Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
by Pearl S. Buck
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Description
Abandoned by their American GI fathers and Korean mothers, four young boys live under a bridge as a family with Matthew, the oldest, serving as the father. Sam, an American soldier invites them to the Christmas party on base, where the boys begin a new life. Sam and his wife adopt Matthew who continues to worry about those left behind. An inspiring story of self-reliance, compassion and moral courage in the face of daunting odds, this book deals with racial prejudice, abandonment and the show more responsibility of being a father to a family. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This one has a story behind it. A few weeks earlier, a neighbor and I were discussing books we'd read as children that we associated with Christmas. This Pearl Buck novel was her absolute favorite, but it was out of print; she'd searched for it since then and couldn't find a copy. One bookstore owner even told her it had never been published in English, but she knew that was untrue, because she'd read it in English as a child. I had never heard of the book. But I searched online, found a copy, and ordered it for her. Unfortunately, it arrived in January, too late for Xmas. I quickly read it myself and then presented it to her. When she saw it, she actually screamed with surprise and delight.
The novel is about the unwanted Eurasian show more children of American soldiers left in Korea after the war. Parts of it are quite bleak, but the ending is uplifting. show less
The novel is about the unwanted Eurasian show more children of American soldiers left in Korea after the war. Parts of it are quite bleak, but the ending is uplifting. show less
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Author Information
433+ Works 37,106 Members
Pearl S. Buck, June 26, 1892 - March 6, 1973 Pearl Sydenstricker Buck was an American author, best know for her novels about China. Buck was born on June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia, but as the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries she was taken to China in infancy. She received her early education in Shanghai, but returned to the United show more States to attend college, and graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Virginia in 1914. Buck became a university teacher there and married John Lossing Buck, an agricultural economist, in 1917. Buck and her husband both taught in China, and she published magazine articles about life there. Her first novel East Wind, West Wind was published in 1930. Buck achieved international success with The Good Earth, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. This story of a Chinese peasant family's struggle for survival was later made into a MGM film. Buck resigned from the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions after publishing an article that was critical of missionaries. She returned to the United States because of political unrest in China. Buck's novels during this period include Sons, A House Divided, and The Mother. She also wrote biographies of her father (Fighting Angel) and her mother (The Exile). She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. During her career, Buck published over 70 books: novels, nonfiction, story collections, children's books, and translations from the Chinese. She also wrote under the pseudonym John Sedges. In the United States, Buck was active in the civil rights and women's rights movements. In 1942 she founded the East and West Association to promote understanding between Asia and the West. In 1949, Buck established Welcome House, the first international interracial adoption agency. In 1964, she established the Pearl S. Buck foundation to sponsor support for Amerasian children who were not considered adoptable. Pearl Buck died in Danbury, Vermont, on March 6, 1973. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Het mooiste kerstfeest
- Original title
- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 45
- Popularity
- 660,961
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.00)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, French
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
