 爻賵賲貙 讴賴 倬乇鬲賵丕賳 賵 賳丕賲丿丕乇 亘賴 芦亘亘乇禄 丕爻鬲貙 賵 丕賵 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丌禺乇蹖賳 爻乇賱卮讴乇丕賳 賲丕噩乇丕噩賵蹖 乇跇蹖賲 讴賴賳爻丕賱貙 禺賵丕賴丿 卮丿貨 倬爻 丕夭 賲乇诏 倬丿乇貙 丌賳賴丕 夭賲蹖賳賴丕 乇丕 鬲賯爻蹖賲 賲蹖讴賳賳丿貨 丕賲丕 芦亘亘乇禄貙 亘乇丕丿乇丕賳卮 乇丕 丕夭 爻乇 亘丕夭 賲蹖讴賳丿貨 夭賲蹖賳 亘乇丕蹖 丕賵貙 丕賴賲蹖鬲蹖 賳丿丕乇丿貨 丕賵 趩蹖夭蹖 噩夭 倬賵賱 賳賲蹖鈥屫堌з囏� 鬲丕 丕乇鬲卮蹖 丿乇 丕賳丿丕夭賴 蹖 噩丕賴 胤賱亘蹖賴丕蹖 禺賵蹖卮 丕蹖噩丕丿 讴賳丿貨 丕賵 讴賴 芦爻丕賱丕乇 噩賳诏禄 卮丿賴貙 倬蹖乇賵夭蹖賴丕蹖 禺賵蹖卮 乇丕 倬卮鬲 爻乇 賲蹖鈥屭柏ж必� 丕诏乇 倬爻乇卮 芦蹖賵丌賳禄 亘賴 丿賳蹖丕 亘蹖丕蹖丿貙 禺賵卮亘禺鬲蹖 丕賵 讴丕賲賱 禺賵丕賴丿 卮丿貨 丌乇夭賵 丿丕乇丿貙 丕夭 倬爻乇卮 蹖讴 芦爻乇賱卮讴乇 讴賵趩讴禄 亘爻丕夭丿貨 丕賲丕 倬爻乇 噩賵丕賳貙 讴賴 亘爻蹖丕乇 賴賵卮賲賳丿 賵 賲鬲賳賮乇 丕夭 讴卮鬲丕乇 丕爻鬲貙 禺賵丿 乇丕 亘賴 丿爻鬲 丕賳丿蹖卮賴鈥� 賴丕蹖 賳賵 賲蹖鈥屫迟矩ж必� 鬲囟丕丿 卮丿蹖丿貙 賲蹖丕賳 讴賴賳賴 倬乇爻鬲蹖 芦亘亘乇禄貙 賵 鬲丨賵賱鈥� 胤賱亘蹖 倬爻乇 亘爻蹖丕乇 賲丨亘賵亘卮貙 賯丿乇鬲蹖 丿乇丕賲丕鬲蹖讴 亘賴 讴鬲丕亘 丿賵賲 賲蹖鈥屫ㄘ簇�
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鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 27/09/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 05/07/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1932.
The best-selling novel in the United States in both 1931 and 1932 was an influential factor in Buck's winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938.
It is the first book in a trilogy that includes Sons (1932) and A House Divided (1935). The story begins on Wang Lung's wedding day and follows the rise and fall of his fortunes.
The House of Hwang, a family of wealthy landowners, lives in the nearby town, where Wang Lung's future wife, O-Lan, lives as a slave. However, the House of Hwang slowly declines due to opium use, frequent spending, and uncontrolled borrowing.
Meanwhile, Wang Lung, through his own hard work and the skill of his wife, O-Lan, slowly earns enough money to buy land from the Hwang family, piece by piece. O-Lan delivers three sons and three daughters; the first daughter becomes mentally handicapped as a result of severe malnutrition brought on by famine.
Her father greatly pities her and calls her "Poor Fool," a name by which she is addressed throughout her life. O-Lan kills her second daughter at birth to spare her the misery of growing up in such hard times, and to give the remaining family a better chance to survive.
During the devastating famine and drought, the family must flee to a large city in the south to find work. Wang Lung's malevolent uncle offers to buy his possessions and land, but for significantly less than their value. The family sells everything except the land and the house.
Wang Lung then faces the long journey south, contemplating how the family will survive walking, when he discovers that the "firewagon" (the Chinese word for the newly built train) takes people south for a fee. In the city, O-Lan and the children beg while Wang Lung pulls a rickshaw.
Wang Lung's father begs but does not earn any money, and sits looking at the city instead. They find themselves aliens among their more metropolitan countrymen who look different and speak in a fast accent. They no longer starve, due to the one-cent charitable meals of congee, but still live in abject poverty.
Wang Lung longs to return to his land. When armies approach the city he can only work at night hauling merchandise out of fear of being conscripted. One time, his son brings home stolen meat. Furious, Wang Lung throws the meat on the ground, not wanting his sons to grow up as thieves. O-Lan, however, calmly picks up the meat and cooks it. When a food riot erupts, Wang Lung is swept up in a mob that is looting a rich man's house and corners the man himself, who fears for his life and gives Wang Lung all his money in order to buy his safety.
Meanwhile, his wife finds jewels in a hiding place in another house, hiding them between her breasts. Wang Lung uses this money to bring the family home, buy a new ox and farm tools, and hire servants to work the land for him.
In time, the youngest children are born, a twin son and daughter. When he discovers the jewels O-Lan looted from the house in the southern city, Wang Lung buys the House of Hwang's remaining land. He is eventually able to send his first two sons to school (also apprenticing the second one as a merchant) and retains the third one on the land.
As Wang Lung becomes more prosperous, he buys a concubine named Lotus. O-Lan endures the betrayal of her husband when he takes the only jewels she had asked to keep for herself, the two pearls, so that he can make them into earrings to present to Lotus. O-Lan's morale suffers and she eventually dies, but not before witnessing her first son's wedding.
Wang Lung finally appreciates her place in his life, as he mourns her passing. Lung and his family move into town and rent the old House of Hwang.
Wang Lung, now an old man, wants peace, but there are always disputes, especially between his first and second sons, and particularly their wives.
Wang Lung's third son runs away to become a soldier. At the end of the novel, Wang Lung overhears his sons planning to sell the land and tries to dissuade them. They say that they will do as he wishes, but smile knowingly at each other.
毓賳賵丕賳賴丕蹖 趩丕倬 卮丿賴 丿乇 丕蹖乇丕賳: 芦禺丕讴 禺賵亘禄貨 芦夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘禄貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 倬乇賱 爻. 亘丕讴貨 鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 乇賵夭 丿賵賲 賲丕賴 跇賵卅賳 爻丕賱 1976賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 倬乇賱 亘丕讴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賮乇蹖丿賵賳 亘丿乇賴 丕蹖 賱乇爻鬲丕賳蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲乇噩丕賳貙 1336貙 丿乇 364氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 1368貨 丿乇 413氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9649049339貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 1380貨 賲賵囟賵毓 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 趩蹖賳蹖 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕蹖丕賱丕鬲 賲鬲丨丿賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕 - 爻丿賴 20賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 禺丕讴 禺賵亘貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 倬乇賱 亘丕讴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 睾賮賵乇 丌賱亘丕貨 倬丕倬 丕賵賱 1340貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丕賲蹖乇讴亘蹖乇貙 1347貙 丿乇 343氐貨 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 1347貨 爻賵賲 1350貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳丕賴蹖丿貙 1371貨 丿乇 343氐貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 禺丕讴 禺賵亘貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 倬乇賱 亘丕讴貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 丿丕乇蹖賵卮 卮丕賴蹖賳貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 噩丕賵蹖丿丕賳貙 1362貙 丿乇 533氐貨 趩丕倬 卮卮賲 1379貨 賴賮鬲賲 賵 賴卮鬲賲 1390貨 趩丕倬 蹖丕夭丿賴賲 1385貨
禺丕讴 禺賵亘 (夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘)貙 讴鬲丕亘 賳禺爻鬲貙 丕夭 乇賲丕賳蹖 爻賴 诏丕賳賴 芦禺丕賳賴 蹖 夭賲蹖賳禄 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 亘乇丕蹖 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 亘丕乇 丿乇 爻丕賱 1930賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 丕賳鬲卮丕乇 蹖丕賮鬲貙 賵 亘賴 丿賳亘丕賱 丌賳貙 讴鬲丕亘賴丕蹖 芦倬爻乇丕賳禄 丿乇 爻丕賱 (1932賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 賵 芦禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 倬乇丕讴賳丿賴禄 丿乇 爻丕賱 (1935賲蹖賱丕丿蹖) 賲賳鬲卮乇 卮丿賳丿貨 丿乇 芦禺丕讴 禺賵亘 (夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘)禄貙 夭賳丿诏蹖 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄貙 丿賴賯丕賳 賮賯蹖乇 卮賴乇爻鬲丕賳 芦丌賳 賴賵卅蹖禄 亘丕夭诏賵 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 亘丕賵乇賴丕蹖 丿賴賯丕賳丕賳 賲蹖丕賳賴 丨丕賱 芦趩蹖賳蹖禄 乇丕貙 讴賴 亘丕 賮賯乇 賵 诏乇爻賳诏蹖 賵 噩賳诏賴丕蹖 丿丕禺賱蹖 倬蹖卮 丕夭 丕賳賯賱丕亘貙 丿乇诏蹖乇 亘賵丿賳丿貙 亘丕 丿賯鬲蹖 亘丕賵乇賲賳丿丕賳賴 賲蹖賳賲丕蹖丕賳賳丿貨 丕賲丕貙 丕夭 賵乇丕蹖 卮禺氐蹖鬲 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 乇賵丨蹖賴 蹖 芦趩蹖賳蹖禄 爻乇 亘乇賲蹖鈥屫ж必�
賴卮丿丕乇: 丕诏乇 丕蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 乇丕 賳禺賵丕賳丿賴 丕蹖丿 賵 賲蹖禺賵丕賴蹖丿 禺賵丿 亘禺賵丕賳蹖丿貙 丕夭 禺賵丕賳卮 丕丿丕賲賴 乇蹖賵蹖賵 禺賵丿丿丕乇蹖 讴賳蹖丿
丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳貨 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 倬丕蹖鈥屫ㄙ嗀� 丕爻鬲貙 夭蹖乇丕 夭賲蹖賳 芦禺賵賳 賵 诏賵卮鬲 賴乇 讴爻禄 丕爻鬲貨 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄 賳蹖夭貙 亘丕 丕爻鬲賮丕丿賴 丕夭 丌卮賮鬲诏蹖 丌賳乇賵夭賴丕貙 禺賵丿貙 賲丕賱讴蹖 亘夭乇诏 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 亘丕 丕蹖賳丨丕賱貙 芦禺丕讴 禺賵亘 (夭賲蹖賳 禺賵亘)禄貙 鬲賳賴丕 乇卮丿 賵 亘丕賱賳丿诏蹖 蹖讴 丿賴賯丕賳 賳蹖爻鬲貙 讴賴 丿乇 丕蹖丕賲 讴賴賵賱鬲貙 亘賴 芦诏賱 诏賱丕亘蹖禄 丿賱賮乇蹖亘貙 丿賱 賲蹖鈥屫ㄘж藏� 賵 賲賵噩亘 賳丕禺卮賳賵丿蹖 倬爻乇丕賳卮 賲蹖鈥屭必� 亘賱讴賴 丕蹖賳 丕孬乇貙 亘丕 丕蹖賳讴賴 蹖讴 乇賲丕賳 丕爻鬲貙 賳賵卮鬲賴 丕蹖 賲爻鬲賳丿 賵 丕乇夭卮賲賳丿 賳蹖夭 賴爻鬲貙 丿乇亘丕乇賴 蹖 丿賵乇丕賳蹖讴賴貙 芦賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏禄 賴賳賵夭 賮賯蹖乇 亘賵丿貨 丿賵乇丕賳蹖讴賴 禺賵丿 丕賵 賮乇蹖丕丿 亘乇丿丕卮鬲賴 亘賵丿: 芦丿蹖诏乇 趩賴! 倬爻 丕蹖賳 賵囟毓 賴乇诏夭 毓賵囟 賳禺賵丕賴丿 卮丿責禄貙 賵 亘賴 丕賵 倬丕爻禺 丿丕丿賴 亘賵丿賳丿: 芦趩乇丕貙 乇賮蹖賯貙 乇賵夭蹖 毓賵囟 禺賵丕賴丿 卮丿貨 賵賯鬲蹖 讴賴 孬乇賵鬲賲賳丿賴丕 夭蹖丕丿蹖 孬乇賵鬲賲賳丿賳丿貙 丕賲讴丕賳丕鬲蹖 賵噩賵丿 丿丕乇丿貨 賵 賵賯鬲蹖 讴賴 賮賯蹖乇賴丕 夭蹖丕丿蹖 賮賯蹖乇賳丿貙 丕賲讴丕賳丕鬲蹖 賵噩賵丿 丿丕乇丿.禄貨
倬爻乇丕賳卮: 芦賵丕賳诏禄 丕乇卮丿貙 芦賵丕賳诏禄 丿賵賲貙 賵 芦賵丕賳诏禄 爻賵賲貙 讴賴 倬乇鬲賵丕賳 賵 賳丕賲丿丕乇 亘賴 芦亘亘乇禄 丕爻鬲貙 賵 丕賵 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丌禺乇蹖賳 爻乇賱卮讴乇丕賳 賲丕噩乇丕噩賵蹖 乇跇蹖賲 讴賴賳爻丕賱貙 禺賵丕賴丿 卮丿貨 倬爻 丕夭 賲乇诏 倬丿乇貙 丌賳賴丕 夭賲蹖賳賴丕 乇丕 鬲賯爻蹖賲 賲蹖讴賳賳丿貨 丕賲丕 芦亘亘乇禄貙 亘乇丕丿乇丕賳卮 乇丕 丕夭 爻乇 亘丕夭 賲蹖讴賳丿貨 夭賲蹖賳 亘乇丕蹖 丕賵貙 丕賴賲蹖鬲蹖 賳丿丕乇丿貨 丕賵 趩蹖夭蹖 噩夭 倬賵賱 賳賲蹖鈥屫堌з囏� 鬲丕 丕乇鬲卮蹖 丿乇 丕賳丿丕夭賴 蹖 噩丕賴 胤賱亘蹖賴丕蹖 禺賵蹖卮 丕蹖噩丕丿 讴賳丿貨 丕賵 讴賴 芦爻丕賱丕乇 噩賳诏禄 卮丿賴貙 倬蹖乇賵夭蹖賴丕蹖 禺賵蹖卮 乇丕 倬卮鬲 爻乇 賲蹖鈥屭柏ж必� 丕诏乇 倬爻乇卮 芦蹖賵丌賳禄 亘賴 丿賳蹖丕 亘蹖丕蹖丿貙 禺賵卮亘禺鬲蹖 丕賵 讴丕賲賱 禺賵丕賴丿 卮丿貨 丌乇夭賵 丿丕乇丿貙 丕夭 倬爻乇卮 蹖讴 芦爻乇賱卮讴乇 讴賵趩讴禄 亘爻丕夭丿貨 丕賲丕 倬爻乇 噩賵丕賳貙 讴賴 亘爻蹖丕乇 賴賵卮賲賳丿 賵 賲鬲賳賮乇 丕夭 讴卮鬲丕乇 丕爻鬲貙 禺賵丿 乇丕 亘賴 丿爻鬲 丕賳丿蹖卮賴鈥� 賴丕蹖 賳賵 賲蹖鈥屫迟矩ж必� 鬲囟丕丿 卮丿蹖丿貙 賲蹖丕賳 讴賴賳賴 倬乇爻鬲蹖 芦亘亘乇禄貙 賵 鬲丨賵賱鈥� 胤賱亘蹖 倬爻乇 亘爻蹖丕乇 賲丨亘賵亘卮貙 賯丿乇鬲蹖 丿乇丕賲丕鬲蹖讴 亘賴 讴鬲丕亘 丿賵賲 賲蹖鈥屫ㄘ簇�
蹖賵丌賳貨 爻賳鬲賴丕蹖 禺丕賳賵丕丿诏蹖 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屭迟勜� 賵 丕夭 賳賮賵匕 芦賵丕賳诏禄 爻賵賲 賲蹖鈥屭臂屫藏� 亘丕 丕蹖賳丨丕賱貙 趩賵賳 賲亘丕乇夭蹖 爻賲噩 賳蹖爻鬲貙 毓囟賵蹖鬲 禺賵丿貙 丿乇 芦丕賳噩賲賳 賲禺賮蹖禄 乇丕貙 賲丿鬲賴丕 亘賴 鬲毓賵蹖賯 賲蹖鈥屫з嗀ж藏� 爻乇丕賳噩丕賲貙 亘賴 丕氐乇丕乇 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 倬爻乇毓賲賵賴丕蹖卮貙 鬲氐賲蹖賲 禺賵丿 乇丕 毓賲賱蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 亘賴 丕賲蹖丿 丌賳讴賴 芦乇賳噩賴丕蹖 賲賱鬲 賮賯蹖乇禄貙 讴賴 丕賵 卮丕賴丿 胤睾蹖丕賳 丌賳 亘賵丿賴貙 倬丕蹖丕賳 诏蹖乇丿貨 芦蹖賵丌賳禄貙 讴賲蹖 倬爻 丕夭 丌賳讴賴 噩丕賳亘 丕賳賯賱丕亘 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屭屫必� 丿爻鬲诏蹖乇 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賵 鬲賳賴丕 丿乇 亘乇丕亘乇 亘丕噩蹖 讴賱丕賳貙 讴賴 亘爻鬲诏丕賳卮 賲蹖鈥屬矩必ж操嗀� 丕夭 賲乇诏 賳噩丕鬲 賲蹖鈥屰屫жㄘ� 賴賲蹖賳 讴賴 丌夭丕丿 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 亘賴 禺丕乇噩 丕夭 讴卮賵乇 賲蹖鈥屫辟堌� 鬲丕 丌賲賵夭卮 禺賵丿 乇丕 讴丕賲賱 讴賳丿貙 賵 亘丕 鬲賲丿賳 睾乇亘 丌卮賳丕 诏乇丿丿貨 讴鬲丕亘 亘丕 鬲賵賱丿 毓卮賯蹖 爻丕丿賴貙 賲蹖丕賳 芦蹖賵丌賳禄 賵 芦賲蹖鈥屬勠屬嗂回� 蹖讴 丿丕賳卮噩賵蹖 芦趩蹖賳蹖禄貙 倬丕蹖丕賳 賲蹖鈥屭屫必� 賵 賳賴丕蹖鬲丕賸 爻丕賱丕乇 倬蹖乇 噩賳诏 亘賴 丿爻鬲 丿賴賯丕賳丕賳 卮賵乇卮蹖 讴卮鬲賴 賲蹖鈥屫促堌�
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 27/09/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 05/07/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
September 20, 2010
THIS BOOK IS ABOUT THE EARTH AND IT IS GOOD.
