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Summary: The novel, "The Good Earth" was a fairly good book!
Review: Dear Friend, So you are about to read the novel called The Good Earth. You will enjoy it a lot, it is a great book! You will be faced with many heartbreaking scenes, and then lead on some long adventures. This book is mainly about China, and its citizens in early years. You will learn about the lives that common people lived, as well as the lives of the rich. There is many lessons that the reader is given on life. It all starts out with a common farmer in China named Wang Lung. One day he decides to buy a wife, and from that moment on his life is changed forever. You will go on a journey with him through good years and bad, and be faced with many problems not only in the land, but also in the family. In my opinion, I thought this book was rather enjoyable to read. I always like to read things that are faced paced and adventurous. I would just suggest that the reader set aside some time because the print is small and their is about 260 pages. But the time spent is well worth it, believe me! My favorite part in this novel was when Wang Lung goes south. It really shows what China was like, and the differences from the north to the south. During this part of the novel one learns what hard labor was due to gaining money and the feelings of being poor. I feel that The Good Earth is a very important book to read. The reader is given many lessons on life and realizes how good their life is compared to others. This book also gives you knowledge of the past in China. Well that is The Good Earth! Have fun and I hope you enjoy it!
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Summary: The book was Boring and slow moving
Review: The book The Good Earth is about China's origin and history. It is based on things that take place there, such as, how women were treated in the beginning of the 19th century. The book is also about a man named Wang Lung and his journey from being poor to rich. I did not enjoy the book, but others may have. To me, the book was slow and dragging. Half the time I fell asleep reading it at night. It never caught my attention. If I had to pick a favorite part it would probably be when Wand Lung and O-lan go south, because they enter a journey of begging and death. Not that death is good but they open their eyes to the world around them. I do not think that The Good Earth was important to read because it takes us through a persons life which has no fun or real sense of adventure in it. It drags on and so most teens do not enjoy reading it and its basically torture. Some people might enjoy The Good Earth. Its basically a matter of opinion. I found the book hard to read. I guess that the schools like children to read this book because it gives us some understanding of what happened and what is happening in China. It is fun to learn about what happened in other countries but this book seemed to last forever.
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Summary: The good earth, the mediocre book
Review: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck is a much acclaimed title. While it may be a favorite among critics and literature teachers it does not have the pace or power most would expect of a pulitzer awarded classic. The Good Earth starts with a 20ish Chinese farmer named Wang Lung, and ends with him a 70-80 year old lord, all in under 400 pages. As you can imagine, the book can't possibly cover all the facets of this rise, and so jumps from scene to scene, more akin to a play than a book. For instance near the beginning we see Wang Lung have a son with his new wife, then after some token description, we jump two children into the future, WL now has 2 sons and a daughter, with a 4th daughter on the way. After this the book takes a good pace (the best part of the book) in to the family's life in the south due to a drought, the detail here is what the rest of the book should have had, but didnt. Here we learn more about O-Lan (WL's wife) and her past, see the two sons personalities begin to surface, and gain more in depth understanding of Wang Lung's morality. Then Zap, we're back in the farm up north with Wang Lung a prospering farmer with a new set of children. I won't go into any more specifics to keep from spoiling the book for anyone who hasnt read it, but from here on out the space between events just gets wider and wider. It felt like Wang Lung should have been 30 and still a farmer near the end of the book, not a 70 year old wealthy lord.
