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Product Description
Review
"Boston Transcript" One need never have lived in China or know anything about the Chinese to understand it or respond to its appeal.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
When O-lan, a servant girl, marries the peasant Wang Lung, she toils tirelessly through four pregnancies for their family's survival. Reward at first is meagre, but there is sustenance in the land - until the famine comes. Half-starved, the family joins thousands of peasants to beg on the city streets. It seems that all is lost, until O-lan's desperate will to survive returns them home with undreamt of wealth. But they have betrayed the earth from which true wealth springs, and the family's money breeds only mistrust, deception - and heartbreak for the woman who had saved them. THE GOOD EARTH is a riveting family saga and story of female sacrifice - a classic of twentieth-century literature.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read this book years ago and it has stayed with me ever since.
Originally published in 1931, it won the Pulitzer prize the following year.
The setting is in China, right before the revolution. Wang Lung is a poor farmer in a village and the book starts with his wedding to plain O-lan. They have four children together, three boys and one girl. He is a very hard working farmer and bit by bit, thanks also to O-lan's skills, he builds a fortune by buying land from the House of Hwangs's family, landowners in a nearest village whose wealth declines dramatically due to their relentless spending.
We are dipped into Chinese culture, taken from the seemingly bottomless poverty of the early days throughout the rise to wealth, only to be propelled downwards again due to a terrible draught and subsequent famine, when everything seems lost and the family has to move to the city, starting all over again.
We are reading spectators of the rise and fall and twists & turns of Wang Lung's family. Many touching episodes have moved me throughout the book, especially the ones connected with hard-working, silent, subservient O-lan and later on, the ones related to their mentally retarded baby girl.
The story is absorbing and mesmerizing, exquisitely written. Page after page, truly unforgettable. A must-read classic.
Originally published in 1931, it won the Pulitzer prize the following year.
The setting is in China, right before the revolution. Wang Lung is a poor farmer in a village and the book starts with his wedding to plain O-lan. They have four children together, three boys and one girl. He is a very hard working farmer and bit by bit, thanks also to O-lan's skills, he builds a fortune by buying land from the House of Hwangs's family, landowners in a nearest village whose wealth declines dramatically due to their relentless spending.
We are dipped into Chinese culture, taken from the seemingly bottomless poverty of the early days throughout the rise to wealth, only to be propelled downwards again due to a terrible draught and subsequent famine, when everything seems lost and the family has to move to the city, starting all over again.
We are reading spectators of the rise and fall and twists & turns of Wang Lung's family. Many touching episodes have moved me throughout the book, especially the ones connected with hard-working, silent, subservient O-lan and later on, the ones related to their mentally retarded baby girl.
The story is absorbing and mesmerizing, exquisitely written. Page after page, truly unforgettable. A must-read classic.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Pearl S. Buck is one of my favorite authors. And since I absolutely love well written books, I virtually devoured THE GOOD EARTH. I read this classic book when I was fourteen and have re-read six times since then. The character development was great and the story kept my interest until the last page. The pacing of the story was expertly done, and the writing style was just marvelous. With a rich plot and fantastic setting, the author successfully captured the remarkable element of human relationships, tapping into the varying human emotions that made the story so real. The more you reread the book the more your perception deepens, and the more you get to enjoy it. The setting enabled me to learn a great deal about China, the Chinese people and their traditions and customs and finally the lot that we all share as humans with cardinal virtues. That human touch is best portrayed by Wang Lung and O-lan his wife, the heroes of the book who defy the negative aspects of life and survive from the sweat of their brow and the produce of the good earth.
I recommend this book along with DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, THE USURPER AND OTHERS, THE UNION MOUJIK
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Good Earth is basically the story of a low born Chinese peasant who, through a combination of hard work and fortunate circumstances becomes a rich landowner.
The depths and richness of this novel arises from the author's portrayal of family life in pre-revolution China. The protagonist's relationships with his father, his wives and his children show him to be an essentially flawed yet compassionate human being, and reveal the cultural influences that shaped his
family, and ultimately the society in which he found himself.
The plot progresses slowly and consistently,and the main theme of the novel; the cycle of life, of the new coming to take the place of the old, is established and developed in a subtle manner, through the use of simple yet poetic language.
A very enjoyable read - highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A thoroughly entertaining journey through early 20th-c China
I love novels that help me to experience a new culture, and The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck took me on a thoroughly entertaining journey through early 20th-c China. Read more
Published 4 months ago by George Hamilton
China revisited
This book was recommended to me following my recent visit to China. I actually think it would have been better to read before my visit. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Club music
Classic tale of change in pre-revolutionary China
I also came to Pearl Buck via Hilary Spurling's excellent biography, Burying The Bones: Pearl Buck in China, and for those interested in Buck's life and experiences in China, it... Read more
Published 13 months ago by LittleMoon
Well worth reading
After recently reading Hilary Spurling's 'Burying the bones', I was desperate to read this book. I am ashamed to admit that, despite winning a Nobel Prize for Literature, I had... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Harrison1999purple
A whole way of life told through the story of one man's life.
Bought this after hearing the author's biography read on Radio 4, followd by an interview in which a Chinese scholar described how moved she was when she finally read this text,... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Chestnut worm
The Good Earth, Pearl Buck
Beautifully told story revealing life in rural China before the revolution. I could not stop reading, the story is fascinating and realistic. Beautiful language and writing.
Published 16 months ago by James
A pleasant surprise.
I hadn't come across this classic or its author before it came up at our book group. It didn't sound particularly appealing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Wendy
A brilliant book - a true classic....
Pearl Buck lived in China for many years and spoke the language so I am happy to accept the authenticity of her writing. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Wynne Kelly
Correction required
The Good Earth is NOT by Peter Conn but by Pearl Buck. It was for that great and underrated novel that she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. Read more
Published 18 months ago by C. J. Driver
OK........but....
I purchased this book as my mum had read it years ago and loved it and Pearl Buck won the Nobel Peace Prize for iterature in 1938 both of which I thought were fairly good... Read more
Published 19 months ago by iloveamazon
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