April 29, 2025
鈥�[T]urning this earth of theirs over and over to the sun, this earth which formed their home and fed their bodies and made their gods.鈥�
Humans owe everything to the Earth. It has given us shelter, food, water, informed the creation of our societies and even today our lives are affected by the cycles of the planet. The Good Earth, the Pulitzer Prize winning book from Nobel Prize winning author Pearl S. Buck is an epic family saga that explores the power of the land and humankinds connection to it. Following Wang Lung from his youth on towards his twilight years, we see how 鈥�It was true that all their lives depended upon the earth.鈥� As the land provides鈥攐r takes away鈥攆amily fortunes are made and lost as Buck explores class conflict through a fictionalized time of turmoil and revolt in an agrarian China of the early 1900s. A deeply symbolic and lovely work, The Good Earth reminds us of the frailties of life in an ever-changing world and Buck鈥檚 fusion of family (and her look at love and sacrifice) and farmland makes for a wonderful critique of society and reverence for the natural world.
Published to great acclaim in 1931, The Good Earth was adapted into a stage play in 1932 and then again as a film in 1937, Buck was then awarded the Nobel Prize in 1938 securing the story in the canon of 鈥渃lassic鈥� literature. The novel feels familial with works like 鈥檚 Growth of the Soil鈥攁nother multi-generational story of tending the land amidst a society rapidly changing and progressing鈥攐r the Dust Bowl drama鈥檚 of for the commentaries on class struggles of the poor and working class and the way his novel share Buck鈥檚 statement that 鈥� the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.鈥� While born in West Virginia, Pearl S. Buck moved to China at four month old, growing up and working as a missionary there until 1935. There is always an interesting discourse over this novel as a look at China due to this, though I always feel a work of fiction such as this is more about the emotional and universal insights on humanity than necessarily a historical learning lesson. , author of Beasts of as Little Land, discusses this rather effectively in an , discussion how historical fiction about people of color (especially those written by women of color, though Buck is white) have mistaken expectations from readers who think they should 鈥� come away from a historical novel feeling as though they鈥檝e learned something.鈥� She disagrees, adding 鈥�the focus is on how their message relates to our lives today or the timeless human experience, not whether they can be instructive about history,鈥� which I feel is a good idea to keep in mind when reading this book (scroll to Celeste Ng鈥檚 review of this book for more commentary on this and her dislike of the book).
鈥�They must all starve if the plants starve.鈥�
As the novel follows the cycle of seasons and crops, it too follows the cycle of Wang Lung鈥檚 life. The Good Earth begins with Wang Lung as a poor farmer working the land, a land that he will later own and grow rich from renting the land to farmers now beneath him. He has children and the story occasionally follows their lives and follies, yet Wang Lung remains the patriarchal center of both the family and novel. And through it all the land is ever present, binding the lives of the rich and poor, controlling their lives like a god.
The House of Hwang is symbolic of the struggle for wealth and the struggle to hold on to it without falling into destruction or despair. 鈥�To those at the great house it means nothing, this handful of earth,鈥� he says in his youth, 鈥�but to me it means how much!鈥� Throughout the novel, his connection to the land remains a constant and an indicator into his consciousness as well. When the land yields fruitful crops, he is pleased and thanks the gods. When it does not, or is stricken with drought or flood, he is irritable and ignores the gods (such as when moving south he ignores the statues). In between we see him constantly petitioning the gods with prayer, gods that might as well be the land itself.
鈥�The rich are always afraid.鈥�
I quite enjoyed the moments of the people rising up and storming the rich house, and we witness how fortunes can fail as Wang Lung begins to buy up the land from the House of Hwang. The people he had to approach to buy a wife and felt fearful of suddenly owe him and this change of fortune swings the book into a new dynamic. Despite his class, we always see Wang Lung put great effort into playing a respectable role befitting his social class. Yet with wealth comes problems and we see him struggle, even morally such as ridding himself of his Uncle by getting him addicted to opium so they lay about stoned and out of his way. Which, damn dude. But family struggles also begin to fracture his life, and while he still enjoys working the land and retaining his connection to it, his sons do not. Thus they do not respect the land, and this detachment becomes felt as a sort of spiritual detachment. 鈥�It is the end of a family- when they begin to sell their land,鈥� we are told. Much as the Hwang family dynasty came to a close as they sold to Wang Lung, we learn his own sons plan to sell his land and feel little for it without having that connection to the soil. 鈥�Out of the land we came and into we must go - and if you will hold your land you can live- no one can rob you of land.鈥� As always, it is connection to the land that gives life, and the growing absence of his land parallels his aging and impending death.
Though it is important to speak about O-Lan, Wang Lung鈥檚 wife as she is equally critical to the novel even though she is thrown off from center focus. O-lan is always making sacrifices for the family, and often is the savior of the family. She makes hard decisions and works just as hard, returning to tend the land moments after giving birth or even killing a daughter she knows they cannot feed (interestingly both scenes seem familiar to similar ones in Hamsun鈥檚 Growth of the Soil, though that one spends much more time on consequences from the death of the child). Through O-lan we also see a very patriarchal society that is crushing towards women. While she is strong and resourceful, she is most noted for being ugly and has been purchased as a bride. She later sells her daughter into slavery so they can return to their land, which is pretty horrific. Her only prized possession are the small pearls she obtains during the revolt, juxtaposing the beauty of the pearls with Wang Lung鈥檚 perception of her as ugly, and his taking them and giving them to Lotus is symbolic of his thoughtlessness for his wife as well as the disintegration of their relationship. Throughout the novel women are viewed as either property or merely sexual satisfaction, and subjected to great hardships they are expected to bear in silence to uphold the family and the legacy of the men.
鈥�The kind earth waited without haste until he came to it.鈥�
Understandably a classic, The Good Earth is a moving family saga that captures the struggles of family and our connection with the land. It also represents the passage of time and change, the world always moving forward like the seasons as generations grow and wither like the crops. The language isn't the most poetic but it will still certainly sweep you along and the fact that this book feels just as relevant and lovely today is a true testament to its lasting power.
3.5/5
Humans owe everything to the Earth. It has given us shelter, food, water, informed the creation of our societies and even today our lives are affected by the cycles of the planet. The Good Earth, the Pulitzer Prize winning book from Nobel Prize winning author Pearl S. Buck is an epic family saga that explores the power of the land and humankinds connection to it. Following Wang Lung from his youth on towards his twilight years, we see how 鈥�It was true that all their lives depended upon the earth.鈥� As the land provides鈥攐r takes away鈥攆amily fortunes are made and lost as Buck explores class conflict through a fictionalized time of turmoil and revolt in an agrarian China of the early 1900s. A deeply symbolic and lovely work, The Good Earth reminds us of the frailties of life in an ever-changing world and Buck鈥檚 fusion of family (and her look at love and sacrifice) and farmland makes for a wonderful critique of society and reverence for the natural world.
Published to great acclaim in 1931, The Good Earth was adapted into a stage play in 1932 and then again as a film in 1937, Buck was then awarded the Nobel Prize in 1938 securing the story in the canon of 鈥渃lassic鈥� literature. The novel feels familial with works like 鈥檚 Growth of the Soil鈥攁nother multi-generational story of tending the land amidst a society rapidly changing and progressing鈥攐r the Dust Bowl drama鈥檚 of for the commentaries on class struggles of the poor and working class and the way his novel share Buck鈥檚 statement that 鈥� the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.鈥� While born in West Virginia, Pearl S. Buck moved to China at four month old, growing up and working as a missionary there until 1935. There is always an interesting discourse over this novel as a look at China due to this, though I always feel a work of fiction such as this is more about the emotional and universal insights on humanity than necessarily a historical learning lesson. , author of Beasts of as Little Land, discusses this rather effectively in an , discussion how historical fiction about people of color (especially those written by women of color, though Buck is white) have mistaken expectations from readers who think they should 鈥� come away from a historical novel feeling as though they鈥檝e learned something.鈥� She disagrees, adding 鈥�the focus is on how their message relates to our lives today or the timeless human experience, not whether they can be instructive about history,鈥� which I feel is a good idea to keep in mind when reading this book (scroll to Celeste Ng鈥檚 review of this book for more commentary on this and her dislike of the book).
鈥�They must all starve if the plants starve.鈥�
As the novel follows the cycle of seasons and crops, it too follows the cycle of Wang Lung鈥檚 life. The Good Earth begins with Wang Lung as a poor farmer working the land, a land that he will later own and grow rich from renting the land to farmers now beneath him. He has children and the story occasionally follows their lives and follies, yet Wang Lung remains the patriarchal center of both the family and novel. And through it all the land is ever present, binding the lives of the rich and poor, controlling their lives like a god.
鈥�The earth lay rich and dark, and fell apart lightly under the points of their hoes.... Some time, in some age, bodies of men and women had been buried there, houses had stood there, had fallen, and gone back into the earth. So would also their house, some time, return into the earth, their bodies also. Each had his turn at this earth. They worked on, moving together鈥攖ogether鈥攑roducing the fruit of this earth鈥攕peechless in their movement together.鈥�
The House of Hwang is symbolic of the struggle for wealth and the struggle to hold on to it without falling into destruction or despair. 鈥�To those at the great house it means nothing, this handful of earth,鈥� he says in his youth, 鈥�but to me it means how much!鈥� Throughout the novel, his connection to the land remains a constant and an indicator into his consciousness as well. When the land yields fruitful crops, he is pleased and thanks the gods. When it does not, or is stricken with drought or flood, he is irritable and ignores the gods (such as when moving south he ignores the statues). In between we see him constantly petitioning the gods with prayer, gods that might as well be the land itself.
鈥�The rich are always afraid.鈥�
I quite enjoyed the moments of the people rising up and storming the rich house, and we witness how fortunes can fail as Wang Lung begins to buy up the land from the House of Hwang. The people he had to approach to buy a wife and felt fearful of suddenly owe him and this change of fortune swings the book into a new dynamic. Despite his class, we always see Wang Lung put great effort into playing a respectable role befitting his social class. Yet with wealth comes problems and we see him struggle, even morally such as ridding himself of his Uncle by getting him addicted to opium so they lay about stoned and out of his way. Which, damn dude. But family struggles also begin to fracture his life, and while he still enjoys working the land and retaining his connection to it, his sons do not. Thus they do not respect the land, and this detachment becomes felt as a sort of spiritual detachment. 鈥�It is the end of a family- when they begin to sell their land,鈥� we are told. Much as the Hwang family dynasty came to a close as they sold to Wang Lung, we learn his own sons plan to sell his land and feel little for it without having that connection to the soil. 鈥�Out of the land we came and into we must go - and if you will hold your land you can live- no one can rob you of land.鈥� As always, it is connection to the land that gives life, and the growing absence of his land parallels his aging and impending death.
Though it is important to speak about O-Lan, Wang Lung鈥檚 wife as she is equally critical to the novel even though she is thrown off from center focus. O-lan is always making sacrifices for the family, and often is the savior of the family. She makes hard decisions and works just as hard, returning to tend the land moments after giving birth or even killing a daughter she knows they cannot feed (interestingly both scenes seem familiar to similar ones in Hamsun鈥檚 Growth of the Soil, though that one spends much more time on consequences from the death of the child). Through O-lan we also see a very patriarchal society that is crushing towards women. While she is strong and resourceful, she is most noted for being ugly and has been purchased as a bride. She later sells her daughter into slavery so they can return to their land, which is pretty horrific. Her only prized possession are the small pearls she obtains during the revolt, juxtaposing the beauty of the pearls with Wang Lung鈥檚 perception of her as ugly, and his taking them and giving them to Lotus is symbolic of his thoughtlessness for his wife as well as the disintegration of their relationship. Throughout the novel women are viewed as either property or merely sexual satisfaction, and subjected to great hardships they are expected to bear in silence to uphold the family and the legacy of the men.
鈥�The kind earth waited without haste until he came to it.鈥�
Understandably a classic, The Good Earth is a moving family saga that captures the struggles of family and our connection with the land. It also represents the passage of time and change, the world always moving forward like the seasons as generations grow and wither like the crops. The language isn't the most poetic but it will still certainly sweep you along and the fact that this book feels just as relevant and lovely today is a true testament to its lasting power.
3.5/5
December 6, 2020
鈥淭he sun beat down upon them, for it was early summer, and [O-Lan鈥檚] face was dripping with her sweat. Wang Lung had his coat off and his back bare, but she worked with her thin garment covering her shoulders and it grew wet and clung to her like skin. Moving together in a perfect rhythm, without a word, hour after hour, he fell into a union with her which took the pain from his labor. He had no articulate thought of anything; there was only this perfect sympathy of movement, of turning over this earth of theirs over and over to the sun, this earth which formed their home and fed their bodes and made their gods. The earth lay rich and dark, and fell apart lightly under the points of their hoes. Sometimes they turned up a bit of brick, a splinter of wood. It was nothing. Some time, in some age, bodies of men and women had been buried there, houses had stood there, had fallen, and gone back into earth. So would also their house, some time, return into the earth, their bodies also. Each had his turn at this earth鈥︹€�
- Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth
The Good Earth is a remarkable, entertaining, moving, and unforgettable novel. It held me 鈥� from the first page to the last 鈥� in its lyrical grasp.
With that said, let me hasten to add that I did not find it remarkable, entertaining, moving, and unforgettable for the same reasons it has been turning up in English classes since its 1931 publication date.
Pearl S. Buck鈥檚 classic tale of a Chinese peasant family has been a fixture on syllabuses for decades. It has been used 鈥� with the best of intentions, I think 鈥� as an introduction to a culture unfamiliar to many Americans, both then and now. The trouble, of course, is that basing your knowledge about a massive country with a history that stretches back over thousands of years is ludicrous, to say the least.
The Good Earth is about a specific spot in China, centered on a single family, and set at a specific (though non-specified) time. It is fiction, and not even historical fiction. The setting is so enveloping, so fully-realized, that it is seductive to say This is China! But it鈥檚 not. The Good Earth is no more representative of China than, for instance, Gone With the Wind is representative of the United States.
Thankfully, I never read this in school, meaning I was never subjected to the forced extrapolations that students are required to draw from a novel of this sort. Instead, I read it as a follow-up to Nguy峄卬 Phan Qu岷� Mai鈥檚 The Mountains Sing, a saga about a North Vietnamese family living through Vietnam鈥檚 tumultuous 20th Century. I had no real notion of what I was getting into with The Good Earth. I only knew that I wanted to travel somewhere I hadn鈥檛 been, and spend some time with people I hadn鈥檛 met.
To that end, the striking thing about The Good Earth is how universal a story it tells. This is the quintessential rags-to-riches epic. The central character, Wang Lung, may be Chinese, but he could just as easily be Ragged Dick from a Horatio Alger story. He is a striver, an ambitious farmer who loves the earth, is willing to work hard, and holds a considerable grudge against the House of Hwang, a wealthy family that slights him in a way that he never forgets.
Because this is a story about a man trying to jump into a higher income tax bracket, it follows a familiar arc from humble goodness to raging assholery to potential redemption. Call me crazy (or drunk), but the comparison that jumped into my head was Theodore Dreiser鈥檚 An American Tragedy, except that famine replaces murder (which, yes, is an important distinction).
When The Good Earth opens, we are introduced to Wang Lung, who lives with his elderly father, eking a living from the earth. It is his wedding day, which for Wang Lung, means going to the House of Hwang to pick up the wife 鈥� or 鈥渟lave鈥� 鈥� he has purchased. The woman, whose name is O-Lan, becomes the essential element in Wang Lung鈥檚 plan for upward economic mobility.
The Good Earth is written in the third-person, though we are privy to Wang Lung鈥檚 thoughts and feelings alone. It is a testament to his complexity that he is allowed to be a jackass, and often.
With the exception of Wang Lung and O-Lan, none of the other supporting characters have much psychological depth or dimension. They lack interior lives. Nonetheless, they are unforgettable, especially the villainous ones. Everyone leaves a mark in your memory.
The Good Earth is a bildungsroman that follows Wang Lung from relative youth, onward through his years. There is not a central plot. Rather, events unfold episodically, over the course of days and months and years. Some incidents are small, some are large, some are absolutely unforgettable. The most memorable set-piece in The Good Earth is a terrible famine that comes on the heels of a punishing drought. Now, most of us have read about famines in history books, whether that is the Ukrainian famine caused by Stalin鈥檚 collectivization schemes, the Bengal famine during World War II, or the Great Chinese Famine during the time of Mao. It is one thing to know the overwhelming statistics from those tragedies. It is another thing to have the process recounted in unsparing detail, as Buck does here.
I found The Good Earth to be beautifully written. Buck creates a distinct idiom for the narrative 鈥� especially with regard to the dialogue 鈥� that is mesmerizing. The verisimilitude here is not the point, as I suspect that repeated phrases such as 鈥渟uch an one鈥� and 鈥渉ither and dither鈥� may not be perfect recreations of the way that actual Chinese farmers spoke. Yet I appreciated the stylization, and the fact that it was applied consistently. It created a fully-formed world, even if that world should not be accepted as historical fact.
