The Good Earth

And when he was weary he lay down upon his land and he slept and the health of the earth spread into his flesh and he was healed of his sickness.

The Good Earth follows Wang Lung from his wedding day to his death, as he goes from a poor farmer to a rich patriarch. But is he happier at the end? (That's basically the point of what I found to be an interesting novel, albeit a depressing one.)

At different times, The Good Earth reminded me of [b:The Grapes of Wrath|18114322|The Grapes of Wrath|John Steinbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375670575l/18114322._SY75_.jpg|2931549] and [b:East of Eden|4406|East of Eden|John show more Steinbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1544744853l/4406._SY75_.jpg|2574991] (both of which were written later). Ms. Buck's goal was to write a family saga featuring well-rounded Chinese characters, not the stereotypes that had previously peopled western literature about the Chinese. (She was a fascinating person -- so far ahead of her time when it comes to equality issues. If you don't know anything about Ms. Buck, look her up.)

Excerpts from various literary critiques were included at the end of edition I read. Two criticisms that I found interesting were (a) cultural corrections made by Chinese-American critics and (b) protests about her featuring mostly poor, uneducated characters. Ms. Buck's response to these issues were basically that China is a huge country with diverse culture and she was accurately depicting the area where she lived, and that the characters she featured represent people who aren't going to write about themselves.

*As part of my classic-of-the-month project, this summer is devoted to white people (two British men & an American woman) writing about Asia: ([b:A Passage to India|45195|A Passage to India|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421883612l/45195._SY75_.jpg|4574850], this book, and [b:The Painted Veil|99664|The Painted Veil|W. Somerset Maugham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320421719l/99664._SY75_.jpg|1069201]. I've purposely picked books that (hopefully) aren't ragingly racist. show less

This is the first in a trilogy of novels published in the 1930s about the lives of generations of a family of Chinese peasants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The author was American Pearl S Buck, daughter of Presbyterian missionaries and who spent much of the first 40 years of her life in China. This novel was, rather counter-intuitively, the best-selling novel in the US in 1931 and 1932, in which latter year it won the Pulitzer Prize, while Buck herself was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938.
The beauty of the novel is that the land, the soil, the earth of the title is almost a character in its own right. It belongs to farmer Wang Lung and his family which early on in the novel consists of show more himself, his young wife O-Lan, and their two young sons, and Wang's father; with a feckless uncle, with his wife and son, lurking in the background. Wang works hard but struggles. Famine comes to the land and desperate times. His family moves to a southern city where, eventually they encounter political turbulence and Wang acquires a small fortune of gold coins. Back home in his village, he wisely buys land and grows his farm, becoming prosperous. There are sad and tragic scenes, humour, pathos and an interesting cast of characters. One shocking aspect is the way daughters are treated as opposed to sons, girls are described as "slaves" who are (though not in Wang's family) sold off (or even killed) during times of hardship to help the family.
Part of the overall allure and mystery of the novel is its seeming to take place outside time and place - we don't find out the names of most of Wang's family members, and the outside world rarely impinges on their lives, with unspecified references to wars and revolutions, which I thought must refer to the Boxer rebellion of 1901 and the revolution that overthrew the Manchus in 1911-12, though the the stretches of time in the family's lives seems longer than these events allow - Wang is about 20 at the novel's start and about 70 at its end. I love Buck's writing style and her deep empathy for her characters and their landscape and culture. show less

