Name: The Good Earth
Rating: 3.695833333333333 (120 reviews)
ISBN: 9780785795285

Pearl S. Buck

Emily Hutchinson

A Chinese peasant overcomes the forces of nature and the frailties of human nature to become a wealthy landowner.

The Good Earth

Sachi

"Sir, is there any way whereby the rich who oppress us can make it rain so that I can work on the land?"

At this the young man turned on him with scorn and replied,

"Now how ignorant you are, you who still wear your hair in a long tail! No one can make it rain when it will not, but what has this to do with us? If the rich would share with us what they have, rain or not would matter none, because we would all have money and food."

Taneil Casey

Title: The Good Earth
Author: Pearl S. Buck
Pages: 385

The Good Earth follows the life of Wang Lung, a Chinese farmer about 1890-1930.  He starts out as a poor man's son, who is going to the great House of Hwang to pick up his bride.  The story follows the rise and and fall of their fortunes.  Once, their circumstances become so bad that they have to go to the city and beg for money to buy food.  However, they do return to their land, which is Wang Lung's anchor through the years.  He always feels safe and sure of himself, as long as he has his land.  In the last half of the novel, Wang Lung's fortunes improve so much, that he is able to build a new house, buy servants, and concubines, and finally he moves into the great House of Hwang where he had shivered in his shoes waiting for his wife-to-be.  In the very end, near Wang Lung's own death, he discovers that his children have no regard for his beloved land, and that it will be sold when he dies.  It breaks his heart. 

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I was intrigued by this tale straight from the beginning.  It kept me reading, although there were no exciting fights, or cliff-hangers.  I always wanted to find out what happened next. 

I did not appriciate Wang Lung's morals.  He, and everyone around him, did things to cater to those around them.  They wouldn't do such and such, because of what people would think.  He justified his taking a concubine, because other men of his social standing did. 

However, my aunt did point out that The Good Earth is a wonderful portrayal of peasant life in China at that time.  I did completely agree with with my aunt on that.

There were some parts that I wondered if I should read them or not.  The got a tiny bit more detailed than I was interested in. 

One thing that I did like, was that whenever Wang Lung was troubled, he would go out to work his land.  Physical labor on the earth always helped him calm down, see things more clearly, or work through problems.  In our own lives, when we are troubled, there are things that we do to forget for a time, or to calm down.  When hard thoughts come, physical work is always a good remedy. 

Overall, The Good Earth was good, but not one I would want to read again and again.  I would not dissuade you from reading it, but I would not encourage you to read it either.  I think there are much better books!
Copyright 2009 Defective Compositions

Vicky  Nuñez 

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.

Bailee Strong

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

Marisel 

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.

tim h

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

Bob Simone

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.

Samiha Tasnim

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.

Emir Andrés Ibañez

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.

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck

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 Earthis a riveting family saga and story of female sacrifice - a classic of twentieth-century literature.

An American Classic

Jiayi

Rachel

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.

Shannon Leigh Williams

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.

Gordon McLean

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.

yuyu

Pearl S. Buck’s Pulitzer Prize–winning classic about the rise and fall of Chinese villagers before World War I comes to life in this evocative graphic novel by New York Times bestselling author Nick Bertozzi. Although more than eighty years have passed since Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize, it has retained its popularity and become one of the great modern classics. This indelible portrait of China in the 1920s, when the last emperor reigned and the vast political and social upheavals of the twentieth century were but distant rumblings, tells the moving story of honest farmer Wang Lung and his selfless wife O-Lan. It is must reading to fully appreciate the sweeping changes that have occurred in the lives of the Chinese people during the last century. Displaying his Eisner Award–winning talents, New York Times bestselling author Nick Bertozzi brings Buck’s epic novel to life with incredible imagery in this “finely rendered showcase…that perfectly captures the story’s timeless subject matter while also underscoring the antiquity of the depicted world” (Kirkus Reviews). Bertozzi retraces the whole cycle of life depicted in Buck’s original novel: its terrors, its passions, its ambitions, and its rewards. Now The Good Earth—the universal tale of an ordinary family caught in the tide of history—offers a whole new dimension with these beautiful, evocative images.

Lindsey Barnett

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.

The Good Earth

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