This is a natural place to pivot to the reality that it is not the 1930s anymore.
It just so happened that I read this as a debate about cultural appropriation in literature arose in the wake of Jeanine Cummins鈥檚 American Dirt (which followed on the heels of a debate being had in the community of romance writers). Because this discussion 鈥� to the extent that trading death threats can be called a discussion 鈥� is being had, I feel compelled to state the obvious: Pearl S. Buck was not Chinese.
The daughter of American missionaries, Buck spent the bulk of her life living in China, where she learned the language, made friends, and seemed to genuinely care about the country and her people. To be sure, Buck was not a cultural tourist. Equally true is the fact that she was not Chinese.
I have nothing to add, except to say there is no law 鈥� at least in America 鈥� keeping an author from writing about whatever he/she/they wants. There is also no law 鈥� at least in America 鈥� keeping an author鈥檚 critics from voicing disapproval and leaving no-read-one-star ratings of the book. If this sounds like a weaselly position to take, well, there is no law 鈥� at least in America 鈥� against being a weasel.
Worth noting, I suppose, is that unlike James Clavell (Shogun) and Michael Blake (Dances With Wolves), among others, Buck does not tell this story through the eyes of a western intermediary. Westerners are almost completely nonexistent, showing up only on the fringes of a trip to the city, where they are cluelessly-confident bunglers. There is also none of the racial condescension that tends to show up in China-based novels written by non-Chinese authors. Wang Lung is not a stereotyped unskilled laborer, speaking pidgin English and kowtowing to foreign overlords. (I鈥檓 thinking, for instance, of The Sand Pebbles, which I otherwise enjoyed, but which employs its Chinese characters as 鈥渃oolies鈥�).
Since we are dancing around emotionally fraught topics, I should also add that the treatment of women in The Good Earth is deplorable. Low-born girls are sold as slaves or into arranged marriages, while high-born girls have their feet bound and are groomed for refined coquetry. The female role is rather sharply defined as either sexual object or domestic help.
This, it should go without saying, is not a moral worldview that Buck is promoting, but a rendition of things as she saw them. Since there is a long, problematic history of Chinese portrayals (or caricatures) in western culture, this can be troubling. There is always the inherent danger of promoting unfair or inaccurate stereotypes. At the same time, there is no denying that Buck wrote about what she witnessed, and that in a patriarchal milieu such as Wang Lung鈥檚, the general subordination of women was commonplace. Not just in China, obviously, but all over the world.
On the plus side, O-Lan is 鈥� in my opinion 鈥� the real hero of The Good Earth. She is described as homely and slow-witted, with her chief virtue being her doggedness. At least, that is how she is seen by Wang Lung. Anyone paying the slightest attention, however, will soon learn that she is indomitable, hickory-tough, and twice as clever as Wang Lung on his best day.
Many great novels are described as timeless. They work wherever and whenever you read them. The Good Earth is certainly a classic, but it is not timeless. It is of its time, and the way we view it will continue to vary and change. There are aspects of The Good Earth that will make it a nonstarter for many readers. For all that makes it discomfiting, or potentially discomfiting, I loved it.
Stripped of its trappings, The Good Earth is a moving and humane portrayal of one family鈥檚 journey. It is not always happy, and the ending is surprisingly dark. There are elements of King Lear and Anna Karenina, among other influences. But make no mistake, the intimacy, the empathy, and the unforgettable characters are all Pearl S. Buck.
- Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth
The Good Earth is a remarkable, entertaining, moving, and unforgettable novel. It held me 鈥� from the first page to the last 鈥� in its lyrical grasp.
With that said, let me hasten to add that I did not find it remarkable, entertaining, moving, and unforgettable for the same reasons it has been turning up in English classes since its 1931 publication date.
Pearl S. Buck鈥檚 classic tale of a Chinese peasant family has been a fixture on syllabuses for decades. It has been used 鈥� with the best of intentions, I think 鈥� as an introduction to a culture unfamiliar to many Americans, both then and now. The trouble, of course, is that basing your knowledge about a massive country with a history that stretches back over thousands of years is ludicrous, to say the least.
The Good Earth is about a specific spot in China, centered on a single family, and set at a specific (though non-specified) time. It is fiction, and not even historical fiction. The setting is so enveloping, so fully-realized, that it is seductive to say This is China! But it鈥檚 not. The Good Earth is no more representative of China than, for instance, Gone With the Wind is representative of the United States.
Thankfully, I never read this in school, meaning I was never subjected to the forced extrapolations that students are required to draw from a novel of this sort. Instead, I read it as a follow-up to Nguy峄卬 Phan Qu岷� Mai鈥檚 The Mountains Sing, a saga about a North Vietnamese family living through Vietnam鈥檚 tumultuous 20th Century. I had no real notion of what I was getting into with The Good Earth. I only knew that I wanted to travel somewhere I hadn鈥檛 been, and spend some time with people I hadn鈥檛 met.
To that end, the striking thing about The Good Earth is how universal a story it tells. This is the quintessential rags-to-riches epic. The central character, Wang Lung, may be Chinese, but he could just as easily be Ragged Dick from a Horatio Alger story. He is a striver, an ambitious farmer who loves the earth, is willing to work hard, and holds a considerable grudge against the House of Hwang, a wealthy family that slights him in a way that he never forgets.
Because this is a story about a man trying to jump into a higher income tax bracket, it follows a familiar arc from humble goodness to raging assholery to potential redemption. Call me crazy (or drunk), but the comparison that jumped into my head was Theodore Dreiser鈥檚 An American Tragedy, except that famine replaces murder (which, yes, is an important distinction).
When The Good Earth opens, we are introduced to Wang Lung, who lives with his elderly father, eking a living from the earth. It is his wedding day, which for Wang Lung, means going to the House of Hwang to pick up the wife 鈥� or 鈥渟lave鈥� 鈥� he has purchased. The woman, whose name is O-Lan, becomes the essential element in Wang Lung鈥檚 plan for upward economic mobility.
The Good Earth is written in the third-person, though we are privy to Wang Lung鈥檚 thoughts and feelings alone. It is a testament to his complexity that he is allowed to be a jackass, and often.
With the exception of Wang Lung and O-Lan, none of the other supporting characters have much psychological depth or dimension. They lack interior lives. Nonetheless, they are unforgettable, especially the villainous ones. Everyone leaves a mark in your memory.
The Good Earth is a bildungsroman that follows Wang Lung from relative youth, onward through his years. There is not a central plot. Rather, events unfold episodically, over the course of days and months and years. Some incidents are small, some are large, some are absolutely unforgettable. The most memorable set-piece in The Good Earth is a terrible famine that comes on the heels of a punishing drought. Now, most of us have read about famines in history books, whether that is the Ukrainian famine caused by Stalin鈥檚 collectivization schemes, the Bengal famine during World War II, or the Great Chinese Famine during the time of Mao. It is one thing to know the overwhelming statistics from those tragedies. It is another thing to have the process recounted in unsparing detail, as Buck does here.
I found The Good Earth to be beautifully written. Buck creates a distinct idiom for the narrative 鈥� especially with regard to the dialogue 鈥� that is mesmerizing. The verisimilitude here is not the point, as I suspect that repeated phrases such as 鈥渟uch an one鈥� and 鈥渉ither and dither鈥� may not be perfect recreations of the way that actual Chinese farmers spoke. Yet I appreciated the stylization, and the fact that it was applied consistently. It created a fully-formed world, even if that world should not be accepted as historical fact.
This is a natural place to pivot to the reality that it is not the 1930s anymore.
It just so happened that I read this as a debate about cultural appropriation in literature arose in the wake of Jeanine Cummins鈥檚 American Dirt (which followed on the heels of a debate being had in the community of romance writers). Because this discussion 鈥� to the extent that trading death threats can be called a discussion 鈥� is being had, I feel compelled to state the obvious: Pearl S. Buck was not Chinese.
The daughter of American missionaries, Buck spent the bulk of her life living in China, where she learned the language, made friends, and seemed to genuinely care about the country and her people. To be sure, Buck was not a cultural tourist. Equally true is the fact that she was not Chinese.
I have nothing to add, except to say there is no law 鈥� at least in America 鈥� keeping an author from writing about whatever he/she/they wants. There is also no law 鈥� at least in America 鈥� keeping an author鈥檚 critics from voicing disapproval and leaving no-read-one-star ratings of the book. If this sounds like a weaselly position to take, well, there is no law 鈥� at least in America 鈥� against being a weasel.
Worth noting, I suppose, is that unlike James Clavell (Shogun) and Michael Blake (Dances With Wolves), among others, Buck does not tell this story through the eyes of a western intermediary. Westerners are almost completely nonexistent, showing up only on the fringes of a trip to the city, where they are cluelessly-confident bunglers. There is also none of the racial condescension that tends to show up in China-based novels written by non-Chinese authors. Wang Lung is not a stereotyped unskilled laborer, speaking pidgin English and kowtowing to foreign overlords. (I鈥檓 thinking, for instance, of The Sand Pebbles, which I otherwise enjoyed, but which employs its Chinese characters as 鈥渃oolies鈥�).
Since we are dancing around emotionally fraught topics, I should also add that the treatment of women in The Good Earth is deplorable. Low-born girls are sold as slaves or into arranged marriages, while high-born girls have their feet bound and are groomed for refined coquetry. The female role is rather sharply defined as either sexual object or domestic help.
This, it should go without saying, is not a moral worldview that Buck is promoting, but a rendition of things as she saw them. Since there is a long, problematic history of Chinese portrayals (or caricatures) in western culture, this can be troubling. There is always the inherent danger of promoting unfair or inaccurate stereotypes. At the same time, there is no denying that Buck wrote about what she witnessed, and that in a patriarchal milieu such as Wang Lung鈥檚, the general subordination of women was commonplace. Not just in China, obviously, but all over the world.
On the plus side, O-Lan is 鈥� in my opinion 鈥� the real hero of The Good Earth. She is described as homely and slow-witted, with her chief virtue being her doggedness. At least, that is how she is seen by Wang Lung. Anyone paying the slightest attention, however, will soon learn that she is indomitable, hickory-tough, and twice as clever as Wang Lung on his best day.
Many great novels are described as timeless. They work wherever and whenever you read them. The Good Earth is certainly a classic, but it is not timeless. It is of its time, and the way we view it will continue to vary and change. There are aspects of The Good Earth that will make it a nonstarter for many readers. For all that makes it discomfiting, or potentially discomfiting, I loved it.
Stripped of its trappings, The Good Earth is a moving and humane portrayal of one family鈥檚 journey. It is not always happy, and the ending is surprisingly dark. There are elements of King Lear and Anna Karenina, among other influences. But make no mistake, the intimacy, the empathy, and the unforgettable characters are all Pearl S. Buck.
October 2, 2024
Wang Lung on his wedding day gets up at dawn as usual, a poor Chinese farmer's son, who lives with his widowed old father, but is a very hardworking, strong, and ambitious young man, they occupy, a three room house made of dirt bricks, with a straw thatched roof. After getting his ill father hot water, feeding the ox and doing the rest of the chores, Wang for the second time in the year, takes a bath secretly, with the precious water , ashamed to waste it, for such an unnecessary thing, hiding from his father this dishonorable deed. Putting on his best clothes, going for a long walk later, to the Great House of Hwang, the guard at the gate mocks him, demands a bribe for entrance, everywhere laughs are heard, as the farmer travels through the large luxurious estate, with so many beautiful houses. Amazingly looking objects, the bridegroom sees, never knowing of their existence, meeting O-Lan, his bride, for the first time, she is a tall plain looking woman, an unwanted slave, in the great house, beaten everyday, for no apparent reason, maybe to keep strict discipline there. O-Lan was sold by her poor family at ten, and has worked as a slave ever since, she is about twenty years old... Talking to the Old Mistress of the house, scared of her Eminence, is the awed farmer, all had been arranged by his father, bringing the bride back home, no real wedding ceremony, the old one is happy that he will be a grandfather, hopefully soon, grandsons, the only ones that count in China, in the late 19th Century. The small wedding feast, just five guests, including his lazy uncle, younger brother of his father, his son (the cousin also indolent) and three neighbors, Wang and his woman are both virgins on their wedding night. O-Lan is also hard working, a fine cook, always taking care of the house, the old man , in the fields with her husband, giving birth alone, to many sons (daughters also), and then the same day going back to help with the plowing. Silently, without complaints, a perfect wife, if only she wasn't so bad looking Wang thinks... After good harvests, buying land from the faltering House of Hwang, a famine occurs, people are starving to death, the uncle , his wife and son, are always asking for food and money, from Wang, when there is none, Wang has to decide stay and maybe die or go south , with his family, to a city where food is in abundance and abandon his land , that he loves, maybe forever, his modest dreams crushed, the desperate struggles, the backbreaking work, the scorching Sun beating down, the freezing mornings, cold to the bone, done for nothing ? Spellbinding story of a destitute peasant family, climbing literally from rags to riches and encountering difficulties as the new Twentieth Century arrives. Can they survive the changing, callous world?
January 22, 2020
The story is absorbing and exquisitely written. A memorable classic that is a must for any book club or readers who enjoy well written historical fiction novels.
The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in a Chinese village in the early 20th century. It is the first book in a trilogy that includes Sons and A House Divided. It won the Pulitzer Prize and is considered a classic.
The novel is set in a timeless China and provides no exact dates although the author does provide subtle hints that the novel that it is just before the revolution. This is the story of Wang Lung a poor farmer in a small village who in the opening chapters of the book marries O-lan. They have four children together, three boys and one girl. With hard work and determination Wang Lung and to O-lan he build a life for their family but not without struggles and hardship.
This is my second reading of this classic and when this came up as an online group read I really looked forward to re-visiting this story because when I read a book like this with a reading group I tend to immerse myself more in the story and get a better understanding of the novel from the discussion after reading.
I think the characters are beautifully imagined and the story flows from beginning to end.
A novel that educates the reader about China, the Chinese people and their traditions and customs.
This is a novel that can be read and re-read and still the reader will never tire of its message and characters.
A great discussion novel and a book sits proudly on my real life book shelf.
The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in a Chinese village in the early 20th century. It is the first book in a trilogy that includes Sons and A House Divided. It won the Pulitzer Prize and is considered a classic.
The novel is set in a timeless China and provides no exact dates although the author does provide subtle hints that the novel that it is just before the revolution. This is the story of Wang Lung a poor farmer in a small village who in the opening chapters of the book marries O-lan. They have four children together, three boys and one girl. With hard work and determination Wang Lung and to O-lan he build a life for their family but not without struggles and hardship.
This is my second reading of this classic and when this came up as an online group read I really looked forward to re-visiting this story because when I read a book like this with a reading group I tend to immerse myself more in the story and get a better understanding of the novel from the discussion after reading.
I think the characters are beautifully imagined and the story flows from beginning to end.
A novel that educates the reader about China, the Chinese people and their traditions and customs.
This is a novel that can be read and re-read and still the reader will never tire of its message and characters.
A great discussion novel and a book sits proudly on my real life book shelf.
December 4, 2013
I really, really wish I hadn't google-searched 'foot binding' after reading this book.
In the tradition of a beloved college professor, I give The Good Earth a subtitle which reveals more of the moral stuff which fills it. Ahem. :
The Good Earth: Mo' Money, Mo' Problems.
The Good Earth is packed with cautionary tales of wealth and idleness, tradition and progression, and lust. Wow, the character studies one could do in this book! Just things I noticed:
- The very thing Wang Lung detested, O-lan's unbound feet, actually helped him produce his wealth because she could help him with the land, and do all of the labor in the house. Women with bound feet could move very little because it was excruciating to walk.
- With wealth came idleness and a detachment from the land. The antagonists of the story in the end were Wang Lung's own rich, idle sons. There was very rarely ever 'peace' in Wang Lung's house from the time he became rich to the end of the book. And in the times of peace, we see that Wang Lung blatantly ignored the problems and troubles in his house. Ignorance is bliss when you live with the likes of Lotus. Can I get a holla-back? ;)
In the tradition of a beloved college professor, I give The Good Earth a subtitle which reveals more of the moral stuff which fills it. Ahem. :
The Good Earth: Mo' Money, Mo' Problems.
The Good Earth is packed with cautionary tales of wealth and idleness, tradition and progression, and lust. Wow, the character studies one could do in this book! Just things I noticed:
- The very thing Wang Lung detested, O-lan's unbound feet, actually helped him produce his wealth because she could help him with the land, and do all of the labor in the house. Women with bound feet could move very little because it was excruciating to walk.
- With wealth came idleness and a detachment from the land. The antagonists of the story in the end were Wang Lung's own rich, idle sons. There was very rarely ever 'peace' in Wang Lung's house from the time he became rich to the end of the book. And in the times of peace, we see that Wang Lung blatantly ignored the problems and troubles in his house. Ignorance is bliss when you live with the likes of Lotus. Can I get a holla-back? ;)
February 27, 2011
Treasure of the Rubbermaids 6: Made in China
The on-going discoveries of priceless books and comics found in a stack of Rubbermaid containers previously stored and forgotten at my parent鈥檚 house and untouched for almost 20 years. Thanks to my father dumping them back on me, I now spend my spare time unearthing lost treasures from their plastic depths.
I bitch about having to mow my lawn, but when I鈥檓 done, I usually sit on my deck and have a few ice cold beers. Then I take a hot shower and get in my car to go to the grocery store where I buy a cart full of food without giving it a second thought.
Chinese farmer Wang Lung (I wanted to type Wang Chung there. Damn you 鈥�80s!) spends all day doing back breaking labor in his own fields and there鈥檚 still barely enough food to keep from starving. His big reward is a cup of hot water in the morning with maybe a few tea leaves in it on special occasions, and he sponges himself off with hot water every couple of months whether he needs it or not.
So maybe I shouldn鈥檛 complain about walking around behind a power mower for an hour or two a week during the summer?
The book begins on Wang Lung鈥檚 wedding day. His bride, O-Lan, is a slave in the great house of his town, and they鈥檝e never met. He splurges by taking a bath, buying her a couple of peaches, and getting a little pork and meat for their wedding feast which O-Lan prepares. For a honeymoon, they go work in the fields together. This whole section made me laugh thinking about the women on those reality wedding shows like Bridezillas.
