Fans of Pearl S. Buck, will you post a post at this Post?:)

This Nobel-prize winning author is one of my favorites. I've never read a book, or short story, by her I haven't liked, and I've read a lot by her. She also wrote five books under the "John Sedges" pseudonym; I've read two, and they were also great.

At this very moment, I'm reading a novel by Buck called "Pavilion of Women." It takes place in China, as most of her books do. I'm enjoying it; as I said, she never disappoints.

If you are unfamiliar with this author and want to check her out, I'd start with the book she won the Pulitzer for: "The Good Earth."

I definitely agree. I've read The Good Earth many times. She gave her books a real sense of time and space. I also loved her shorter novel East Wind, West Wind.

I have only read The Good Earth which I thoroughly enjoyed. I will take your advice and look out for more of the work.

I've read The Good Earth and also The Three Daughters of Madame Liang.
The latter was good but I re-read The Good Earth every few years. It was a favourite from early teens and onwards.

So nice to hear from fellow fans of PSB. I was wondering which novel to tackle next after I finish "Pavilion of Women." I will definitely head for "East Wind, West Wind" and "The Three Daughters of Madame Liang."

I forgot to mention in my original post that I'm also finishing up Buck's memoir, called "My Several Worlds." It's not exactly a page-turner, I prefer her fiction, but it's still absolutely worth reading.

I'm curious: Has anybody read the two sequels to "The Good Earth," namely "Sons" and "A House Divided"? Thanks, and have a good day. :)

An addendum:

Here are the novels I've read by PSB: "The Good Earth"; "Peony" (about Chinese Jews); "Come, My Beloved" (takes place mostly in India); "Letter From Peking"; "The Long Love," written under the John Sedges pseudonym, and "The Townsman," also written under the John Sedges pseudonym. Her "John Sedges" books (of which there are five) all take place in America, I believe.

I've read 21 short stories from three different collections of short stories.

I'm currently reading her novel "Pavilion of Women," and I'm finishing up her memoir, "My Several Worlds."

I recommend them all.

Great to see a PSB fan club. I'd been looking for an active fan club on all communities - (facebook, etc) and I'm yet to find one.

I've read - The good earth trilogy (The good earth, Sons, A house Divided), Dragon Seed, East wind west wind, Three daughters of Magame Liang, The mother, Pavilion of Women, Mandala, Kinfolk, Dragon Seed, Imperial woman and Peony so far. The big wave and The living reed are in my bookshelf - to be read next. Dragon Seed has been the favorite thus far.

Though I had read The good earth many years ago, I had chanced upon pavilion of Women later and discovered I loved PSB's books.

about50ayear - I have read the sequels. They are not as glorious as The good earth but are great!

At the risk of looking like I'm promoting my blog - I've written reviews to some of her books that I read (promise to write the rest) - http://hotcupofcoffee.wordpress.com

So good to hear from you, deeyes/#7! :) In your third paragraph, a word is missing -- I'm so curious, please edit ASAP!!! :) (I'm assuming the missing word is "loved" but please let me know for sure!)

I love the name of your blog -- it conjures up such a cozy image. I will check it out ASAP, and hope others do, too!

deeyes, and all PSB fans: Don't forget her short stories, please -- they're great.

I'm sorry for the miss :(. Updated it & Thanks for the compliment on the name!

Will check out the short stories too. Infact, a collection of some of the short stories is in the bookshelf.

I was wondering - if we could form a PSB book club of sorts. I'ld love to hear of other authors with similar writing too. Anyone interested?

deeyes/9 -- You've got me on a mission -- I'm now obsessed with thinking of an author similar to PSB! :)I love the idea of a book club, really love it. And you know what, deeyes? I'd love for oodles of people to be interested, but if not, I don't mind if it's just a book club of two, you and me, if that's cool with you! :)

No issues here though, I'ld also like lots of people to be interested! I do not even need a reason to read/reread a PSB or similar author. Having a reason to do that - is more than welcome!

hi, deeyes/11. I have to be honest here -- even though I truly love PSB, I can't think of something I'd want to reread. (Except, maybe, "The Good Earth," because that was assgend in high school, and high school for me was a l o n g time ago! I want a PSB book club, it's a great idea, but I don't have the know-how, or the time right now, to organize anything. But whatever you and I both haven't read, I'll read -- your pick.