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Summary: this book was an interesting look into another culture
Review: I recently read the book, The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck. It was really interesting, and educational. It introduced my class into a whole different world of 19th century China. It went through the life of a Chinese farmer named Wang-Lung. The book shows his hardships, and prosperity as he tries to make a good life for his family. He goes from a poor farmer, to a rich, respected man. I felt the book was interesting. It was lagging at times, and sometimes was hard to focus on. But it proved to be an good chance to look at the life of the Chinese people. I learned a lot about their culture. I was introduced to the ideas of concubines, foot binding, and infanticide. Some of the topics the books touched on were hard to swallow, such as infanticide. It was hard to hear about how naturally it happened in their society. Foot binding was also hard to understand. Their culture is so different then ours, and I enjoyed learning about. My favorite a part of the book was after O-lan, Wang-Lung's first wife, died. This caused him to realize how important he was to her. He had forgotten how much he needed her in everything from, raising his family to tending his land. She was a huge part of his life and as he got richer he forgot that. Losing her caused him to take a serious look at all that this woman had done for him. This book was definitely important to read. Children in our society are so sheltered when it comes to learning about other cultures, this book, The Good Earth, is an easy way to see a completely different, some times strange, way of life.
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Summary: That the Book is not important to read
Review: I have just recently finished The Good Earth. The book is about the everyday life of afamily in China. It shows how man's relationship with the earth can hurt you and be the only thing that yoy can depend on. The book tells how a man can go to wanting nothing but the earth and what comes of it, to being greedy and lustful for many women. It also attempts to show the problems that china has culturally on the standpoint of women. If you believe inn female rights this is one for you and if you are not than you WILL not be interested. Did I like the book? Nochance. The reasons of me not liking the book are as follows: I do not care about anything that has happened in China, is happeninging in China, or anything that ever will happen in China. If all the people in china spontaneously cumbusted it would not phase me in the least. As for female and womens rights, the book shows haredships that women haave endured, but that is tradition and what do I care about what the chinese are doing to there women. The only thting that I care about is wha is going on in my country. Telling people in this country is not important because more than 98% of the people in our country will never go our communicate to anyone that is in China. As for a favorite part there was none. I feel that the book over all was incredibly, dry, dull, wearisome and tedious. I did not enjoy reading it and I feel that most people will feel the same way. I think the book is not important to read, because most people are not interested in what goes on in China. Most of the people that I have talked to feel the same way. In conclusion do not read this book. Sicerely, Jeremy Schneider
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Summary: Good Earth opinion
Review: The Good Earth is a book written by Pearl S. Buck. It was a very interesting story that gave a lot of facts about the 19th and early 20th century China.It takes you through the life a peasant farmer that prospers with his land.He starts with a slave wife and run down house and moves onto a great house with a concubine and many servants.He would have nothing if it were not for his land though. When his land did good he grew and when his harvest was bad there was famine and disease. This book takes you through all of his good times and bad times. it kind of goes along with the Bible in some ways , showing seven years of prosperity and seven years of sorrow like this book very much. It was very educational and my knowledge about Chinese culture grew greatly. The Good Earth went into great depth about how different the morals were back then. People would actually break their toes and wear three inch shoes for looks. It also expressed how badly women were treated and the hardships they had to go through. My favorite part was when Wang Lung had his life set on the farm and he was living good.It was great to see his life set but then he got a little too rich.I think The Good Earth is an essential book to learn about our past cultures of the world.
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Summary: The book was okay
Review: The Good Earth is a book basically about a farmer named Wang Lung who is poor at first and then he becomes a very wealthy man throughout the novel. He marries a woman who he becomes very satisfied with because she begins to bear him many sons. He is also pleased that she is also very obidient and a hard worker. He does end up buying a concubine, which is not unusual at all for a chineses married man to do for pleasure. He likes her more for pleasure because of her size and beauty, for he never really thought his first wife-O-lan was. Throughout the novel he also realizes how important O-lan was to ther family after she dies. He also realizes the importsance of his land and would never give it up. I thought the book was okay. It dragged on for a while in the beginning, but towards the end I realized the significance about the book. It was all surrounded by a differnt culture and it became very interesting the way that they handled everything. It is very different then the way that we would. In some ways it was better in other ways it was not. My favorite parts were the parts that involved the poor fool, and the part were Wang Lung dies and his sons smile at each other because they want to sell the land. I think The Good Earth is an important book to read to help people get an understanding of the Chinese culture, it is really amazing in ways. It also helps people realize the freedom that we in America have and especially the women. It ios a very good example of how the women were treated.