Wang Lung and O-Lan make a good couple. They鈥檙e both hard working and she soon bears him sons which is kind of important to the Chinese. (And she returns to the fields right after giving birth with no assistance. O-Lan is a dream client for an HMO.) Together their family will go through bad times including droughts and famine, but O-Lan鈥檚 steady nature and Wang Lung鈥檚 farming skills eventually bring them prosperity.
The one thing that sets Wang Lung apart from other farmers is his constant desire to acquire new land. Part of this is pride, but Wang Lung realizes that owning good farm land is the key to providing the necessary cushion to keep from starving during bad years. Plus, he genuinely loves working his crops and bringing them to harvest. His fierce love of the land is the one constant in his life, but he obviously never went through a real estate crash. (Diversify, Wang Lung! Diversify!)
This book works on a lot of levels. As a depiction of a culture that little was known about when it was published, it鈥檚 fantastic. I liked how Buck never comments or judges on things that are kind of horrifying like selling girls for slaves or binding their feet, but treats them as just the way things are to all the characters. She just let the facts speak for themselves. It鈥檚 also works as a family drama with trials and tribulations worthy of a soap opera. You could also read it as a plain old rags-to-riches success story.
Despite being set in a time and place so alien to me, the characters still seem very real and relatable despite the cultural differences. Wang Lung doesn鈥檛 seem that different from any modern American farmer I鈥檝e known. I think it must be universal that farmers everywhere like to gather and shoot the shit whether it鈥檚 at a Chinese tea house or a diner in Kansas.
And when a successful Wang Lung experiences a mid-life crisis and falls for a younger woman, you realize that it鈥檚 no different from any modern guy divorcing the wife who stood by him for years. It鈥檚 just that the sports car hasn鈥檛 been invented yet so Wang Lung can鈥檛 go buy one.
This is one of those classics that has an easily readable style and a compelling story that still seems fresh even though it was published over 70 years ago.
The on-going discoveries of priceless books and comics found in a stack of Rubbermaid containers previously stored and forgotten at my parent鈥檚 house and untouched for almost 20 years. Thanks to my father dumping them back on me, I now spend my spare time unearthing lost treasures from their plastic depths.
I bitch about having to mow my lawn, but when I鈥檓 done, I usually sit on my deck and have a few ice cold beers. Then I take a hot shower and get in my car to go to the grocery store where I buy a cart full of food without giving it a second thought.
Chinese farmer Wang Lung (I wanted to type Wang Chung there. Damn you 鈥�80s!) spends all day doing back breaking labor in his own fields and there鈥檚 still barely enough food to keep from starving. His big reward is a cup of hot water in the morning with maybe a few tea leaves in it on special occasions, and he sponges himself off with hot water every couple of months whether he needs it or not.
So maybe I shouldn鈥檛 complain about walking around behind a power mower for an hour or two a week during the summer?
The book begins on Wang Lung鈥檚 wedding day. His bride, O-Lan, is a slave in the great house of his town, and they鈥檝e never met. He splurges by taking a bath, buying her a couple of peaches, and getting a little pork and meat for their wedding feast which O-Lan prepares. For a honeymoon, they go work in the fields together. This whole section made me laugh thinking about the women on those reality wedding shows like Bridezillas.
Wang Lung and O-Lan make a good couple. They鈥檙e both hard working and she soon bears him sons which is kind of important to the Chinese. (And she returns to the fields right after giving birth with no assistance. O-Lan is a dream client for an HMO.) Together their family will go through bad times including droughts and famine, but O-Lan鈥檚 steady nature and Wang Lung鈥檚 farming skills eventually bring them prosperity.
The one thing that sets Wang Lung apart from other farmers is his constant desire to acquire new land. Part of this is pride, but Wang Lung realizes that owning good farm land is the key to providing the necessary cushion to keep from starving during bad years. Plus, he genuinely loves working his crops and bringing them to harvest. His fierce love of the land is the one constant in his life, but he obviously never went through a real estate crash. (Diversify, Wang Lung! Diversify!)
This book works on a lot of levels. As a depiction of a culture that little was known about when it was published, it鈥檚 fantastic. I liked how Buck never comments or judges on things that are kind of horrifying like selling girls for slaves or binding their feet, but treats them as just the way things are to all the characters. She just let the facts speak for themselves. It鈥檚 also works as a family drama with trials and tribulations worthy of a soap opera. You could also read it as a plain old rags-to-riches success story.
Despite being set in a time and place so alien to me, the characters still seem very real and relatable despite the cultural differences. Wang Lung doesn鈥檛 seem that different from any modern American farmer I鈥檝e known. I think it must be universal that farmers everywhere like to gather and shoot the shit whether it鈥檚 at a Chinese tea house or a diner in Kansas.
And when a successful Wang Lung experiences a mid-life crisis and falls for a younger woman, you realize that it鈥檚 no different from any modern guy divorcing the wife who stood by him for years. It鈥檚 just that the sports car hasn鈥檛 been invented yet so Wang Lung can鈥檛 go buy one.
This is one of those classics that has an easily readable style and a compelling story that still seems fresh even though it was published over 70 years ago.
January 16, 2018
I found this to be an incredibly moving and humanistic story, full of anger, tragedy, joy, and the elements that make for a great novel. It's a story any person in any country can relate to. The writing is beautiful and reads like a parable more than straight documentation or history, which was her intent, and a tribute to many of the old Chinese tales I've read (now reading it at an older age, I see a lot of references and tributes to other Chinese works I had not known of before). That is also part of its allure and I don't know if I could have appreciated it as much if I had not read it when I was younger first. =)
February 9, 2017
It's not easy to explain how someone feels when they read a book that feels like it's a part of them, as if it will weave itself into the fabric of a soul and walk with someone through their life.
I save 5 stars for books that move me this deeply. Perhaps that's a bit unfair to all the other awesome books out there that might deserve it, but oh well. That's what 4 star ratings are for; besides, there has to be a way to acknowledge a book that is an all-time favorite and give it the respect it deserves for being so special.
Oh, if only all writers could write as well as Pearl S. Buck! Whether you love or hate this novel (some people feel very strongly about it either way), you can't deny that the author has major talent.
She writes with such descriptive fluidity, and maintains a current of understated humility, where she doesn't let herself get in the way of the story. I'm sorry, but too many people try to show off their skills and it's distracting. Just give us the story already, and let us see for ourselves.
No doubt you already know what this amazing book is about, so there's no need to rehash it since it's been said on here a thousand times. I just wanted to use this review to say how much I love her writing ability, and can't wait to read the other 2 books in the trilogy.
I save 5 stars for books that move me this deeply. Perhaps that's a bit unfair to all the other awesome books out there that might deserve it, but oh well. That's what 4 star ratings are for; besides, there has to be a way to acknowledge a book that is an all-time favorite and give it the respect it deserves for being so special.
Oh, if only all writers could write as well as Pearl S. Buck! Whether you love or hate this novel (some people feel very strongly about it either way), you can't deny that the author has major talent.
She writes with such descriptive fluidity, and maintains a current of understated humility, where she doesn't let herself get in the way of the story. I'm sorry, but too many people try to show off their skills and it's distracting. Just give us the story already, and let us see for ourselves.
No doubt you already know what this amazing book is about, so there's no need to rehash it since it's been said on here a thousand times. I just wanted to use this review to say how much I love her writing ability, and can't wait to read the other 2 books in the trilogy.
September 12, 2007
Written by Pearl S. Buck, an American citizen who spent most of her childhood and much of her adult life in China, in 1931. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. I've heard much about it, mostly about a moment in the story when a woman gives birth and then goes back to work in the fields the same day, and have wanted to read it for quite some time.
I think it's always intimidating to read a classic. They are usually reserved for English classes or intellectuals and I worry that my understanding won't be up to snuff. Here goes:
The story begins on Wang Lung's wedding day. He is a peasant farmer, in China, who goes to the house of a wealthy farmer to pick up the bride his father has arranged for him to have: a plain, unattractive slave whose feet have never been bound and appear hideous to him. Large feet notwithstanding, he quickly learns to admire his hard-working and frugal wife. With their hard work and savings, Wang climbs up the economic ladder by being able to buy additional land to farm on. It's ALL about the land, in Wang's opinion. Land is forever. Land cannot be taken away.
Sure enough, what I heard about birthing and returning to work in the fields the same day was true. O-Lan, Wang's wife, is this incredibly docile, unassuming woman. She's the kind of woman that made me feel like a slacker for sitting around reading a book. Or taking a few weeks off of going to church after having a baby. I longed for more O-Lan, but that wasn't what this book was about. There were moments when I saw her pain, when I understood that in this culture, no one really loved O-Lan, despite her humility and service. Not her parents, who probably considered having a girl a burden and sold her as a slave when she was very young, not her owners, not her husband, and eventually, not even her own children. Wang appreciated her but all his appreciation did was allow him to feel ashamed when he brought a concubine to the home.
The beauty of the book, to me, was the irony that Buck skillfully weaves throughout the story. The rise and fall of the House of Hwang, where O-Lan was a slave, parallels Wang Lung's own story. It's the whole Nephite Pride Cycle! In fact, Buck's style of writing felt a bit like reading the scriptures. It was written dispassionately, even when writing about the character's passion. I also appreciated the Epic nature of the story. There is something to be learned from the successes and the tragedies.
As much as I liked it, and I liked it very much, I wasn't completely smitten. I read some of the original reviews which led to the Pulitzer Award, and most of them focus on the groundbreaking honest look into China. Apparently, up until that time, China, or the Orient, was poorly understood and most of the stories about it were romanticized and mystifying. Buck wrote about the China she saw, the day to day work and customs, the glory of sons to their families and the disregard to their daughters. While many parts of the story transcends time, parts of it felt obsolete and simple. Kind of like the first of anything. An original...yes. Groundbreaking...definitely. But then other books follow suit and readers have a choice of style and characters. I've read several books before that tell the chilling tale of peasant life in China. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan each detail the beauty, simplicity, horror and hardship of pre and post revolutionary China. Perhaps that exposure kept me from truly loving this story. Or maybe my expectations were too high.
No doubt, some of you who did read this in a class and had the opportunity to dissect it with an instructor, see what I am missing. If so...please share.
Until being convinced otherwise, my opinion is that this is a great book. Definitely a classic. But not one of my favorites.
I think it's always intimidating to read a classic. They are usually reserved for English classes or intellectuals and I worry that my understanding won't be up to snuff. Here goes:
The story begins on Wang Lung's wedding day. He is a peasant farmer, in China, who goes to the house of a wealthy farmer to pick up the bride his father has arranged for him to have: a plain, unattractive slave whose feet have never been bound and appear hideous to him. Large feet notwithstanding, he quickly learns to admire his hard-working and frugal wife. With their hard work and savings, Wang climbs up the economic ladder by being able to buy additional land to farm on. It's ALL about the land, in Wang's opinion. Land is forever. Land cannot be taken away.
Sure enough, what I heard about birthing and returning to work in the fields the same day was true. O-Lan, Wang's wife, is this incredibly docile, unassuming woman. She's the kind of woman that made me feel like a slacker for sitting around reading a book. Or taking a few weeks off of going to church after having a baby. I longed for more O-Lan, but that wasn't what this book was about. There were moments when I saw her pain, when I understood that in this culture, no one really loved O-Lan, despite her humility and service. Not her parents, who probably considered having a girl a burden and sold her as a slave when she was very young, not her owners, not her husband, and eventually, not even her own children. Wang appreciated her but all his appreciation did was allow him to feel ashamed when he brought a concubine to the home.
The beauty of the book, to me, was the irony that Buck skillfully weaves throughout the story. The rise and fall of the House of Hwang, where O-Lan was a slave, parallels Wang Lung's own story. It's the whole Nephite Pride Cycle! In fact, Buck's style of writing felt a bit like reading the scriptures. It was written dispassionately, even when writing about the character's passion. I also appreciated the Epic nature of the story. There is something to be learned from the successes and the tragedies.
As much as I liked it, and I liked it very much, I wasn't completely smitten. I read some of the original reviews which led to the Pulitzer Award, and most of them focus on the groundbreaking honest look into China. Apparently, up until that time, China, or the Orient, was poorly understood and most of the stories about it were romanticized and mystifying. Buck wrote about the China she saw, the day to day work and customs, the glory of sons to their families and the disregard to their daughters. While many parts of the story transcends time, parts of it felt obsolete and simple. Kind of like the first of anything. An original...yes. Groundbreaking...definitely. But then other books follow suit and readers have a choice of style and characters. I've read several books before that tell the chilling tale of peasant life in China. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan each detail the beauty, simplicity, horror and hardship of pre and post revolutionary China. Perhaps that exposure kept me from truly loving this story. Or maybe my expectations were too high.
No doubt, some of you who did read this in a class and had the opportunity to dissect it with an instructor, see what I am missing. If so...please share.
Until being convinced otherwise, my opinion is that this is a great book. Definitely a classic. But not one of my favorites.
February 18, 2019
This is one hell of a classic. I kept thinking of during the first half of this read this and kept wondering at it. Poverty, want, great toil, and then even more want filled these pages. The Good Earth came out 8 years before Steinbeck's masterpiece and yet my biggest wonder is why the Good Earth isn't better known, more well known, than Steinbeck.
Is it because it happens to Chinese characters rather than Okies from Oklahoma?
Let's let that question pass on by for a moment because this book deserves to stand on its own worth. The Earth is indeed the source of all wealth... but definitely not all sorrow. Some, sure, but most of the sorrow in these pages are created by those who do not understand or work the land. This is an important point. As important as that in Candide, but more poignant, emotional, and effective in this novel.
High praise? I think so. And well deserved.
I will like classics of all types for many different reasons, but some are much more impactful to me than others.
This one has that punch. Glorious, wonderful, sad, and so cruel. Life, with tragedy and small bits of joy here and there... but what an epic! This ought to be on the required reading lists except for one small point... it should be enjoyed and cherished without coercion. :)
Is it because it happens to Chinese characters rather than Okies from Oklahoma?
Let's let that question pass on by for a moment because this book deserves to stand on its own worth. The Earth is indeed the source of all wealth... but definitely not all sorrow. Some, sure, but most of the sorrow in these pages are created by those who do not understand or work the land. This is an important point. As important as that in Candide, but more poignant, emotional, and effective in this novel.
High praise? I think so. And well deserved.
I will like classics of all types for many different reasons, but some are much more impactful to me than others.
This one has that punch. Glorious, wonderful, sad, and so cruel. Life, with tragedy and small bits of joy here and there... but what an epic! This ought to be on the required reading lists except for one small point... it should be enjoyed and cherished without coercion. :)
September 8, 2023
蹖 賯氐賴 蹖 讴賴賳 丕賲丕 賴賳賵夭 倬乇 鬲讴乇丕乇...
禺丕讴 禺賵亘 賳賴 鬲賳賴丕 乇賵丕蹖鬲 夭丨賲鬲 賵 夭賲蹖賳賴貙 讴賴 賯氐賴 蹖 乇蹖卮賴 賴丕 賵 倬蹖卮蹖賳賴 賴丕爻鬲.
丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 趩賳丿 賳爻賱 賵 丿蹖丿诏丕賴卮賵賳 賳爻亘鬲 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳貙 夭賳丿诏蹖貙 丕夭丿賵丕噩 賵 孬乇賵鬲 丕賳丿賵夭蹖 乇賵 丿乇 亘乇 賲蹖诏蹖乇賴.
賱丕賳诏 讴賴 丿乇 夭賳丿诏蹖貙 噩夭 讴丕乇 爻賳诏蹖賳貙 鬲賳诏丿爻鬲蹖 賵 爻蹖丕賴蹖 賳丿蹖丿賴貙 亘賴 賵丕爻胤賴 蹖 丕夭丿賵丕噩 亘丕 讴賳蹖夭蹖 乇賵蹖 夭賲蹖賳 倬丕 爻賮鬲 賲蹖讴賳賴 賵 爻乇卮 乇賵 亘賴 爻賲鬲 丌爻賲賵賳 賲蹖诏蹖乇賴... 诏乇趩賴 丿賳蹖丕 賴賲蹖卮賴 亘賴 蹖讴 丕賳丿丕夭賴 禺賵卮蹖 賵 賳毓賲鬲 亘賴卮 乇賵丕 賳賲蹖丿丕乇賴 丕賲丕 亘毓丿 賵乇賵丿 賵 賴賲鬲 丕蹖賳 讴賳蹖夭貙 乇丕賴 賲賵賮賯蹖鬲 賵 丕毓鬲亘丕乇 亘乇丕蹖 賱丕賳诏 賴賲賵丕乇 賲蹖卮賴.
丕蹖賳 孬乇賵鬲貙 丕蹖丿賴 丌賱 賴丕蹖 賱丕賳诏 乇賵 鬲睾蹖蹖乇 賲蹖丿賴 丕賲丕 亘丕夭 賴賲 賮賯胤 亘丕夭诏卮鬲 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 賵 賱賲爻卮貙 亘乇丕蹖 丕賵賳 丨爻 丕賲賳蹖鬲 賵 鬲爻賱蹖 禺丕胤乇 乇賵 亘賴 賴賲乇丕賴 賲蹖丕乇賴.