I feel so bad I haven't checked out your blog yet -- my time has been really limited right now.

The living Reed?

Yes! :), but I just want to wait until I finish "Pavilion of Women" (I'm exactly half-way through) and I also need time to get "TLR." How about it will be the PSB read for October? (And maybe others reading this will be inspired to come aboard!)
Thanks, deeyes/13!

done!

What a great post. Pearl Buck is a long time favorite of mine ever since reading Good Earth as a young adult. I think I devoured most of her books when I was younger and then a few years back started re-reading them. I was quickly reminded of how easy it is to sink into her novels of China. One of my favorites is The Mother, which I think just sank into my soul when I was still a young mother. It's still there. Enjoy. And yes, I think a Buck group would be marvelous. I especially would like to to see new generations discover her timely work.

deeyes/vivienbrenda16: I almost finished "Pavilion of Women" over the weekend -- just 50 pages to go. vivienbrenda, deeyes made the excellent suggestion of a PSB book club here at LT, and we decided that the October read would be PSB's "The Living Reed." Would you like to read along with us, vb? And others out there, please, hop on board! :)

I've never even heard of The Living Reed, but I've just found it on touchstone, so I guess it's there. I don't think I could commit to another book club, however. I would love to follow yours though. If I get a chance, I'll get my hands on a copy to read it. I do love Miss Buck.

vb/18: Thanks for your response. I hear ya!

deeyes, and all others interested in joining the Pearl S. Buck Book Club:

"The Living Reed" is our first pick. Both deeyes and I have the book. deeyes, please let me know how you want to organize this. And anybody who wants to jump aboard, please, please do! :)

Does a novel about Korea interest you? Are you familiar with the Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck? Would you like to join my fellow LT poster deeyes in discussing this book? I've read about 60 pages (it's good!), and deeyes is halfway through.

It would be fascinating to get input from a person of Korean ancestry.

Would love to hear from others! :)

deeyes, didn't you find even the Intro fascinating? PSB made the history of Korea so accessible. I'm up to the part where Il-han (I know I messed the name up; I don't have the book with me) defied the Queen, and walked out without permission. To write more, and more intelligently, about the novel, I need it with me for a refresher. deeyes, please discuss the book with me here on this public thread and maybe others will become intrigued. If not, I'll just enjoy the pleasure of discussing it with you, and I hope you feel likewise! :)

about50year, great post!

I used to be fascinated with China after having read all the oriental novels of PSB. Now, I feel the same for korea - especially after reading the intro. I'm at the beginning of part II at the part where ..., wait I cant tell that. It'll spoil the book for you :) and I'm pretty sure Il-han is the correct name.

PSB says, quite a bit of it is true. So, I was looking up who the king and the queen are. Looks like, these are the ones -
The king - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gojong_of_Korea
The Queen - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Myeongseong
The Regent - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heungseon_Daewongun

Fascinating!

#22/deeyes: Oh, great to hear from you, and thank you for the compliment. I can't wait to look up those websites, but right now I'm so pressed for time in my life that I can't do everything in the most timely fashion. Today, I do have the book with me. I'm up to p. 73. The last sentence I read was: "As usual when he could not answer his own questions, Il-han retired to his books, and reading he came upon a poem of the late Yi dynasty written in the Sigo style." What was the last sentence you read, deeyes?

deeyes and anyone else reading this post: Don't you love to come across fellow readers in literature?

I'm both a Sinophile and an Indophile. This is the very first book I've ever read about Korea, and I've learned so much just from the 'Historical Note' written by PSB in the beginning. As with all of PSB's work, it's an accessible read, but with a ton of substance. (She didn't win the Nobel for writing junk, after all! :)) Thanks for suggesting this one, deeyes. And if I remember correctly from your bio, you're a fan of Tagore -- did you read PSB's "Come, My Beloved" which is set mostly in India?

I will check out your websites ASAP, deeyes, and I promise to read a tad faster! :) Have a great weekend!

deeyes: I loved seeing the pictures of the two men, but the one I wanted to see the most, the Queen, wasn't there. I wonder if it was a cultural thing not to have her photographed? That was a cool idea to list those websites!

I was wondering, deeyes, what edition of the book do you have? Mine is hardcover, and it is a September 1963 edition. On the copyright page it says it is the "Ninth Impression." Does that mean the ninth printing?

