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Loading... The Living Reed (1963)by Pearl S. Buck
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. 8422613581 This is the story of Korea's domination by China and then Japan from about 1880 to the end of WWII, concluding with the North being dominated by the Russia communists. I love Pearl Buck's novels of China, but this one was just not quite as good as The Good Earth or A House Divided, although it was a readable generational struggle for survival. This beautiful novel is a work of art. You can feel the beauty of the country and the spirit of its people as you read it. It amazes me that Buck was able to immerse herself so thoroughly into so many different cultures. At the same time, this is a devastating novel. It's no wonder that Korea hates the rest of the world, and if the U.S. treated other countries the way we treated Korea, it's no wonder that the rest of the world hates us. In the 70's, I read quite a few of Pearl S Buck's novels. From time to time, I still pick them up when I see them in a used book store. This one has been living on Planet TBR since 2007. This is a family epic of Korea. It followed three generations of a family beginning with Il-Han, an advisor and scholar to the queen in the 1880's. When the queen is assassinated by Japanese forces and Korea occupied by Japan we see the son, a resistance leader code named The Living Reed, eventually being overcome and like many young Korean fighters, fleeing to China, where he took part in the communist revolution there. Eventually he returns to Korea, and sees the heartbreak of the country arbitrarily divided by US and Russian administered zones after the ending of WW II. The central character of the book, however, is Korean history. I honestly didn't have much knowledge of this region and learned a lot. Korea has been coveted as a stepping stone by Russia, China and Japan for centuries. During the rise of the Western Powers, many Koreans looked to Woodrow Wilson and the US to help them in their struggle for independence. It was a vain hope; time after time the US let the Korean hopes down. Still Korea itself resembles the living reed, bamboo, springing up in strange places after appearing dead, bending but not breaking. It was a slow book to get through, but I thought it was well worth the time. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesZwarte Beertjes (749) Distinctions
An "absorbing and fast-moving" saga of Korea as experienced by one unforgettable family, from the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Good Earth (The New York Times). "The year was 4214 after Tangun of Korea, and 1881 after Jesus of Judea." So begins Pearl S. Buck's The Living Reed, an epic historical novel seen through the eyes of four generations of Korean aristocracy. As the chronicle begins, the Kims are living comfortably as advisors to the Korean royal family. But that world is torn apart with the Japanese invasion, when the queen is killed and the Kims are thrust into hiding. Through their story, Buck traces the country's journey from the late nineteenth century through the end of the Second World War. "The Korean people come hauntingly alive," wrote the Journal of Asian Studies about The Living Reed. "The remarkable novels of Pearl S. Buck have given the world an awakened understanding and appreciation of the Chinese people, and now she has wrought a like marvel for Korea." A New York Times bestseller, The Living Reed is an enlightening account of a nation's fight for survival and a gripping tale of a family caught in the ebb and flow of history. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Pearl S. Buck including rare images from the author's estate. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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