禺丕讴 禺賵亘貙 乇賵丕蹖鬲 鬲乇丕跇蹖讴 丿蹖诏賴 丕蹖 丕夭 夭賳丿诏蹖 乇賵 賴賲 賳卮賵賳 賲蹖丿賴貙 夭賳蹖 讴賴 賴賲蹖卮賴 鬲丨賯蹖乇 卮丿賴貙 亘丕賵乇賴丕卮 丕夭 丕乇夭卮賲賳丿 亘賵丿賳卮 丕夭 賴賲賵賳 丕亘鬲丿丕 賱诏丿賲丕賱 卮丿賴貙 鬲丕亘 丕賵乇丿賳 賵 倬賵爻鬲 讴賱賮鬲蹖 亘賴卮 鬲丨賲蹖賱 卮丿賴貙 賵 毓丕丿鬲 讴乇丿賴 賮乇丕鬲乇 丕夭 噩爻賲 賵 乇賵丨卮 亘丕乇 夭賳丿诏蹖 乇賵 亘賴 丿賵卮 亘讴卮賴貙 丨鬲蹖 賵賯鬲蹖 亘丕 乇賳噩 賵 鬲賱丕卮貙 亘賴 孬亘丕鬲 賲丕賱蹖 賲蹖乇爻賴貙 丌爻丕蹖卮 賵 乇賮丕賴 乇賵 丨賯 禺賵丿卮 賳賲蹖 丿賵賳賴貙 賵 鬲丕 倬丕蹖丕賳 毓賲乇貙 爻賴賲卮 丕夭 夭賳丿诏蹖 爻讴賵鬲貙 丨爻乇鬲貙 賳诏丕賴 賵 丌乇夭賵蹖 禺賵卮亘禺鬲蹖 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 卮 賲蹖卮賴.
丕賲丕 賱丕賳诏貙 亘丕 賵噩賵丿 卮乇賲賳丿诏蹖 丿乇 賲賯丕亘賱 爻丕夭诏丕乇蹖 賵 賮丿丕讴丕乇蹖 賴丕蹖 丕蹖賳 夭賳貙 賴賲蹖卮賴 亘丕 賳诏丕賴蹖 丕夭 亘丕賱丕 丕賵賳 乇賵 亘丕 夭賳 賴丕蹖 乇賳诏 賵 賱毓丕亘 丿丕乇 賯賴賵賴 禺丕賳賴 賴丕 賲賯丕蹖爻賴 賲蹖讴賳賴 賵 丿乇 賳賴丕蹖鬲 亘禺卮蹖 丕夭 丨丕氐賱 丕蹖賳 鬲賱丕卮 亘蹖 趩卮賲丿丕卮鬲 乇賵 亘丕 丿爻鬲 賵 丿賱亘丕夭蹖 丿乇 賲爻蹖乇 賴賵爻 賴丕卮 賵 賲禺賮蹖 讴乇丿賳 丕氐賱 禺賵丿卮 賴夭蹖賳賴 賲蹖讴賳賴...
賳讴鬲賴 丕蹖 讴賴 賲賲讴賳 亘賵丿 亘丕 亘賴鬲乇 倬乇丿丕禺鬲賳貙 讴賲蹖 爻胤丨 讴鬲丕亘 乇賵 亘乇丕蹖 賲賳 鬲睾蹖蹖乇 亘丿賴 乇丿 倬丕蹖 噩賳诏 亘賵丿貙 丕賱亘鬲賴 丕卮丕乇賴 丕蹖 讴賵趩讴 亘賴 丕毓賱丕賲蹖賴 賴丕蹖蹖 讴賴 毓賱鬲 賮賯乇 乇賵 倬賵賱丿丕乇賴丕 賲蹖丿賵賳爻鬲貙 鬲讴丕賳 讴賵趩讴蹖 亘賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丿丕丿 丕賲丕 丿乇 丨賵丕卮蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖 賱丕賳诏鈥� 丕賴賲蹖鬲卮賵賳 诏賲 卮丿:
"毓噩亘 噩丕賴賱 賵 賳賮賴賲蹖 賴爻鬲蹖 鬲賵 讴賴 賴賳賵夭 賲賵賴丕蹖 爻乇鬲 乇丕 賲蹖 亘丕賮蹖貙 賵 賲孬賱 丿賲 丌賵蹖夭丕賳 賲蹖 讴賳蹖! 賵賯鬲蹖 亘丕乇丕賳 賳蹖丕蹖丿 讴賴 讴爻蹖 賳賲蹖鈥屫堌з嗀� 丌賳 乇丕 亘亘丕乇丕賳丿. 丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 亘賴 賲丕 趩賴 乇亘胤蹖 丿丕乇丿責 丕诏乇 倬賵賱 丿丕乇 賴丕 丌賳趩賴 丿丕乇賳丿 亘丕 賲丕 賯爻賲鬲 讴賳賳丿貙 亘丕乇蹖丿賳 蹖丕 賳亘丕乇蹖丿賳 亘丕乇丕賳 亘乇丕蹖 讴爻蹖 鬲賮丕賵鬲 賳賲蹖 讴乇丿 趩賵賳 讴賴 賴賲賴 倬賵賱 賵 禺賵乇丕讴 丿丕卮鬲賳丿."
丿丕爻鬲丕賳 亘丿蹖 賳丿丕乇賴貙 乇賵丕蹖鬲 蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖賴 丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 賳讴鬲賴 丕蹖 賳丿丕乇賴 讴賴 丕夭 亘賯蹖賴 蹖 讴鬲丕亘 賴丕蹖 賲卮丕亘賴 賲鬲賲丕蹖夭卮 讴賳賴!
禺丕讴 禺賵亘 賳賴 鬲賳賴丕 乇賵丕蹖鬲 夭丨賲鬲 賵 夭賲蹖賳賴貙 讴賴 賯氐賴 蹖 乇蹖卮賴 賴丕 賵 倬蹖卮蹖賳賴 賴丕爻鬲.
丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 趩賳丿 賳爻賱 賵 丿蹖丿诏丕賴卮賵賳 賳爻亘鬲 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳貙 夭賳丿诏蹖貙 丕夭丿賵丕噩 賵 孬乇賵鬲 丕賳丿賵夭蹖 乇賵 丿乇 亘乇 賲蹖诏蹖乇賴.
賱丕賳诏 讴賴 丿乇 夭賳丿诏蹖貙 噩夭 讴丕乇 爻賳诏蹖賳貙 鬲賳诏丿爻鬲蹖 賵 爻蹖丕賴蹖 賳丿蹖丿賴貙 亘賴 賵丕爻胤賴 蹖 丕夭丿賵丕噩 亘丕 讴賳蹖夭蹖 乇賵蹖 夭賲蹖賳 倬丕 爻賮鬲 賲蹖讴賳賴 賵 爻乇卮 乇賵 亘賴 爻賲鬲 丌爻賲賵賳 賲蹖诏蹖乇賴... 诏乇趩賴 丿賳蹖丕 賴賲蹖卮賴 亘賴 蹖讴 丕賳丿丕夭賴 禺賵卮蹖 賵 賳毓賲鬲 亘賴卮 乇賵丕 賳賲蹖丿丕乇賴 丕賲丕 亘毓丿 賵乇賵丿 賵 賴賲鬲 丕蹖賳 讴賳蹖夭貙 乇丕賴 賲賵賮賯蹖鬲 賵 丕毓鬲亘丕乇 亘乇丕蹖 賱丕賳诏 賴賲賵丕乇 賲蹖卮賴.
丕蹖賳 孬乇賵鬲貙 丕蹖丿賴 丌賱 賴丕蹖 賱丕賳诏 乇賵 鬲睾蹖蹖乇 賲蹖丿賴 丕賲丕 亘丕夭 賴賲 賮賯胤 亘丕夭诏卮鬲 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 賵 賱賲爻卮貙 亘乇丕蹖 丕賵賳 丨爻 丕賲賳蹖鬲 賵 鬲爻賱蹖 禺丕胤乇 乇賵 亘賴 賴賲乇丕賴 賲蹖丕乇賴.
禺丕讴 禺賵亘貙 乇賵丕蹖鬲 鬲乇丕跇蹖讴 丿蹖诏賴 丕蹖 丕夭 夭賳丿诏蹖 乇賵 賴賲 賳卮賵賳 賲蹖丿賴貙 夭賳蹖 讴賴 賴賲蹖卮賴 鬲丨賯蹖乇 卮丿賴貙 亘丕賵乇賴丕卮 丕夭 丕乇夭卮賲賳丿 亘賵丿賳卮 丕夭 賴賲賵賳 丕亘鬲丿丕 賱诏丿賲丕賱 卮丿賴貙 鬲丕亘 丕賵乇丿賳 賵 倬賵爻鬲 讴賱賮鬲蹖 亘賴卮 鬲丨賲蹖賱 卮丿賴貙 賵 毓丕丿鬲 讴乇丿賴 賮乇丕鬲乇 丕夭 噩爻賲 賵 乇賵丨卮 亘丕乇 夭賳丿诏蹖 乇賵 亘賴 丿賵卮 亘讴卮賴貙 丨鬲蹖 賵賯鬲蹖 亘丕 乇賳噩 賵 鬲賱丕卮貙 亘賴 孬亘丕鬲 賲丕賱蹖 賲蹖乇爻賴貙 丌爻丕蹖卮 賵 乇賮丕賴 乇賵 丨賯 禺賵丿卮 賳賲蹖 丿賵賳賴貙 賵 鬲丕 倬丕蹖丕賳 毓賲乇貙 爻賴賲卮 丕夭 夭賳丿诏蹖 爻讴賵鬲貙 丨爻乇鬲貙 賳诏丕賴 賵 丌乇夭賵蹖 禺賵卮亘禺鬲蹖 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 卮 賲蹖卮賴.
丕賲丕 賱丕賳诏貙 亘丕 賵噩賵丿 卮乇賲賳丿诏蹖 丿乇 賲賯丕亘賱 爻丕夭诏丕乇蹖 賵 賮丿丕讴丕乇蹖 賴丕蹖 丕蹖賳 夭賳貙 賴賲蹖卮賴 亘丕 賳诏丕賴蹖 丕夭 亘丕賱丕 丕賵賳 乇賵 亘丕 夭賳 賴丕蹖 乇賳诏 賵 賱毓丕亘 丿丕乇 賯賴賵賴 禺丕賳賴 賴丕 賲賯丕蹖爻賴 賲蹖讴賳賴 賵 丿乇 賳賴丕蹖鬲 亘禺卮蹖 丕夭 丨丕氐賱 丕蹖賳 鬲賱丕卮 亘蹖 趩卮賲丿丕卮鬲 乇賵 亘丕 丿爻鬲 賵 丿賱亘丕夭蹖 丿乇 賲爻蹖乇 賴賵爻 賴丕卮 賵 賲禺賮蹖 讴乇丿賳 丕氐賱 禺賵丿卮 賴夭蹖賳賴 賲蹖讴賳賴...
賳讴鬲賴 丕蹖 讴賴 賲賲讴賳 亘賵丿 亘丕 亘賴鬲乇 倬乇丿丕禺鬲賳貙 讴賲蹖 爻胤丨 讴鬲丕亘 乇賵 亘乇丕蹖 賲賳 鬲睾蹖蹖乇 亘丿賴 乇丿 倬丕蹖 噩賳诏 亘賵丿貙 丕賱亘鬲賴 丕卮丕乇賴 丕蹖 讴賵趩讴 亘賴 丕毓賱丕賲蹖賴 賴丕蹖蹖 讴賴 毓賱鬲 賮賯乇 乇賵 倬賵賱丿丕乇賴丕 賲蹖丿賵賳爻鬲貙 鬲讴丕賳 讴賵趩讴蹖 亘賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丿丕丿 丕賲丕 丿乇 丨賵丕卮蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖 賱丕賳诏鈥� 丕賴賲蹖鬲卮賵賳 诏賲 卮丿:
"毓噩亘 噩丕賴賱 賵 賳賮賴賲蹖 賴爻鬲蹖 鬲賵 讴賴 賴賳賵夭 賲賵賴丕蹖 爻乇鬲 乇丕 賲蹖 亘丕賮蹖貙 賵 賲孬賱 丿賲 丌賵蹖夭丕賳 賲蹖 讴賳蹖! 賵賯鬲蹖 亘丕乇丕賳 賳蹖丕蹖丿 讴賴 讴爻蹖 賳賲蹖鈥屫堌з嗀� 丌賳 乇丕 亘亘丕乇丕賳丿. 丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 亘賴 賲丕 趩賴 乇亘胤蹖 丿丕乇丿責 丕诏乇 倬賵賱 丿丕乇 賴丕 丌賳趩賴 丿丕乇賳丿 亘丕 賲丕 賯爻賲鬲 讴賳賳丿貙 亘丕乇蹖丿賳 蹖丕 賳亘丕乇蹖丿賳 亘丕乇丕賳 亘乇丕蹖 讴爻蹖 鬲賮丕賵鬲 賳賲蹖 讴乇丿 趩賵賳 讴賴 賴賲賴 倬賵賱 賵 禺賵乇丕讴 丿丕卮鬲賳丿."
丿丕爻鬲丕賳 亘丿蹖 賳丿丕乇賴貙 乇賵丕蹖鬲 蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖賴 丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 賳讴鬲賴 丕蹖 賳丿丕乇賴 讴賴 丕夭 亘賯蹖賴 蹖 讴鬲丕亘 賴丕蹖 賲卮丕亘賴 賲鬲賲丕蹖夭卮 讴賳賴!
July 1, 2018
卮禺氐 亘賱丕 兀乇囟貙 卮禺氐 亘賱丕 噩匕賵乇
賲賳 丕賱乇賵丕賷丕鬲 丕賱鬲賶 卮毓乇鬲 亘賰賲 賴丕卅賱 賲賳 丕賱賲卮丕毓乇 賵 丕賳丕 兀賯乇兀賴丕貙 亘丿丕賷丞 賲賳 丕賱鬲毓丕胤賮 賲毓 匕賱賰 丕賱賮賱丕丨 丕賱亘丕卅爻 賮賷 氐乇丕毓賴 賲毓 丨賷丕丞 賯丕爻賷丞 貙氐乇丕毓 賲乇賷乇 賷亘丿賵 亘賱丕 賳賴丕賷丞 賲毓 馗乇賵賮 兀賯賵賶 賲賳 賯丿乇鬲賴 丕賱亘爻賷胤丞 毓賱賶 賲賯丕賵賲鬲賴丕貙 賲乇賵乇丕賸 亘乇丨賱鬲賴 丕賱卮丕賯丞 賱賱丨賮丕馗 毓賱賶 兀乇囟賴 亘毓丿 兀賳 兀亘鬲爻賲 賱賴 丕賱賯丿乇 兀禺賷乇丕賸 賱賷賳鬲賯賱 賲賳 丕賱賮丕賯丞 廿賱賶 毓丕賱賲 丕賱孬乇丕亍 丿賵賳 兀賳 賷賮賯丿 噩匕賵乇賴 賰賮賱丕丨 賷毓乇賮 賯賷賲丞 丕賱兀乇囟 賵 賷賯丿爻賴丕
賵氐賮 丕賱賰丕鬲亘丞 賰丕賳 兀賰孬乇 賲賳 乇丕卅毓 賵 亘禺丕氐丞 賮賷 丕賱賮氐賵賱 丕賱兀賵賱賶 賲賳 丕賱賰鬲丕亘 賵 丕賱匕賶 匕賰乇賳賷 亘乇丕卅毓丞 毓亘丿丕賱乇丨賲賳 丕賱卮乇賯丕賵賷"丕賱兀乇囟" 賵 賷亘丿賵 兀賳 賲毓丕賳丕丞 丕賱亘卮乇 賲毓 丕賱丕乇囟 賵丕丨丿丞 賲賴賲丕 兀禺鬲賱賮 丕賱賲賰丕賳貙 丕賱賳賴丕賷丞 兀賷囟丕賸 乇睾賲 賯爻賵鬲賴丕 賰丕賳鬲 賲賲賷夭丞 賵 賲毓亘乇丞貙 丕賱亘胤賱"賵丕賳睾" 賷鬲禺賱賶 毓賳 夭賵噩鬲賴"丕賵賱丕賳" 亘毓丿 兀賳 胤乇賯 丕賱孬乇丕亍 亘丕亘賴 賲鬲賳丕爻賷丕賸 乇丨賱鬲賴丕 丕賱卮丕賯丞 賲毓賴貙 賱賷鬲禺賱賶 兀賵賱丕丿賴 毓賳 丕賱兀乇囟 丕賱鬲賶 胤丕賱賲丕 兀賮賳賷 丨賷丕鬲賴 賮賷 禺丿賲鬲賴丕貙 賱賷胤睾賶 亘乇賷賯 丕賱賲丕賱 毓賱賶 兀賶 兀賳鬲賲丕亍 賱賱兀乇囟 賮賷 賳賴丕賷丞 丨夭賷賳丞 賱賱毓賲賱 賱賰賳賴丕 賵丕賯毓賷丞 賵 賲賲賷夭丞
賰鬲丕亘 乇丕卅毓 賵 兀爻鬲丨賯鬲 毓賳賴 丕賱賰丕鬲亘丞 丕賱賮賵夭 亘噩丕卅夭丞 賳賵亘賱 毓賳 噩丿丕乇丞
賲賳 丕賱乇賵丕賷丕鬲 丕賱鬲賶 卮毓乇鬲 亘賰賲 賴丕卅賱 賲賳 丕賱賲卮丕毓乇 賵 丕賳丕 兀賯乇兀賴丕貙 亘丿丕賷丞 賲賳 丕賱鬲毓丕胤賮 賲毓 匕賱賰 丕賱賮賱丕丨 丕賱亘丕卅爻 賮賷 氐乇丕毓賴 賲毓 丨賷丕丞 賯丕爻賷丞 貙氐乇丕毓 賲乇賷乇 賷亘丿賵 亘賱丕 賳賴丕賷丞 賲毓 馗乇賵賮 兀賯賵賶 賲賳 賯丿乇鬲賴 丕賱亘爻賷胤丞 毓賱賶 賲賯丕賵賲鬲賴丕貙 賲乇賵乇丕賸 亘乇丨賱鬲賴 丕賱卮丕賯丞 賱賱丨賮丕馗 毓賱賶 兀乇囟賴 亘毓丿 兀賳 兀亘鬲爻賲 賱賴 丕賱賯丿乇 兀禺賷乇丕賸 賱賷賳鬲賯賱 賲賳 丕賱賮丕賯丞 廿賱賶 毓丕賱賲 丕賱孬乇丕亍 丿賵賳 兀賳 賷賮賯丿 噩匕賵乇賴 賰賮賱丕丨 賷毓乇賮 賯賷賲丞 丕賱兀乇囟 賵 賷賯丿爻賴丕
賵氐賮 丕賱賰丕鬲亘丞 賰丕賳 兀賰孬乇 賲賳 乇丕卅毓 賵 亘禺丕氐丞 賮賷 丕賱賮氐賵賱 丕賱兀賵賱賶 賲賳 丕賱賰鬲丕亘 賵 丕賱匕賶 匕賰乇賳賷 亘乇丕卅毓丞 毓亘丿丕賱乇丨賲賳 丕賱卮乇賯丕賵賷"丕賱兀乇囟" 賵 賷亘丿賵 兀賳 賲毓丕賳丕丞 丕賱亘卮乇 賲毓 丕賱丕乇囟 賵丕丨丿丞 賲賴賲丕 兀禺鬲賱賮 丕賱賲賰丕賳貙 丕賱賳賴丕賷丞 兀賷囟丕賸 乇睾賲 賯爻賵鬲賴丕 賰丕賳鬲 賲賲賷夭丞 賵 賲毓亘乇丞貙 丕賱亘胤賱"賵丕賳睾" 賷鬲禺賱賶 毓賳 夭賵噩鬲賴"丕賵賱丕賳" 亘毓丿 兀賳 胤乇賯 丕賱孬乇丕亍 亘丕亘賴 賲鬲賳丕爻賷丕賸 乇丨賱鬲賴丕 丕賱卮丕賯丞 賲毓賴貙 賱賷鬲禺賱賶 兀賵賱丕丿賴 毓賳 丕賱兀乇囟 丕賱鬲賶 胤丕賱賲丕 兀賮賳賷 丨賷丕鬲賴 賮賷 禺丿賲鬲賴丕貙 賱賷胤睾賶 亘乇賷賯 丕賱賲丕賱 毓賱賶 兀賶 兀賳鬲賲丕亍 賱賱兀乇囟 賮賷 賳賴丕賷丞 丨夭賷賳丞 賱賱毓賲賱 賱賰賳賴丕 賵丕賯毓賷丞 賵 賲賲賷夭丞
賰鬲丕亘 乇丕卅毓 賵 兀爻鬲丨賯鬲 毓賳賴 丕賱賰丕鬲亘丞 丕賱賮賵夭 亘噩丕卅夭丞 賳賵亘賱 毓賳 噩丿丕乇丞
February 6, 2020
Great book, loved it. It's rags to riches then back to rags. I loved the way the book describes the way of life in China. I highly recommend.
