Good Earth

I'm not familiar with review writing...still what comes to my mind I shall note down...the central charector is the Earth ...then that silent yet strong lady...wife of the protagonist...the slave system in China ...indeed a great story told in simple language but profound in its effect on your mind....one of the best books I purchased from Amazon...( Book arrived on time and good condition...

This book is classic literature. Eloquent style, smooth flowing and a moving story that neither drags nor rushes at any point. The book is about a Chinese peasant farmer Wang Lung, who scripts a rags to riches story. Family ties, social norms and aspects of wealth and it's depravation are finely built in the storyline, which makes it a moving narrative. I loved the character of Wang Lung's wife O-Lan. She is seen as quietly submissive but shows fortitude when needed. She is a loyal and committed wife, also a mother who, when consumed by the sheer hopelessness of the circumstances chooses to quietly end a new life even as it arrives. Also there is great poignancy when the story touches upon the mentally disabled daughter - beautifully written.This is not a breezy read book, but also not too long to make it heavy reading.

Wang Lung, O-Lan, Wang's father, Ching - their accomplice, their delinquent uncle, aunt and cousin, their own three sons and two daughters including one mentally undeveloped one - the fool, old lord, old lady, slaves in great house of Hwangs, slaves in Wang's own household, Lotus, Cuckoo, Pear Blossom, etc are the characters that mainly hold the thread of tale together; and all have their tales of woe interspersed in the novel, and the reader finds oneself immersed in the intriguing drama of life. Country house of Wang Lung and his senile father is metamorphosed into a haven of riches by a chance occurrence of Wang and O-Lan having laid their hands separately on unbidden treasure troves from the great houses - from the wealthy people, during the mayhem of revolution or unrests in the wake of famine and droughts. No doubt, the couple is diligent as well as industrious, and as 'God helps those who help themselves', the Providence helps them profusely, rather, unimaginably, too. Nonetheless, the deciding factor in their becoming wealthy has been their penchant for acquiring more and more land. Land is such a virtuous possession! Everything whatever is manifest or created on the surface of earth is but the transformation of earth only into various shapes, whether it be our own corporeal bodies, or it be our properties, or even what we call our money or our food. Everything comes from earth only! Pathetic place of female species in China, as elsewhere, has been depicted so vividly as well as palpably! Slave has become the synonym of woman rather! Buck has also brought forth the phenomenon so palpably and deftly that it is not any genes that corrupt a person, rather it is the ennui - lack of creative indulgences - coupled with abundance of sufeitl of money and wealth that instigates/ lures common man towards lust, bad habits, and even sexual indulgences. Not only the olden lords, but also, the Neo lords - the one time poor Wangs - when they became rich eventually, turned towards such bad habits: indolence, abhorrence for working by hands, luxuries, having concubines, indolence et al. Opium is used by Wang Lung as a tool to subdue the delinquent uncle and aunt, even as, it was the cause of devastation and decline of the once great family of Hwangs!The only demerit with the Nobel Prize winning novel is that it does not let the reader go midway, unless he is done with it fully!

Larger than life stor5. Even it is based in old China, the essense is relevant even today. It is a literary masterpiece. The author won a Nobel Prize, mostly for this one.

Always wanted to read this book and this came out better than expected. A classic by all means. An impressionable story.

Good story but drags on a little . Rural China and the foot binding was interesting to read. Good earth indeed.

This is a 2016 UK-made paperback edition of the 1931 novel by the US writer, Pearl Buck. It is usually counted as one of the most important literary works in English. Buck got a Pulitzer and a Nobel for it. And it is said to have influenced the US foreign policy towards China. The Good Earth is an epic novel, although it is just 400 pages. It tells the story of a Chinese farmer, Wang Lung. It will remind Indian readers of Premchand’s 1936 Hindi epic, “गोदान”. Highly recommended!

It is not too good but not bad also

Histórico, mas não traz nada de empolgante

Bellisima narración imbuida de un lenguaje pulcro, donde pueden coexistir los hechos mas crudos y violentos con una delicadeza y sensibilidad para con los personajes siempre resilientes y respetuosos de una tradición que marca los lineamientos y jerarquías de un oŕden social donde el temor al ostracismo y a la humillación traslucen la violencia posible e ilimitada si se trasgreden las normas.La sensoriálidad de la tierra en todas sus dimensiones atraviesa la historia no solo como fuente de trabajo sino como las raices que impregnan las identidades. Uno se debe a la tierra siempre generosa y sus ciclos de vida çorren paralelos a las vidas de tres generaciones que a pesar de tener los destinos marcados por su origen, genero, orden de nacimiento, pueden encauzarse por rumbos inesperados en la trama de relaciones y coyunturas historicas donde pueden surgir como actores que hagan la diferencia para otros y para ellos mismos.

One of the best books I’ve ever read.

The Good Earth, a timeless Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece by Pearl S. Buck, follows the life of Wang Lung in 1920s China. The book, first published in 1931, was the best-selling novel in the United States for both 1931 and 1932. The author grew up in China, a child of missionaries.Wang Lung is a farmer in a rural village and lives with his widowed father. The novel begins on the day of his marriage to O-Lan, a slave at the House of Hwang. He doesn’t really know his intended bride, but since his mother died, he needs someone to cook, care for the house, and see to his father’s comfort. Wang is a farmer, dedicated to his land. Although they are poor, it is a good marriage and O-Lan is a capable homemaker in their modest dwelling. Wang works hard on the land, often with O-Lan at his side. They begin to have children, births which O-Lan accomplishes without assistance.The story takes us into Wang Lung’s old age, through good times, droughts, famine, trials with family, land acquisitions, and wealth. Wang learns that although satisfying, wealth has its burdens, too.I first read The Good Earth when I was twelve years old. One Seattle summer day I walked to a nearby shopping district and, curious, went into a second-hand store. I discovered a bookcase full of old hardcover books. Among the books were Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and The Good Earth which I bought for twenty-five cents each. At that time I didn’t know what a “classic novel” was, nor had I ever heard of either book. I read both novels that summer. The Good Earth was an eye opener for me—the way of life in China those days, taking a second wife, class distinctions with the extreme poor and how they were treated, and with the extreme rich and their sense of entitlement. I treasured those books, and though I didn’t know they were “classics,” I knew they were special. Now, with this second reading, I am again impressed with the depth of The Good Earth. It is a masterpiece.

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