I first read The Good Earth fifty years ago, probably more. I recall nothing of that reading and so was very curious to know what I thought now. I was particularly curious since Pearl Buck, who received the Nobel Prize in 1938 for her body of work,* and The Good Earth are frequent targets of disdain and derision and I am as guilty as anyone. (Robert Frost is said to have commented, “If she can get it, then anybody can.” The irony is too great: Buck nominated Frost for the Nobel Prize in 1961.)
The Good Earth is the story of Wang Lung, a poor farmer in 1920s China. The novel opens with his marriage to O-Lan, a slave in the palatial home of the wealthy Hwang family. Next are years of hard work, a little cleverness and even a bit of show more wisdom on Wang Lung’s part. The story embraces his failures and achievements equally. Buck renders a deeply sensitive portrait of O-Lan and his children, and the concubine he buys once he becomes rich. She depicts his extended family, his relationships, and his values. Indeed, the book is above all Wang Lung’s book, and it is no surprise that Buck wanted his name as the book’s title.
Buck’s first language was Chinese. She spent the first half of her life in China (except for four years of college in the US). She grew up with Chinese playmates and friends, lived among ordinary Chinese rather than among other Westerners, and inhabited a thoroughly Chinese world. She was intent on recreating China in the book and crafted a detailed world of daily life, customs, practices, beliefs, and an extraordinary range of characters.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is its style. Buck’s prose is unmistakably and deeply evocative of Biblical cadences, syntax, and diction (word choice and use). That style is responsible not only for the unique feel of the book but for much of its depth and power. In comments made shortly after she won the Nobel Prize, Buck said: “I think in the Chinese idiom and translate. That may be why the result occasionally resembles scriptural English. The Chinese language, like King James's English, is simple and from the soil.” I think that her comment is both too glib and too modest.
But is it a good book? In many ways, The Good Earth reminds me of a work by another author who won the Nobel (in 1924), one also frequently accused of being a “lesser” choice. I opened my review of Władysław Reymont’s The Peasants by observing that “I think your reaction to it will depend largely on your willingness to be pleased with storytelling. Or, more precisely, storytelling alone…. [Reymont] is content to describe and, as good as he is at description, as good as he is at evoking a time and place, 900 pages later, there is not much more than that.” I complained that “Reymont describes [his characters’] behavior exhaustively but probes their motivations only marginally.” Buck spends more time examining the whys of peoples’ behavior than Reymont. She is particularly careful to portray Wang Lung’s motivations and his beliefs.
Like Reymont and Marcel Pagnol, Buck is strong on the natural world. One might well contend that the book is about nothing so much as Wang Lung’s relationship to the earth—his source of sustenance as a farmer and a human being. Perhaps the most heartrending section of The Good Earth describes a brutal famine, and Buck generally excels at portraying the color and texture of village life. Like Reymont and Pagnol, she creates “a world rich in the traditions and rhythms of life that is inextricably bound to the seasons.” I criticized The Peasants because “where Pagnol uses this [world] to fashion a masterful Greek tragedy, Reymont is content to tell a story.” I think that, like Pagnol, Buck does more than tell a story; she is more intentional and more successful than Reymont in posing important questions.
Yet I wish she had done more than she does. I wish she had given O-Lan, the moral center of the book, as much depth as she gave to Wang Lung. O-Lan has very little to say yet her influence is unmistakable. Had Buck chosen to make the book about O-Lan, she might have created a work comparable to Kristin Lavransdatter. But it was a matter of deep personal importance to her to introduce China and the Chinese people to her readers. Her goal, she wrote, was “putting China into people’s minds.” Indeed, the Nobel Presentation Speech opened with the telling line that “Pearl Buck once told how she had found her mission as interpreter to the West of the nature and being of China.”
The Good Earth is very much what Buck wanted it to be and it is therefore—perhaps unfortunately—very much a book of its times. The tension between a timeless story and a time-bound telling, is, I think, what has earned it some of the criticism it has received. Despite its many virtues, the book sometimes seems no more than a primer on the Chinese. Buck was uniquely qualified to write such a book but The Good Earth can be didactic and un-literary. I suspect that it has largely fallen out of the conversation for not entirely good reasons, though. Although it has its flaws and although it may not be a great work of literature, I think it has many undeniably powerful scenes and moving prose. I thought it well worth my time and am glad to have re-read it. I have been more than a little foolish all these years to condescend to Pearl Buck and The Good Earth. There is room at the table for both Woolf and Buck; those who disparage or mock this solid, if not truly exceptional, novel, owe the author, the book—and themselves—to read it again.

* Virginia Woolf, a writer often suggested as a “more deserving” choice, could not have won the Prize in 1938 because she was not nominated that year or—remarkably enough—any other year. The 1938 shortlist included Hermann Hesse (who would win in 1946), Johannes Jensen (who won in 1944), Aldous Huxley, and the Flemish master, Stijn Streuvels. show less

This book was...exasperating. I didn't agree with most of what the characters did and got frustrated because I wanted to argue with them and tell Wang Lung how terrible he was. "Wow, I can't wait to get married so I can lay in bed and my wife can do everything for me!" What a way to introduce a protagonist. And he took the pearls. What a piece of shit.