August 13, 2008
When the earth suffers, women suffer-- when women suffer the earth suffers. I think this is what Buck captured so beautifully in her book. She is a brilliant feminist writer!
Through her character O-lan, Buck makes the argument that all of man's (in the story Wang-lung)increase and prosperity comes because of his reliance on the "good earth", which refers not only to his land but also to his good woman. Without his woman he would have had none of the prosperity he enjoys! The tragedy is that he doesn't appreciate what he has and the woman suffers. My heart just ached for O-lan and she reminded me that so many woman in the world live similar lives. So many women bring forth fruit, raise it and cultivate it, in silence. They are trampled on, destroyed and unappreciated.
Life would cease to exist without the earth, just as life would cease to exist without women.
Through her character O-lan, Buck makes the argument that all of man's (in the story Wang-lung)increase and prosperity comes because of his reliance on the "good earth", which refers not only to his land but also to his good woman. Without his woman he would have had none of the prosperity he enjoys! The tragedy is that he doesn't appreciate what he has and the woman suffers. My heart just ached for O-lan and she reminded me that so many woman in the world live similar lives. So many women bring forth fruit, raise it and cultivate it, in silence. They are trampled on, destroyed and unappreciated.
Life would cease to exist without the earth, just as life would cease to exist without women.
August 1, 2024
倬乇賱 亘丕讴貙 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴鈥屰� 丕賲乇蹖讴丕蹖蹖 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 賳蹖賲蹖 丕夭 夭賳丿诏蹖鈥屫ж� 乇丕 丿乇 趩蹖賳 诏匕乇丕賳丿賴貙 丿乇 讴賵丿讴蹖 賴賲乇丕賴 倬丿乇卮 亘乇丕蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖 亘賴 趩蹖賳 乇賮鬲賴 賵 賴賲蹖賳 亘丕毓孬 卮丿賴 亘丕 禺乇丕賮丕鬲貙 丌丿丕亘 賵 乇爻賵賲 賵 乇丕賴 賵 乇爻賲 夭賳丿诏蹖 丌賳鈥屬囏� 亘蹖卮鬲乇 丌卮賳丕 亘卮賴 賵 馗丕賴乇丕 丌孬丕乇 夭蹖丕丿蹖 丿乇 亘丕亘 賮乇賴賳诏 趩蹖賳 賳賵卮鬲賴 賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏й屰� 丿乇 賲賵乇丿 丕蹖賳 讴卮賵乇 丿丕乇賴. 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 賴賲 亘乇賳丿賴鈥屰� 噩丕蹖夭賴 賳賵亘賱 卮丿賴. 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 讴鬲丕亘 丕夭 丌賳鈥屫й屰� 卮乇賵毓 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 讴賴 賵賳诏 賱丕賳诏 噩賵丕賳蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 噩丕蹖 禺丕賱蹖 賲丕丿乇卮 乇丕 丿乇 夭賳丿诏蹖 亘爻蹖丕乇 丨爻 賲蹖讴賳丿 賵 賴賲乇丕賴 倬丿乇 倬蹖乇卮 丿乇 乇賵爻鬲丕蹖蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀�. 夭賳丿诏蹖 丌賳鈥屬囏� 亘丕 賮賯乇 賵 賲卮賯鬲 賴賲乇丕賴 賴爻鬲 賵賱蹖 丌賳鈥屬囏� 亘賴 蹖讴 趩蹖夭 丕賲蹖丿 丿丕乇賳丿 賵 丌賳鈥� 賴賲 夭賲蹖賳卮丕賳 丕爻鬲. 賵賳诏 賱丕賳诏 丕夭丿賵丕噩 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 賵 胤蹖 爻丕賱蹖丕賳 孬乇賵鬲賲賳丿 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 丕賱亘鬲賴 亘丕 爻禺鬲鈥屭┵堌篡� 賵 丕賳乇跇蹖 賵 賵賯鬲蹖 讴賴 亘乇丕蹖 讴丕乇 讴乇丿賳 賵 賮乇夭賳丿丕賳卮 賲蹖诏匕丕乇賴 賵 賴賲蹖賳胤賵乇 诏匕乇丕賳丿賳 乇賵夭賴丕蹖 爻禺鬲鈥屫臂� 讴賴 賴賲賵賳 乇賵夭賴丕 亘丕毓孬 乇爻蹖丿賳 亘賴 丕蹖賳 孬乇賵鬲 卮丿賴... 賵賱蹖 丿乇 賵噩賵丿 賴乇 丌丿賲蹖 爻丕蹖賴鈥屬囏й� 鬲丕乇蹖讴蹖 賵噩賵丿 丿丕乇賴 讴賴 賵賯鬲蹖 亘蹖丿丕乇 賲蹖卮賳貙 禺賵丿卮賲 丕夭 丿乇讴 丌賳鈥屬囏� 毓丕噩夭賴... 讴鬲丕亘 禺賵亘 賵 乇賵丕賳蹖 亘賵丿.
February 27, 2025
Published in 1931, The Good Earth was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. Author Pearl S. Buck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. She was the first American woman to win both the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes. Pearl spent her life working continuously on behalf of underprivileged children.
Although Pearl Buck was born in West Virginia in 1892, she grew up in rural China where her parents were missionaries. The Good Earth is based on her own observations of rural village life in China in the early 20th century.
As I was reading this classic, I had the feeling I was reading a parable, a reminder of important life lessons.
The story is a cycle of life, rags to riches saga of one peasant farmer and his family. We are reminded that our sustenance comes from the earth. There is a deep connection between man and the land. Working hard to acquire wealth is not necessarily a bad thing, but too often the rise to wealth and status can result in the breakdown of traditional values. Obsession with land and wealth can lead to moral corruption.
Pearl focuses also on the role of woman in rural China during this period. The farmer鈥檚 wife, O-Lan, is one of the most sympathetic female characters I have come across. With humble beginnings as a slave in the home of a rich family, she is long-suffering and loyal. She works hard. She works in the field, goes inside to give birth, cleans the birthing area, and returns to the field to work some more. Even after the family has acquired some land and wealth, it doesn鈥檛 change her. She is strong and clever. However, I kept hoping she would speak up and become a better self-advocate. That was not her way. Her internal dialogue is not revealed, and it would be incredible if an author used this character and wrote a spin narrative for O-Lan the way Percival Everett did for James.
Overall, this was an enjoyable reading experience of an enduring classic.
Although Pearl Buck was born in West Virginia in 1892, she grew up in rural China where her parents were missionaries. The Good Earth is based on her own observations of rural village life in China in the early 20th century.
As I was reading this classic, I had the feeling I was reading a parable, a reminder of important life lessons.
The story is a cycle of life, rags to riches saga of one peasant farmer and his family. We are reminded that our sustenance comes from the earth. There is a deep connection between man and the land. Working hard to acquire wealth is not necessarily a bad thing, but too often the rise to wealth and status can result in the breakdown of traditional values. Obsession with land and wealth can lead to moral corruption.
Pearl focuses also on the role of woman in rural China during this period. The farmer鈥檚 wife, O-Lan, is one of the most sympathetic female characters I have come across. With humble beginnings as a slave in the home of a rich family, she is long-suffering and loyal. She works hard. She works in the field, goes inside to give birth, cleans the birthing area, and returns to the field to work some more. Even after the family has acquired some land and wealth, it doesn鈥檛 change her. She is strong and clever. However, I kept hoping she would speak up and become a better self-advocate. That was not her way. Her internal dialogue is not revealed, and it would be incredible if an author used this character and wrote a spin narrative for O-Lan the way Percival Everett did for James.
Overall, this was an enjoyable reading experience of an enduring classic.
June 8, 2024
Published in 1931 and made into an Oscar winning movie in 1937, The Good Earth owes much of its popularity to the Depression. There were two options for Americans who didn't leap from a building or leave the country. You could sit in the dark of a cinema and watch rich people in gowns and tuxedos drink champagne and enter into comic/romantic situations OR you could watch the tearjerkers and other tales of even harder lives than your own. The Good Earth falls into the latter category on the screen as well as the page.
Whatever is happening to your bank balance or in your romantic life, this book will touch you.It's a very human story of good and bad fortune and the curve balls you don't see coming. If you want to visit China, go. I did when it first opened up. But don't confuse this novel with a copy of Fodor's or a Lonely Planet guide. Buck lived in China and knew it at a particular time. For something more up to date read Timothy Mo's Sour Sweet about Chinese immigrants in London. You may still order sweet and sour sauce, but won't look at it the same way again.
Whatever is happening to your bank balance or in your romantic life, this book will touch you.It's a very human story of good and bad fortune and the curve balls you don't see coming. If you want to visit China, go. I did when it first opened up. But don't confuse this novel with a copy of Fodor's or a Lonely Planet guide. Buck lived in China and knew it at a particular time. For something more up to date read Timothy Mo's Sour Sweet about Chinese immigrants in London. You may still order sweet and sour sauce, but won't look at it the same way again.
November 1, 2023
乇賲丕賳賶 丕夭 禺丕賳賲 倬乇賱 亘丕賰 賰賴 亘丕 賯氐賴 賴丕賷賷 賰賴 丿乇 诏匕卮鬲賴 賲丕丿乇亘夭乇诏 賴丕 賵倬丿乇 亘夭乇诏 賴丕 亘乇丕賶 賳賵賴 賴丕 賵 亘趩賴 賴丕 鬲毓乇賷賮 賲賶 賰乇丿賳丿 賴賲 乇丿賷賮 賵賷賰爻丕賳 丕爻鬲.卮賷乇賷賳貙噩匕丕亘 賵賰賲賶 倬賳丿 丌賲賵夭 賵丿賷诏乇 賴賷趩..!
禺丕賰 禺賵亘 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賵賮丕丿丕乇賶 賵倬賳丕賴 噩爻鬲賳 丕賳爻丕賳 賵丌丿賲賶 丕爻鬲 亘賴 夭賲賷賳貙亘賴 賰賵卮卮 賵 鬲賱丕卮 丿乇 禺丕賰賶 賰賴 丨丕氐賱 丌賳 丕賲賷丿 丕爻鬲.亘賴 毓卮賯 賵賲賴乇賶 賰賴 丕夭 禺丕賰 噩丕賳 賲賶 诏賷乇丿 賵噩丕賳 賲賶 亘禺卮丿.
诏賵賷丕 賳賵賷爻賳丿賴 丌賲乇賷賰丕賷賷 亘丕 鬲噩乇亘賴 夭賷爻鬲賳 胤賵賱丕賳賶 賲丿鬲 丿乇 賰卮賵乇 趩賷賳 賵 噩賴鬲 卮賳丕爻丕賳丿賳 賵賲毓乇賮賶 賮乇賴賳诏 賵 囟毓賷鬲 夭賳丿诏賶 丌賳 爻乇夭賲賷賳貙亘賴 賳诏丕乇卮 丕賷賳 乇賲丕賳 賴賲鬲 賵乇夭賷丿.
乇賲丕賳賶 賰賴 丕賵賱賷賳 賳賵亘賱 丕丿亘賷丕鬲 亘乇丕賶 禺丕賳賲賶 丕夭 賰卮賵乇 丌賲乇賷賰丕 乇丕 亘賴 丕夭賲睾丕賳 丌賵乇丿.
賰鬲丕亘 賳賯賱 夭賳丿诏賶 賲乇丿賶 丕爻鬲 丕夭 趩賷賳 丿乇 夭賲丕賳賴 賯亘賱 丕夭 丕賳賯賱丕亘 賵亘丨亘賵丨賴 爻丕賱賴丕賶 噩賳诏 丿丕禺賱賶 賰賴 亘丕 卮乇賵毓 賰鬲丕亘 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 丕賶 鬲卮賰賷賱 賲賶 丿賴丿 賵 亘丕 賲卮賯鬲 賵鬲賱丕卮 亘乇 乇賵賶 禺丕賰 賵賰卮丕賵乇夭賶貙丕夭 賮賯乇 賵鬲賴賷丿爻鬲賶 亘賴 孬乇賵鬲 賵乇賮丕賴 賲賶 乇爻丿 賵 丿乇 丕賵噩 乇賮丕賴 賵孬乇賵鬲 賲睾賱賵亘 丌乇夭賵賴丕 賵 丨爻乇鬲 賴丕 賵 賱匕鬲 噩賵丕賳賶 賳賰乇丿賴 禺賵丿 賲賶 卮賵丿.賵爻倬爻 賴賲賷賳 丨爻乇鬲 賴丕 賵毓賯丿賴 賴丕賶 丿賵乇丕賳 賳丿丕乇賶 賲氐丕卅亘 賵賲卮賰賱丕鬲賶 丿乇 賲賷丕賳爻丕賱賶 亘乇丕賷 丕賷賳 賰卮丕賵乇夭 夭丨賲鬲 賰卮 亘賴 亘丕乇 賲賶 丌賵乇丿.賴乇趩賳丿
丕賷賳 乇爻賷丿賳 亘賴 乇賮丕賴 賵 孬乇賵鬲 賵 卮賵賰鬲貨 毓賱丕賵賴 亘乇 亘禺鬲 賵 丕賯亘丕賱 乇賵夭诏丕乇 賵 賰賵卮卮 賵鬲賱丕卮 賲乇丿 賰卮丕賵乇夭貙亘賷卮鬲乇 賲丿賷賵賳 賮丿丕賰丕乇賶 賵诏匕卮鬲 賴賲爻乇 丕賷賳 賰卮丕賵乇夭 丕爻鬲.賴賲爻乇賶 賰賴 亘丕 鬲賵噩賴 亘賴 賮乇賴賳诏 賵賯鬲 賰卮賵乇 趩賷賳 賰賳賷夭 賳丕賲 賲賶 诏賷乇丿 賵 賴賲趩賵賳 賷賰 賰賳賷夭 賰丕乇 賲賶 賰賳丿 賵噩丕賳 賲賶 丿賴丿 賵 丕夭 禺賵丿 賵 夭賳丿诏賶 丿爻鬲 賲賶 卮賵乇丿 賵 亘乇丕賶 乇卮丿 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 賵賲乇丿 禺賵丿 丨鬲賶 丿賲 賴賲 賳賲賶 夭賳丿. 鬲丕噩丕賷賷 賰賴 禺賵丕賳賳丿賴 賮賰乇 賲賶 賰賳丿 卮丕賷丿 丌乇夭賵 賰乇丿賳 賵丨鬲賶 賮賰乇 賰乇丿賳 亘賴 禺賷丕賱賶 禺賵卮 賴賲 丿乇 鬲賵丕賳 丕賵 賳賷爻鬲.夭賳賶 賵 賰賳賷夭賶 賰賴 丿乇 丕賷賳 卮賰賱 賵賳賵毓 丕賳鬲禺丕亘 亘乇丕賶 夭賷爻鬲賳 賵 夭賳丿诏賶 賲卮鬲乇賰貙毓賱丕賵賴 亘乇 鬲丕孬賷乇 诏乇賮鬲賳 丕夭 卮乇丕賷胤 賵 噩亘乇 乇賵夭诏丕乇貙賳賯卮 賮乇賴賳诏 賵丌丿丕亘 賵賯鬲 賰卮賵乇 趩賷賳 丿乇 賳诏丕賴 亘賴 夭賳 賵噩賳爻 賲賵賳孬 丿乇 丌賳 丿賷丿賴 賲賶 卮賵丿.賮乇賴賳诏 賵 爻賳賳賶 丕夭 賰卮賵乇賶 丿乇 禺丕賵乇 丿賵乇 卮亘賷賴 亘賴 丕賷乇丕賳 賲丕 丿乇 賴賲丕賳 亘丕夭賴 夭賲丕賳賶貙賰卮賵乇賶 丿乇 賲賷丕賳賴 禺丕賵乇賲賷丕賳賴.