I am up to page 86. What page are you up to? On p. 86 there is a great line: "'Learning clears the mind' he said, 'and books open the spirit of man to heaven and to earth.'" Isn't that lovely?

There is a Korea Society in Manhattan. I came across a free postcard from this society and I made a bookmark out of it to use in this book. I like to make bookmarks to either match the theme of the book, or the colors on the cover.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon, deeyes, and anybody else who would like to discuss "The Living Reed," by Pearl S. Buck, or discuss Korea (the novel's setting), or just discuss PSB in general.

Wow! You have been posting quotes from the book :). I don't have the book with me at the moment. However, I loved the part where you understand why the book is called "The Living Reed" I found it lovely.

I've completed 2 parts and am at the beginning of part III. Meanwhile, I had looked up a whole lot of web pages about kimchi :) - there are such awesome descriptions about it, and I want to try authentic kimchi that Il-Han is so fond of! PSB must've been a big food lover - most of her books have great descriptions of food - how they are cooked, how nutritious they are, how they smell and taste - you are almost hungry! But this one - it has more food-descriptions than usual for a PSB book. Dragon seed is another one I remember.

I did not read "Come, My Beloved" - did not know that is set in India - will find it. I'd read "Mandala" that is set in India. I'm a big fan of Tagore and have his complete works - some of which I've read. Actually, I'm an Indian and live in India. Since you say you are an indophile, I'm open to discussions on India / books set in India too :).

OMG, deeyes -- I am a HUGE Indophile!!!!!! I can't believe you're in India. This is amazing. I love Indian-themed literature (I have read about 25 or so Indian-themed books, and my second-favorite dead male author is R.K. Narayan -- I have read just about everything he's written). I have not read Tagore yet, but "Gitanjali" is on my list. I have read Jhumpa Lahiri's three books. I have read three novels by Rohinton Mistry. And others that I will write about at another time. I read "India Today" and "India Abroad" semi-regularly. I watch Bollywood. I love Abishek Bachan (sp?). I eat Indian food.

For the most part, it was the discovery of the WONDERFUL South Indian author R.K. Narayan that turned me into an Indophile. The first book I ever read by him was "The Guide," and by about p. 25 I knew I would try my best to read any and every thing published by this amazing author. And I have.

I have "The Living Reed" with me, but I'm too excited by what you wrote to talk PSB right now! :)

P.S. -- I've seen kimchee in the making -- my stomach couldn't handle it. But Southern and East Asiatic cuisines are more similar, and you might dig it. I'm a native New Yorker, as are my parents, and my grandparents came here when they were very young from Eastern and Central Europe. (I'm Jewish, and I also know about the Jews of Cochin, India.) The cuisine tends to be more sweet than spicy.

P.P.S. I want to hear any and every thing you want to share about India and your Indian heritage. I don't want to pry, so I leave it to you to share whatever you are comfortable sharing. Looking forward to hearing from you ASAP!

Hey! Did not know you'ld be so excited :). yes, RK Narayan is a staple in most Indian libraries. There is a whole TV series of Malgudi days (based on his work) that might interest you.

Send me an e-mail at dee dot yes20 at gmail dot com and I'll be able to share much more than i can do on a public forum out here :)

By the way, Happy Diwali ! It is the biggest festival out here and I might not be able to get online for the next couple of days as it is diwali on saturday.

Hi deeyes! I can't do the e-mailing right now; maybe at a later date. Happy happy Diwali, or Dipawali, to all Indians reading this, and especially to you, deeyes. (I totally forgot about the Indian New Year -- it is not on American calendars -- yet-- and I somehow always associate it with November. But I know it follows the lunar calendar, like the Jewish holidays.)

Have you finished "TLR"? I'm only up to the part where Il-han's left the Queen with the poet and his wife and has returned home. I juggle many, many books at one time, so that's the main reason it's going to take me a while to finish.

I am not on a computer too much, and right now is an extremely busy time in my life. I'm doing my best! :)

I respond a month after you post. Not a good thing :(.

However, the good thing is, I'm done with reading TLR. It prompted me to think and research a whole lot on Historical Fiction novels that I read. Here is what I've come up with - a post on historical fiction, the genre

Let me know when done with TLR or if you want to discuss anything else. I wanted to try Amy Tan and Lisa See. Heard their writing is similar to that of Bucks'. I've bought one book each of both the authors.