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Summary: Shows Chinese culture and at the same time tells a story.
Review: The Good Earth is a book about a poor farmer who depends on the earth for his life. After marrying, life doesn't seem to be so hard, but soon famine strikes and he is forced to leave his beloved land and move to the city. A stroke of fortune and his wife's quick thinking procures him enough money to get back to his land. From then on the "gods smile on him" and he prospers. This wealthy farmer now has other things on his mind like wives for his sons and another wife for himself. Eventually it is apparent that his wealth causes him to drift from the land and lose some of his morality. Over all I enjoyed this book. It had many lessons to teach such as the bad use of money corrupts, and a spouse makes or breaks someone. The book was long but it kept my attention. My favorite part was when O'lan discovered the jewels using past experience and gave it unselfishly to Wang Lung. Then they were able to return to the land, purchase goods and continue to prosper. I think this book is good for someone trying to get a glimpse of Chinese culture and at the same time enjoy the story. The Good Earth guides readers into the past and shows them the hardship, misery and joy of the past. It shows us, today, how fortunate we are to live in a relatively free country where men and women are treated equally. Leanna Pagdin
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Summary: There are many lessons one can learn in this book.
Review: The book, The Good Earth, is about a family which rose from poverty to become a powerful dynasty. Wang Lung, who was only a common farmer, battled with famines and bandits to rise as a rich man. The book shows the priorities and changes in attitudes of a man as he goes from being a poor man to prosperous man. The Good Earth was an enjoyable book because it shows Chinese culture in a differnet point of view then usually seen. Sure the women were not treated well throughout the story, but the book is from a Chinese view, and it is not ruined by outsiders critizism which the Chinese always recieve. The culture was shown as it was in the country as if it were no different from any outside civilization. My favorite part of the book was when Wang Lung became head-over-heelsand obsessed for a girl named Lotus. This demonstrates that even though men were thought to be superior to women and supposedly had all power over them, that men can fall under the control of women. The Good Earth is an important book to read, because it shows many interesting things about the Chinese culture and their ways. It is a very informative book that teaches lessons about how money and riches can change the way you live your life. It also demonstrates the old saying money doesn't always bring happiness.
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Summary: The Good Earth shows the value of your family.
Review: The book The Good Earth is about the value of your family and the meaning of the land. The main character, Wang Lung, struggles to fit in and not loose his family. He started out as a low class farmer with a slave wife. Throughout the years his prosperity grew. He had two sons and a daughter and was able to buy more land from the wealthy mansion in town, the House of Hwang. A drought came among the land and his family starved. His family worked together and never gave up. There strong devotion and love helped them return to their land and from that point on they rose in there position among the town. As their money grew and they bought more land, Wang Lung changed. He became to grow apart from his family and his land, and his life fell apart. This book shows the true meaning of family and how their support can get you through anything. I thought the book was very good and it kept your attention throughout the entire book. It showed how the women of China lived and were treated. It brought to a whole different culture that I was never aware of. It widened my eyes to how much women went through to please men and how they were barely recognized among the society. This book almost let me leave the country and travel to a foreign country with a culture that is so alien to our own. My favorite part of the book was when O-lan, Wang Lung's wife, went back to the House of Hwang, where she slave her entire childhood, to show the old mistress her new born son. It showed some sort of completion to O-lan's life because she had a strong healthy son and a wealthy husband. O-lan grew up in that house and was hurt and treated as if she never belonged anywhere. Being able to go back to that house with a son proved that she was better off than all of the slaves there. The Good Earth is an important book to read because it really shows the culture of a foreign country. Before reading this book I had now idea that the women of china were treated so badly. I new nothing about the process of foot binding or the customs of marriage. Women were treated more as objects, either to show off or to work and bear children. This book showed how different our culture is from other countries.
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