賵 爻倬爻 賳爻賱賶 賰賴 賮乇夭賳丿丕賳 丕賷賳 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 賴爻鬲賳丿 賵 亘乇 丨爻亘 卮乇丕賷胤 賵鬲睾賷乇 夭賲丕賳賴 賵亘丕賵乇賴丕 丕夭 禺丕賰賶 賰賴 丌賳丕賳 乇丕 亘乇丕賮賱丕賰 乇爻丕賳丿 丿賵乇賶 賲賶 賰賳賳丿 賵 亘賴 毓賷卮 賵賱匕鬲 亘乇丿賳 丿爻鬲乇賳噩 倬丿乇 賲卮睾賵賱 賲賶 卮賵賳丿.
鬲乇噩賲賴 乇賲丕賳 亘丕 丕賷賳賰賴 賲乇亘賵胤 亘賴 丿賴賴伽贍卮賲爻賶 丕爻鬲 乇賵丕賳 賵禺賵卮禺賵丕賳 丕爻鬲 賵賱賶 賳丕卮乇賷賳 賰鬲丕亘 賲賶 鬲賵丕賳爻鬲賳丿 亘乇丕賶 亘毓囟賶 丕夭 丕鬲賮丕賯丕鬲 賵 賲爻丕卅賱 亘丕 丕賮夭賵丿賳 丕賳丿賰賶 鬲賵囟賷丨丕鬲 賵 丕卮丕乇賴 亘賴 賵賯丕賷毓 賵 乇賵賷丿丕丿賴丕 丿乇 賯丕賱亘 倬賶 賳賵卮鬲 噩匕丕亘賷鬲 亘賴鬲乇 賵 鬲氐賵賷乇 乇賵卮賳 鬲乇賶 亘乇丕賶 禺賵丕賳賳丿賴 賰鬲丕亘 丕亘噩丕丿 賳賲丕賷賳丿.
禺丕賰 禺賵亘 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賵賮丕丿丕乇賶 賵倬賳丕賴 噩爻鬲賳 丕賳爻丕賳 賵丌丿賲賶 丕爻鬲 亘賴 夭賲賷賳貙亘賴 賰賵卮卮 賵 鬲賱丕卮 丿乇 禺丕賰賶 賰賴 丨丕氐賱 丌賳 丕賲賷丿 丕爻鬲.亘賴 毓卮賯 賵賲賴乇賶 賰賴 丕夭 禺丕賰 噩丕賳 賲賶 诏賷乇丿 賵噩丕賳 賲賶 亘禺卮丿.
诏賵賷丕 賳賵賷爻賳丿賴 丌賲乇賷賰丕賷賷 亘丕 鬲噩乇亘賴 夭賷爻鬲賳 胤賵賱丕賳賶 賲丿鬲 丿乇 賰卮賵乇 趩賷賳 賵 噩賴鬲 卮賳丕爻丕賳丿賳 賵賲毓乇賮賶 賮乇賴賳诏 賵 囟毓賷鬲 夭賳丿诏賶 丌賳 爻乇夭賲賷賳貙亘賴 賳诏丕乇卮 丕賷賳 乇賲丕賳 賴賲鬲 賵乇夭賷丿.
乇賲丕賳賶 賰賴 丕賵賱賷賳 賳賵亘賱 丕丿亘賷丕鬲 亘乇丕賶 禺丕賳賲賶 丕夭 賰卮賵乇 丌賲乇賷賰丕 乇丕 亘賴 丕夭賲睾丕賳 丌賵乇丿.
賰鬲丕亘 賳賯賱 夭賳丿诏賶 賲乇丿賶 丕爻鬲 丕夭 趩賷賳 丿乇 夭賲丕賳賴 賯亘賱 丕夭 丕賳賯賱丕亘 賵亘丨亘賵丨賴 爻丕賱賴丕賶 噩賳诏 丿丕禺賱賶 賰賴 亘丕 卮乇賵毓 賰鬲丕亘 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 丕賶 鬲卮賰賷賱 賲賶 丿賴丿 賵 亘丕 賲卮賯鬲 賵鬲賱丕卮 亘乇 乇賵賶 禺丕賰 賵賰卮丕賵乇夭賶貙丕夭 賮賯乇 賵鬲賴賷丿爻鬲賶 亘賴 孬乇賵鬲 賵乇賮丕賴 賲賶 乇爻丿 賵 丿乇 丕賵噩 乇賮丕賴 賵孬乇賵鬲 賲睾賱賵亘 丌乇夭賵賴丕 賵 丨爻乇鬲 賴丕 賵 賱匕鬲 噩賵丕賳賶 賳賰乇丿賴 禺賵丿 賲賶 卮賵丿.賵爻倬爻 賴賲賷賳 丨爻乇鬲 賴丕 賵毓賯丿賴 賴丕賶 丿賵乇丕賳 賳丿丕乇賶 賲氐丕卅亘 賵賲卮賰賱丕鬲賶 丿乇 賲賷丕賳爻丕賱賶 亘乇丕賷 丕賷賳 賰卮丕賵乇夭 夭丨賲鬲 賰卮 亘賴 亘丕乇 賲賶 丌賵乇丿.賴乇趩賳丿
丕賷賳 乇爻賷丿賳 亘賴 乇賮丕賴 賵 孬乇賵鬲 賵 卮賵賰鬲貨 毓賱丕賵賴 亘乇 亘禺鬲 賵 丕賯亘丕賱 乇賵夭诏丕乇 賵 賰賵卮卮 賵鬲賱丕卮 賲乇丿 賰卮丕賵乇夭貙亘賷卮鬲乇 賲丿賷賵賳 賮丿丕賰丕乇賶 賵诏匕卮鬲 賴賲爻乇 丕賷賳 賰卮丕賵乇夭 丕爻鬲.賴賲爻乇賶 賰賴 亘丕 鬲賵噩賴 亘賴 賮乇賴賳诏 賵賯鬲 賰卮賵乇 趩賷賳 賰賳賷夭 賳丕賲 賲賶 诏賷乇丿 賵 賴賲趩賵賳 賷賰 賰賳賷夭 賰丕乇 賲賶 賰賳丿 賵噩丕賳 賲賶 丿賴丿 賵 丕夭 禺賵丿 賵 夭賳丿诏賶 丿爻鬲 賲賶 卮賵乇丿 賵 亘乇丕賶 乇卮丿 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 賵賲乇丿 禺賵丿 丨鬲賶 丿賲 賴賲 賳賲賶 夭賳丿. 鬲丕噩丕賷賷 賰賴 禺賵丕賳賳丿賴 賮賰乇 賲賶 賰賳丿 卮丕賷丿 丌乇夭賵 賰乇丿賳 賵丨鬲賶 賮賰乇 賰乇丿賳 亘賴 禺賷丕賱賶 禺賵卮 賴賲 丿乇 鬲賵丕賳 丕賵 賳賷爻鬲.夭賳賶 賵 賰賳賷夭賶 賰賴 丿乇 丕賷賳 卮賰賱 賵賳賵毓 丕賳鬲禺丕亘 亘乇丕賶 夭賷爻鬲賳 賵 夭賳丿诏賶 賲卮鬲乇賰貙毓賱丕賵賴 亘乇 鬲丕孬賷乇 诏乇賮鬲賳 丕夭 卮乇丕賷胤 賵 噩亘乇 乇賵夭诏丕乇貙賳賯卮 賮乇賴賳诏 賵丌丿丕亘 賵賯鬲 賰卮賵乇 趩賷賳 丿乇 賳诏丕賴 亘賴 夭賳 賵噩賳爻 賲賵賳孬 丿乇 丌賳 丿賷丿賴 賲賶 卮賵丿.賮乇賴賳诏 賵 爻賳賳賶 丕夭 賰卮賵乇賶 丿乇 禺丕賵乇 丿賵乇 卮亘賷賴 亘賴 丕賷乇丕賳 賲丕 丿乇 賴賲丕賳 亘丕夭賴 夭賲丕賳賶貙賰卮賵乇賶 丿乇 賲賷丕賳賴 禺丕賵乇賲賷丕賳賴.
賵 爻倬爻 賳爻賱賶 賰賴 賮乇夭賳丿丕賳 丕賷賳 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 賴爻鬲賳丿 賵 亘乇 丨爻亘 卮乇丕賷胤 賵鬲睾賷乇 夭賲丕賳賴 賵亘丕賵乇賴丕 丕夭 禺丕賰賶 賰賴 丌賳丕賳 乇丕 亘乇丕賮賱丕賰 乇爻丕賳丿 丿賵乇賶 賲賶 賰賳賳丿 賵 亘賴 毓賷卮 賵賱匕鬲 亘乇丿賳 丿爻鬲乇賳噩 倬丿乇 賲卮睾賵賱 賲賶 卮賵賳丿.
鬲乇噩賲賴 乇賲丕賳 亘丕 丕賷賳賰賴 賲乇亘賵胤 亘賴 丿賴賴伽贍卮賲爻賶 丕爻鬲 乇賵丕賳 賵禺賵卮禺賵丕賳 丕爻鬲 賵賱賶 賳丕卮乇賷賳 賰鬲丕亘 賲賶 鬲賵丕賳爻鬲賳丿 亘乇丕賶 亘毓囟賶 丕夭 丕鬲賮丕賯丕鬲 賵 賲爻丕卅賱 亘丕 丕賮夭賵丿賳 丕賳丿賰賶 鬲賵囟賷丨丕鬲 賵 丕卮丕乇賴 亘賴 賵賯丕賷毓 賵 乇賵賷丿丕丿賴丕 丿乇 賯丕賱亘 倬賶 賳賵卮鬲 噩匕丕亘賷鬲 亘賴鬲乇 賵 鬲氐賵賷乇 乇賵卮賳 鬲乇賶 亘乇丕賶 禺賵丕賳賳丿賴 賰鬲丕亘 丕亘噩丕丿 賳賲丕賷賳丿.
January 1, 2016
This book is a hard one to rate. I found the book difficult to read emotionally, but knew all the while that it was brilliant.
It was sad to see how Wang Lung's obsession with land ruined his potential for happiness. And it seemed that with more money came more difficult problems.
The cycle of the rich House of Hwang turning into the farmer's house-with all its disgusting rich-people habits--was the most brilliant part of all. And it began with him buying that bit of land even before all the real problems began. I guess I should have realized this was a problem for him when he chose to use his meagre earnings to buy more land than save to feed his little family.
I really despised Wang Lung, while I loved O-lan. How could he not have loved her for what she had given to him, so humbly and silently? Couldn't he find her beauty despite her physical appearance? After O-lan died, I seriously wanted Wang Lung to suffer. I was hoping his house would be robbed like the rich houses that were pillaged by robbers "when the rich get too rich."
I found it ironic, however, at the end when Wang Lung's biggest comforts came in the form of daughters (those daughters that were so useless they called them "slaves" and merely shrugged when they were born)--with his "little fool" as he called her and Peach Blossom, who was like a daughter to him. While his sons caused him nothing but trouble.
There is so much to mention here, I feel like I should have taken notes. But I feel that this is definitely a book worth reading, although it was hard. But the lesson here was learned: lusting after money/land will only bring hardship.
It was sad to see how Wang Lung's obsession with land ruined his potential for happiness. And it seemed that with more money came more difficult problems.
The cycle of the rich House of Hwang turning into the farmer's house-with all its disgusting rich-people habits--was the most brilliant part of all. And it began with him buying that bit of land even before all the real problems began. I guess I should have realized this was a problem for him when he chose to use his meagre earnings to buy more land than save to feed his little family.
I really despised Wang Lung, while I loved O-lan. How could he not have loved her for what she had given to him, so humbly and silently? Couldn't he find her beauty despite her physical appearance? After O-lan died, I seriously wanted Wang Lung to suffer. I was hoping his house would be robbed like the rich houses that were pillaged by robbers "when the rich get too rich."
I found it ironic, however, at the end when Wang Lung's biggest comforts came in the form of daughters (those daughters that were so useless they called them "slaves" and merely shrugged when they were born)--with his "little fool" as he called her and Peach Blossom, who was like a daughter to him. While his sons caused him nothing but trouble.
There is so much to mention here, I feel like I should have taken notes. But I feel that this is definitely a book worth reading, although it was hard. But the lesson here was learned: lusting after money/land will only bring hardship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2025
may have been published almost a hundred years ago, but it was still an unputdownable read in 2025.
It's just a good story, that's all there is to it. The characters are complex and memorable; the trials they go through are harrowing and heartrending. Even though Buck鈥檚 protagonist is a man, much of the story here is the tragic tale of women and girls: the position of wives, the disposability of daughters sold as slaves, the treatment of sex workers, and the pain and horror of foot binding.
O-lan, especially, got to me. She was a brilliant, hardworking, courageous woman, ignored and largely unloved because of her plain appearance. Poor O-lan, she deserved so much better in so many ways.
Buck did something quite brilliant with Wang Lung, her protagonist, because not many authors can introduce me to a man who is, in turn, deeply selfish, occasionally violent, and even, at times, predatory, and still manage to evoke sympathy for them. But she did. Somehow, he worked. His love for his family, especially his disabled daughter, and his deep emotional ties to his land, warmed me to him.
I just can't believe that was the last line of the book. I turned the page, looking for a next chapter that wasn't there. I hadn't even planned to read the sequel with it being less highly-rated, but maybe I have to?
It's just a good story, that's all there is to it. The characters are complex and memorable; the trials they go through are harrowing and heartrending. Even though Buck鈥檚 protagonist is a man, much of the story here is the tragic tale of women and girls: the position of wives, the disposability of daughters sold as slaves, the treatment of sex workers, and the pain and horror of foot binding.
O-lan, especially, got to me. She was a brilliant, hardworking, courageous woman, ignored and largely unloved because of her plain appearance. Poor O-lan, she deserved so much better in so many ways.
Buck did something quite brilliant with Wang Lung, her protagonist, because not many authors can introduce me to a man who is, in turn, deeply selfish, occasionally violent, and even, at times, predatory, and still manage to evoke sympathy for them. But she did. Somehow, he worked. His love for his family, especially his disabled daughter, and his deep emotional ties to his land, warmed me to him.
I just can't believe that was the last line of the book. I turned the page, looking for a next chapter that wasn't there. I hadn't even planned to read the sequel with it being less highly-rated, but maybe I have to?
October 7, 2015
This is an engaging family history, and the way an unsympathetic character mellows is well done. However, the fact that Buck's parents were missionaries is demonstrated by a dated writing style that is reminiscent of the King James Bible. Although not preachy in content, I found the tone increasingly incongruous and irritating, though I was still keen to read to the end of the story.
It tells of Wang Lung's life from young adulthood till old age, in rural China before the second world war, though the protagonists are only vaguely aware of distant upheavals. He is a peasant farmer, in need of a wife, but without the means to be an attractive prospect. He marries an unattractive slave from the big Hwang house (local landowners) and it is one of his best decisions: O-lan is skilled, shrewd, very hardworking, loyal and deferential. He becomes proud of her, and this raises his ambitions. As they have some success, the permeation of the Biblical language makes the reader expect a fall.
As the title implies, land is at the heart of the book and is Wang Lung's true love. He is a farmer who lives for the land and from it, and whatever the ups and downs of his life, he never loses that deep bond. He is nourished by it in every sense and is lost when he is unable to tend it, whether through drought, flood or old age. "It was true that all their lives depended upon the earth." When he has a little silver, he is conscious that it came from the earth so naturally having more land is "the desire of his heart". He even uses earth to hide silver that is not invested in land. "It is the end of a family - when they begin to sell the land. No one can rob you of land." (Sadly untrue in Communist China.) Land is also his escape, "as was his wont when the affairs of his house became too deep for him, he took a hoe and he went to his fields".
Wang Lung is a man of his time and place, so he is autocratic and sees girls as a worthless burden or commodity - and yet he does love his disabled daughter ("poor fool") and, sometimes, care for his wife (though he never fully appreciates all that she does for him). As the book progresses, Buck is keen to contrast Wang Lung's darker side with his gentler one, "he was a man so soft-hearted that he could not kill an ox" and who buys a starving child as a slave, but pets and protects her. Such instances are all the more poignant because they seem slightly transgressive in his world.
Although Wang Lung's love of the land never diminishes, in later sections, the quest for domestic peace within his extended family is a more significant driving force than the quest for land, yet this doesn't derail the narrative or change the characters in an implausible way.
The other, far odder, change in the final third or so is that suddenly most of the characters develop the habit of prefacing almost everything they said with "Well, and". I haven't run a word count, but it suddenly became very noticeable, and remained so, in a way that was distracting and increasingly annoying.
Biblical notes: Here is a passage that sounded very like a New Testament parable:
"'Sell me the little parcel of land that you have and leave your lonely house and come into my house and help me with my land.' And X did this and was glad to do so."
In another section, sex with a prostitute proves unfulfilling in a way that was very reminiscent of Jesus telling the woman at the well that if she drank the water of life she would not be thirsty again.
It tells of Wang Lung's life from young adulthood till old age, in rural China before the second world war, though the protagonists are only vaguely aware of distant upheavals. He is a peasant farmer, in need of a wife, but without the means to be an attractive prospect. He marries an unattractive slave from the big Hwang house (local landowners) and it is one of his best decisions: O-lan is skilled, shrewd, very hardworking, loyal and deferential. He becomes proud of her, and this raises his ambitions. As they have some success, the permeation of the Biblical language makes the reader expect a fall.
As the title implies, land is at the heart of the book and is Wang Lung's true love. He is a farmer who lives for the land and from it, and whatever the ups and downs of his life, he never loses that deep bond. He is nourished by it in every sense and is lost when he is unable to tend it, whether through drought, flood or old age. "It was true that all their lives depended upon the earth." When he has a little silver, he is conscious that it came from the earth so naturally having more land is "the desire of his heart". He even uses earth to hide silver that is not invested in land. "It is the end of a family - when they begin to sell the land. No one can rob you of land." (Sadly untrue in Communist China.) Land is also his escape, "as was his wont when the affairs of his house became too deep for him, he took a hoe and he went to his fields".