Also, I want justice for O-Lan! She was visibly dying of a cancer for THREE YEARS before anyone bothered calling a doctor?? They never would have been successful without her, and that's the thanks she got?! What a terrible end, even for a "worthless slave." Ugh.

Apparently this is the first book in a trilogy, but I don't think I can get myself this worked up two more times.

Other show more things:
"Well, and" before EVERY piece of dialogue.
"THE LAND"
"With the passing of the flame out of him he was suddenly cold with an age and he was old man. Nevertheless, he was fond of her....and more and more his love for her was the love of father for daughter." Gross.
He. Took. The. Pearls. show less

Wang Lung and O-lan is a poor couple in rural China who both work hard to support their family. With some luck and help from his wife, Wang Lung is able to build his fortune and eventually becomes a wealthy, respected lord with three sons.

As Wang Lung ascended to his wealth, he left a lot of his past behind, becoming a different person; he becomes more arrogant and superficial in contrast to his past humble and simple self. Unfortunately, this change in personality only drives him to yearning for peace and contentment later on, proving that money really does not buy happiness. However, what remains consistent with Wang Lung throughout the story is his loyalty to the land; it is the land that makes him rich, explaining the title "The show more Good Earth".

I had to read The Good Earth for English this year, and truthfully, I was horrified by it from beginning to end. I understood the messages of the book, but I could never relate to the protagonist. I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy the book, and it wasn't a book I would have chosen if I had a choice. Wang Lung emotionally mistreats O-lan just because of his poor opinion for her looks, despite her faithfulness to him and her effort to support the family. As he became wealthier, he buys a concubine for himself, Lotus Flower, who he treats like a goddess. Lotus Flower, in turn, acts as a spoiled brat, sucking up his wealth. Because of Wang Lung's character, it was hard for me to feel sorry for him during his misfortunate times.

The characters were well-fleshed out and complex; perhaps, it was because they were so real to me that I was horrified by the novel. It had many strong themes, the strongest one (to me) telling about the power of wealth and corruption.

This wasn't a horrible book, but perhaps it wasn't the book for me. show less

In my quest to read all the books in my inherited library, I finally decided to read this one. When I opened it, I found my grandfather's name written on the inside next to my mother's, so I know I'm the third generation in my family to enjoy this extraordinary masterpiece. The copy I have is very old—10th printing in 1942—and I had to hold it gently while reading since the pages are yellowed, thin, and easy to rip. It was a joy to read. The writing style is simple, yet each sentence tells two stories. The first one is about the life of the farmer, Wang Lung, and the second tells us about human nature.

Although the story gives us a fascinating view into old Chinese culture when just surviving was a struggle, it also tells the story show more of how success can warp a person's perception of what's essential and what is not. Wang Lung and his wife, O-Lan, work hard to feed their growing family, always believing the land is their most important possession. They sacrifice everything to give their children a better life. However, by taking the struggle out of life, their sons lose sight of what's important. They demonstrate this in the end by planning to sell the land their father struggled so hard to acquire—the very thing that gave them the wealthy life they now live. I suppose it's human nature for parents to want their kids' lives to be better than theirs. But, it sometimes backfires big time. show less

Pearl Buck is one of those authors I've been meaning to read for years. I finally did, and I'm glad I started with The Good Earth. The story seems both familiar and strange. The book addresses universal themes of family conflict, poverty and wealth, wisdom and folly, love and hate, but its setting in provincial China in the early 20th century is very different. It was jarring for the female sex to be referred to as “slaves”, yet that's how the women were treated even in wealthy households.

One of the most curious passages in the book is Wang Lung's encounter with Christian missionaries in the city. They provide much-needed assistance for the poor when conditions are bad, but seem to abandon them to their fate when conditions are at show more their worst. They distribute literature that the uneducated Wang Lung can't understand. He can't read the letters, and the pictures don't make any sense to him. The family puts the papers to good use, but not in the way the missionaries intended. Knowing that Pearl Buck was the daughter of missionaries, I can't help but see this as a commentary on the futility of the work of Western missionaries.

The story is well-suited for audio, and Anthony Heald's reading is delightful. I'm not sure I would have liked the book quite as well if I had read it rather than listened to it. Warmly recommended. show less