The Good Earth

The Good Earth is the story of a farmer in early 20th century. It is a very poignant tale of inequality, economic struggle and the importance of Earth. My favorite character was O-lan, the main character's hardworking wife and to whom he owned much of his good fortunes. I liked her strength, her resilience. She was constantly looked down upon by her sex, even by her husband. Also really liked Wang Lung as a character, even when he made what seemed terrible choices, but I think he was a slave to his culture and their misogynistic ways. It is not a happy story, but a story of the struggles a family will go through and their break in fortunes, it talks about economic inequality and the consequences of wealth and poverty. This is one of those books which I never expected to read, but I'm so happy I did. I will admit I've heard some people complain about it's historical inaccuracies, and even though there's no way for me to accurately confirm it, it seemed real enough to me and it was an entertaining work of fiction.

heart forever breaking for O-lan

written long time ago but many of its themes are so relevant today, especially wrt climate change and poverty

Enjoyed the intimate knowledge that the author clearly possessed about the culture, as well as the way the reader is lead to understand the character’s’ circumstances and thus care for them, despite their sometimes very questionable choices. Difficult truths, such as human trafficking and infanticide, are difficult to read, but give perspective within the context of the setting, culture and era while forcing one to consider their lingering occurrence even in our own times. Not pleasant, but important. Absolutely a worthwhile read.

someone get Merchant-Ivory on the phone to get this a quality adaptation

Oh Wang Lung, you tried so hard. SPOILER ALERT: My favorite part was when you're children didn't care at all about your way of life and how it passed on into nothingness with your death. Oops! Don't worry though, that's how it is for everyone, really.

So would also their house, some time, return into the earth, their bodies also. Each had his turn at this earth. Words were to her things to be caught one by one and released with difficulty.

Esta saga familiar, ambientada en la China precomunista, comienza cuando Wang Lung, un joven agricultor, se casa con O-lan. A partir de allí seguiremos la historia de esta familia, en sus mejores y en sus peores momentos. La llegada de los hijos, las cosechas (buenas y malas), los conflictos familiares, las decisiones, etc. Un dramón que no te da respiro, que no se va por las ramas, que no podes soltar y que abarca tanta historia en tan pocas páginas que te da la sensación de haber leído un libro de 800 páginas y sentís que acompañaste a los personajes por tantísimo tiempo que se quedan con vos. Es el primero de una trilogía, pero creo que, si uno quiere, lo puede dejar aquí y no pasa nada.

4.5 stars 😢

I read this book for the first time in 7th grade and just finished rereading it and experience reading the book couldn't be more different. What I remembered about the book before rereading it was that it was about a man and his land with his wife and how they struggled then changed when they had money. Rereading it, it was more sad and I hated the main character in the 2nd half of the book. I also didn't remember anything after O'lan dies, I suspect in 7th grade we read a slimmed down version. I didn't enjoy the book as much after O'lan dies it felt like the rest of the book was about waiting for Wang Lung to die as well even though he wasn't that old, he just kept preparing for it. I liked the foreshadowing from the beginning about the old house, I was glad to see that the end didn't exactly copy the fall of the old house but lead you to believe it was leading that way considering the sons wanted to sell the land. The ending was well done, but felt very rushed and random the last few chapters.This is a great book to read, lots of interesting characters and it's about their lifetime and it does the time really well.

I thought this book was well-written and had a spellbinding plot. That said, I didn't enjoy it as much as I wish I did. Some of the customs seemed... Cruel to me. I also was assigned to read this for a class, hence being forced to read it, it wasn't a choice. Overall I thought it was a great book, but I feel that it was hard to handle emotionally and mentally. It took a while to get through.

A gentle view of another time The story of an imperfect man making his way through life. Vivid characters and emotions made this enjoyable enough if a little ponderous at times.