Wang Lung is a man of his time and place, so he is autocratic and sees girls as a worthless burden or commodity - and yet he does love his disabled daughter ("poor fool") and, sometimes, care for his wife (though he never fully appreciates all that she does for him). As the book progresses, Buck is keen to contrast Wang Lung's darker side with his gentler one, "he was a man so soft-hearted that he could not kill an ox" and who buys a starving child as a slave, but pets and protects her. Such instances are all the more poignant because they seem slightly transgressive in his world.
Although Wang Lung's love of the land never diminishes, in later sections, the quest for domestic peace within his extended family is a more significant driving force than the quest for land, yet this doesn't derail the narrative or change the characters in an implausible way.
The other, far odder, change in the final third or so is that suddenly most of the characters develop the habit of prefacing almost everything they said with "Well, and". I haven't run a word count, but it suddenly became very noticeable, and remained so, in a way that was distracting and increasingly annoying.
Biblical notes: Here is a passage that sounded very like a New Testament parable:
"'Sell me the little parcel of land that you have and leave your lonely house and come into my house and help me with my land.' And X did this and was glad to do so."
In another section, sex with a prostitute proves unfulfilling in a way that was very reminiscent of Jesus telling the woman at the well that if she drank the water of life she would not be thirsty again.
October 27, 2017
鈥庁堌池з嗁� 诏乇丕賳賯丿乇貙 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴贁 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 <倬乇賱 亘讴>貙 丿賵乇丕賳賽 讴賵丿讴蹖 禺賵蹖卮 乇丕 丿乇 趩蹖賳 诏匕乇丕賳丿 賵 丿乇 賴賲丕賳噩丕 賳蹖夭 丿乇爻 禺賵丕賳丿.. 丕賵 毓丕卮賯賽 爻乇夭賲蹖賳賽 趩蹖賳 丕爻鬲 賵 趩蹖賳 乇丕 賯賱亘 賵 乇賵丨賽 禺賵丿 賲蹖丿丕賳丿... 賵蹖 鬲賵丕賳爻鬲 賮乇賴賳诏 賵 夭賳丿诏蹖賽 賲乇丿賲丕賳賽 趩蹖賳 乇丕 亘賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕蹖蹖丕賳 賵 丕乇賵倬丕卅蹖丕賳 卮賳丕爻丕賳丿賴 賵 亘丕 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖卮 賮乇賴賳诏賴丕蹖 丕蹖賳 賲乇丿賲丕賳 乇丕 亘賴 蹖讴丿蹖诏乇 倬蹖賵賳丿 亘夭賳丿 賵 丿乇 丕蹖賳 乇丕賴 噩丕蹖夭賴贁 賳賵亘賱 乇丕 賳蹖夭 讴爻亘 賳賲賵丿
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鈥庁� 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳貙 <賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏> 丿賴賯丕賳蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 禺賵丿 乇丕 丕夭 夭賲蹖賳 賲蹖丿丕賳丿 賵 鬲賲丕賲賽 夭賳丿诏蹖 禺賵蹖卮 乇丕 賮丿丕蹖賽 夭賲蹖賳 讴乇丿賴 丕爻鬲 賵 毓卮賯 丿蹖賵丕賳賴 賵丕乇蹖 賳爻亘鬲 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 丿丕乇丿 ... 丕賵 丨丕囟乇 丕爻鬲 丌亘 乇丕 丕夭 賮乇夭賳丿丕賳卮 丿乇蹖睾 讴賳丿貙 賵賱蹖 賴賲丕賳 丌亘 乇丕 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 亘丿賴丿
鈥庂囐呚池辟� 丕賵 <丕購賵-賱丕賳> 賳丕賲 丿丕乇丿 賵 丕夭 丌賳噩丕蹖蹖 讴賴 倬蹖卮 丕夭 丕夭丿賵丕噩 亘丕 賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏 讴賳蹖夭 賵 亘乇丿賴贁 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴贁 亘夭乇诏 賵 夭賲蹖賳丿丕乇 <賴賵丕賳诏> 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 亘賳丕亘乇丕蹖賳 亘賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 丿乇 賴乇 卮乇丕蹖胤蹖 亘丕 賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏貙 卮丕丿 賵 禺乇爻賳丿 丕爻鬲
鈥庂囐堌з嗂� 倬蹖乇貙 乇卅蹖爻 禺丕賳丿丕賳賽 亘夭乇诏賽 賴賵丕賳诏貙 夭賳丿诏蹖 賵 丿丕乇丕蹖蹖 丕卮 亘賴 禺胤乇 賲蹖 丕賮鬲丿貙 趩乇丕讴賴 賮爻丕丿 賵 丕毓鬲蹖丕丿 亘賴 鬲乇蹖丕讴貙 丕蹖賳 禺丕賳丿丕賳 乇丕 亘賴 亘蹖趩丕乇诏蹖 賲蹖讴卮丕賳丿
鈥庂堌з嗂� 賱賵賳诏 丕夭 丕蹖賳 賮乇氐鬲 丕爻鬲賮丕丿賴 讴乇丿賴 賵 亘禺卮蹖 丕夭 夭賲蹖賳 賴丕蹖賽 禺丕賳丿丕賳賽 賴賵丕賳诏 乇丕 禺乇蹖丿丕乇蹖 賲蹖讴賳丿 鬲丕 丿乇 乇丕賴賽 倬蹖卮乇賮鬲貙 诏丕賲 亘夭乇诏蹖 亘乇丿丕乇丿... 賵賱蹖 丕夭 卮丕賳爻賽 亘丿賽 丕賵貙 噩賳诏 賵 丕賳賯賱丕亘 賵 卮賵乇卮 賵 禺卮讴爻丕賱蹖貙 亘賴 蹖讴亘丕乇賴 禺爻丕乇鬲 賴丕蹖賽 夭蹖丕丿蹖 亘賴 丕賵 賵 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 丕卮 賵丕乇丿 賲蹖讴賳丿.... 丌賳賴丕 倬爻 丕夭 鬲丨賲賱賽 亘丿亘禺鬲蹖 賴丕蹖賽 賮乇丕賵丕賳貙 爻乇丕賳噩丕賲 丿乇 乇丕賴賽 夭賲蹖賳丿丕乇蹖 賵 讴卮丕賵乇夭蹖貙 亘賴 禺賵卮亘禺鬲蹖 丿爻鬲 倬蹖丿丕 賲蹖讴賳賳丿
鈥庂矩� 丕夭 诏匕卮鬲賽 夭賲丕賳貙 賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏 倬蹖乇 賲蹖卮賵丿 賵 夭賲蹖賳賴丕蹖卮 乇丕 亘乇丕蹖 賮乇夭賳丿丕賳卮 亘賴 丕乇孬 賲蹖诏匕丕乇丿... 賵賱蹖 賮乇夭賳丿丕賳卮 賴賲趩賵賳 倬丿乇卮丕賳 賳爻亘鬲 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 毓卮賯 賵 鬲毓氐亘 賳丿丕卮鬲賴 賵 鬲氐賲蹖賲 賲蹖诏蹖乇賳丿 鬲丕 夭賲蹖賳賴丕 乇丕 亘賴 賮乇賵卮 亘乇爻丕賳賳丿
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鈥庁促呚ж辟囐� 亘毓丿蹖賽 丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳貙 亘丕 毓賳賵丕賳賽 "倬爻乇丕賳 禺丕賳丿丕賳賽 賵丕賳诏" 丕夭 丌賳噩丕蹖蹖 丌睾丕夭 賲蹖卮賵丿 讴賴 倬爻乇丕賳賽 丕蹖賳 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴: 賵丕賳诏賽 亘夭乇诏貙 賵丕賳诏 丿賵賲 賵 賵丕賳诏 爻賵賲 蹖丕 賴賲丕賳 亘亘乇貙 夭賲蹖賳賴丕 乇丕 亘蹖賳 蹖讴丿蹖诏乇 鬲賯爻蹖賲 讴乇丿賴 賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 亘賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 丌賳賴丕 賵 賳賵丕丿賴 賴丕蹖賽 賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏貙 賲蹖倬乇丿丕夭丿
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鈥庁з呟屫堌ж辟� 丕蹖賳 乇蹖賵蹖賵 丿乇 噩賴鬲賽 卮賳丕禺鬲賽 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 讴丕賮蹖 賵 賲賮蹖丿 亘賵丿賴 亘丕卮賴
鈥�<倬蹖乇賵夭 亘丕卮蹖丿 賵 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖>
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鈥庁� 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳貙 <賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏> 丿賴賯丕賳蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 禺賵丿 乇丕 丕夭 夭賲蹖賳 賲蹖丿丕賳丿 賵 鬲賲丕賲賽 夭賳丿诏蹖 禺賵蹖卮 乇丕 賮丿丕蹖賽 夭賲蹖賳 讴乇丿賴 丕爻鬲 賵 毓卮賯 丿蹖賵丕賳賴 賵丕乇蹖 賳爻亘鬲 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 丿丕乇丿 ... 丕賵 丨丕囟乇 丕爻鬲 丌亘 乇丕 丕夭 賮乇夭賳丿丕賳卮 丿乇蹖睾 讴賳丿貙 賵賱蹖 賴賲丕賳 丌亘 乇丕 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 亘丿賴丿
鈥庂囐呚池辟� 丕賵 <丕購賵-賱丕賳> 賳丕賲 丿丕乇丿 賵 丕夭 丌賳噩丕蹖蹖 讴賴 倬蹖卮 丕夭 丕夭丿賵丕噩 亘丕 賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏 讴賳蹖夭 賵 亘乇丿賴贁 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴贁 亘夭乇诏 賵 夭賲蹖賳丿丕乇 <賴賵丕賳诏> 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 亘賳丕亘乇丕蹖賳 亘賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 丿乇 賴乇 卮乇丕蹖胤蹖 亘丕 賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏貙 卮丕丿 賵 禺乇爻賳丿 丕爻鬲
鈥庂囐堌з嗂� 倬蹖乇貙 乇卅蹖爻 禺丕賳丿丕賳賽 亘夭乇诏賽 賴賵丕賳诏貙 夭賳丿诏蹖 賵 丿丕乇丕蹖蹖 丕卮 亘賴 禺胤乇 賲蹖 丕賮鬲丿貙 趩乇丕讴賴 賮爻丕丿 賵 丕毓鬲蹖丕丿 亘賴 鬲乇蹖丕讴貙 丕蹖賳 禺丕賳丿丕賳 乇丕 亘賴 亘蹖趩丕乇诏蹖 賲蹖讴卮丕賳丿
鈥庂堌з嗂� 賱賵賳诏 丕夭 丕蹖賳 賮乇氐鬲 丕爻鬲賮丕丿賴 讴乇丿賴 賵 亘禺卮蹖 丕夭 夭賲蹖賳 賴丕蹖賽 禺丕賳丿丕賳賽 賴賵丕賳诏 乇丕 禺乇蹖丿丕乇蹖 賲蹖讴賳丿 鬲丕 丿乇 乇丕賴賽 倬蹖卮乇賮鬲貙 诏丕賲 亘夭乇诏蹖 亘乇丿丕乇丿... 賵賱蹖 丕夭 卮丕賳爻賽 亘丿賽 丕賵貙 噩賳诏 賵 丕賳賯賱丕亘 賵 卮賵乇卮 賵 禺卮讴爻丕賱蹖貙 亘賴 蹖讴亘丕乇賴 禺爻丕乇鬲 賴丕蹖賽 夭蹖丕丿蹖 亘賴 丕賵 賵 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴 丕卮 賵丕乇丿 賲蹖讴賳丿.... 丌賳賴丕 倬爻 丕夭 鬲丨賲賱賽 亘丿亘禺鬲蹖 賴丕蹖賽 賮乇丕賵丕賳貙 爻乇丕賳噩丕賲 丿乇 乇丕賴賽 夭賲蹖賳丿丕乇蹖 賵 讴卮丕賵乇夭蹖貙 亘賴 禺賵卮亘禺鬲蹖 丿爻鬲 倬蹖丿丕 賲蹖讴賳賳丿
鈥庂矩� 丕夭 诏匕卮鬲賽 夭賲丕賳貙 賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏 倬蹖乇 賲蹖卮賵丿 賵 夭賲蹖賳賴丕蹖卮 乇丕 亘乇丕蹖 賮乇夭賳丿丕賳卮 亘賴 丕乇孬 賲蹖诏匕丕乇丿... 賵賱蹖 賮乇夭賳丿丕賳卮 賴賲趩賵賳 倬丿乇卮丕賳 賳爻亘鬲 亘賴 夭賲蹖賳 毓卮賯 賵 鬲毓氐亘 賳丿丕卮鬲賴 賵 鬲氐賲蹖賲 賲蹖诏蹖乇賳丿 鬲丕 夭賲蹖賳賴丕 乇丕 亘賴 賮乇賵卮 亘乇爻丕賳賳丿
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鈥庁促呚ж辟囐� 亘毓丿蹖賽 丕蹖賳 乇賲丕賳貙 亘丕 毓賳賵丕賳賽 "倬爻乇丕賳 禺丕賳丿丕賳賽 賵丕賳诏" 丕夭 丌賳噩丕蹖蹖 丌睾丕夭 賲蹖卮賵丿 讴賴 倬爻乇丕賳賽 丕蹖賳 禺丕賳賵丕丿賴: 賵丕賳诏賽 亘夭乇诏貙 賵丕賳诏 丿賵賲 賵 賵丕賳诏 爻賵賲 蹖丕 賴賲丕賳 亘亘乇貙 夭賲蹖賳賴丕 乇丕 亘蹖賳 蹖讴丿蹖诏乇 鬲賯爻蹖賲 讴乇丿賴 賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 亘賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 丌賳賴丕 賵 賳賵丕丿賴 賴丕蹖賽 賵丕賳诏 賱賵賳诏貙 賲蹖倬乇丿丕夭丿
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鈥庁з呟屫堌ж辟� 丕蹖賳 乇蹖賵蹖賵 丿乇 噩賴鬲賽 卮賳丕禺鬲賽 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 讴丕賮蹖 賵 賲賮蹖丿 亘賵丿賴 亘丕卮賴
鈥�<倬蹖乇賵夭 亘丕卮蹖丿 賵 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖>
August 26, 2016
I couldn't put this book down. It was very informative about pre-revolutionary Chinese culture. But even more than that, it was an interesting emotional journey. In the beginning, Wang Lung's character seems so simple and kinda static, albeit respectable. But as the novel progresses, his character becomes more and more complex, more and more human. It was hard for me to really define my opinion of him when it was all over. It wasn't as simple as just hating him because there was also a part of him that was good, even in the end. That's what makes him human. I think that feeling is the result of the peek Buck gives us into Wang Lung's mind during difficult decisions.
I think we all wanted to get more of O-lan. Obviously we all sympathize with her and, despite her unlikeability to pretty much everyone in the novel, she is extremely likeable and respectable to us as modern western readers. But I think the fact that we DON'T get to be more involved with her has meaning in itself. She was considered insignificant despite the fact that all of her contributions are arguably the most significant. As readers we were only allowed to see the surface of O-lan's character, just as everyone in her society saw--it's all they cared to see and really, it's all they believed there was. I think it's very clever writing on Buck's part.
I think we all wanted to get more of O-lan. Obviously we all sympathize with her and, despite her unlikeability to pretty much everyone in the novel, she is extremely likeable and respectable to us as modern western readers. But I think the fact that we DON'T get to be more involved with her has meaning in itself. She was considered insignificant despite the fact that all of her contributions are arguably the most significant. As readers we were only allowed to see the surface of O-lan's character, just as everyone in her society saw--it's all they cared to see and really, it's all they believed there was. I think it's very clever writing on Buck's part.
August 17, 2024
禺蹖賱蹖 讴鬲丕亘 鬲賱禺蹖 亘賵丿 亘乇丕賲.
賴乇趩賯丿乇 亘賴 氐賮丨丕鬲 倬丕蹖丕賳蹖 賲蹖鈥屫必驰屫� 鬲賱禺鬲乇 賲蹖卮丿貙丕賲丕 禺蹖賱蹖 丿賵爻鬲卮 丿丕卮鬲賲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丌乇賵賲 賵 賲賱丕蹖賲 倬蹖卮 賲蹖鈥屫辟佖�.
丕賵賱蹖賳 鬲噩乇亘賴 蹖 禺賵丕賳丿賳蹖 丕賲 丕夭 丕蹖賳 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 亘賵丿 賵 禺蹖賱蹖 賱匕鬲 亘乇丿賲.
丨蹖賮賴 讴賴鈥� 鬲噩丿蹖丿 趩丕倬 賳賲蹖讴賳賳 賲賳 丕夭 賮蹖丿蹖亘賵 禺賵賳丿賲 讴賴 禺蹖賱蹖 爻禺鬲賲 亘賵丿.
賴乇趩賯丿乇 亘賴 氐賮丨丕鬲 倬丕蹖丕賳蹖 賲蹖鈥屫必驰屫� 鬲賱禺鬲乇 賲蹖卮丿貙丕賲丕 禺蹖賱蹖 丿賵爻鬲卮 丿丕卮鬲賲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丌乇賵賲 賵 賲賱丕蹖賲 倬蹖卮 賲蹖鈥屫辟佖�.
丕賵賱蹖賳 鬲噩乇亘賴 蹖 禺賵丕賳丿賳蹖 丕賲 丕夭 丕蹖賳 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 亘賵丿 賵 禺蹖賱蹖 賱匕鬲 亘乇丿賲.
丨蹖賮賴 讴賴鈥� 鬲噩丿蹖丿 趩丕倬 賳賲蹖讴賳賳 賲賳 丕夭 賮蹖丿蹖亘賵 禺賵賳丿賲 讴賴 禺蹖賱蹖 爻禺鬲賲 亘賵丿.
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