The Good Earth

Rating:
Summary: This book was excellent
Review: I read this book because I am now living in China. I was amazed at all similarities between ancient China (in the book) and modern day. Just one example - We still see peasants with their blue cotton clothes working in their rice fields and carrying things in woven baskets on bamboo slings. It was a treat to read this book and think "I've seen that!" It gave me a better appreciation for my experience here.

Rating:
Summary: Moving.....subtle in its simplicity & engaging story.
Review: I believe that this book was deeply enthralling. Wang Lung's life is a journey that Buck takes us on- through his struggles and triumphs- his children, wife, and daily routine- it leaves you with a heart-fealt knowledge for the oriental life-style near the end of the last emporer's reign of China.

Rating:
Summary: A Bit Much
Review: "The Good Earth" is a novel by Pearl Buck set in early 1900's China. It follows the life of a man, Wang Lung, who starts the novel as an impoverished landowner. His financial situation would be bad to begin with, but is hurt more so by the society's belief in filial piety. These respectful beliefs have him supporting his weak father, and unable to refuse his foolish uncle's demands for money. So is the setting of the story. The book is a very intricate story. It contains even the smallest bits of Wang Lung's everyday life. Bits like how he was tending his fields and the way he was treated by barbers. It even contained the smell of the air after his son was born to him and his wife, O-Lan. To contradict myself a bit, sometimes the story simply left things out. It moved quikly when it didn't need to. One instance of moving quickly and leaving something out is with O-Lan's pregnacies. The first one lasted for at least a chapter, while the subsequent children popped right out in a matter of sentences. The base of the book was a bit annoying to follow, also. The way grammar was used and the phrasing seemed unnatural. It was like an exact translation or was written as someone who was using their second language would speak. Examples of this are the placement of verbs and adjectives. However true to the author's heretige, it got on my nerves. Over all it was an interesting story that requires some patience.

Rating:
Summary: Every person should read this book at least once in life.
Review: I read this book as a teenager growing up in the Philippines and as an adult in America. The book strirred the same passions. This is an excellent story of life. It may be set in China but the morale of the story is universal. The struggle for survival and for human dignity, a mother's love and a wife's loyalty, the corruption of wealth and materialism, the decline of the family, the inequity of human society and the citezenry as victims of a political culture. This story happens everyday.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for bibliophiles of all ages
Review: Pearl Buck's The Good Earth is one of the greatest books that I have ever read. I would encourage all who haven't yet read it to experience one of this century's true classics.

Rating:
Summary: I was touched up a storm.
Review: When I was 12,I read this book(The Good Earth) moved by it. Nowadays, Because my major is English Education here in Seoul,KOREA, I am reading it once again. The author had been to Korea many times before.Actually this book open your eyes to China,or Orient.

Rating:
Summary: I thought it was great!
Review: I am related to Pearl Sydenstricker Buck, so therefore I thought it was reall good. I did a term paper on the Good Earth. Hopefully, I will receive an A.

Rating:
Summary: It was okay
Review: It was okay, but towards the end the conflicts between the brothers and Lotus and Pear Blossom get extremely choppy.

Rating:
Summary: This was one of the best books that I've read.
Review: The style of the book is simple. The text is not hard to understand yet still holds a complexity to it. Pearl Buck is an extraordinary writer. This book is a great portrayal of the Chinese culture and of China during that time. I would recommend it to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: "The Land- it's more than just growing geraniums."
Review: In American surburbia, the closest people get to "farming the land" is growing geraniums in their backyard. To me, it seems strange than land should be so precious. In the novel The Good Earth the reader is introduced to the Wang family, whose life is "firmly rooted" in the land. The setting is China is the early 20th century. The book follows Wang Lung, a poor farmer who loves the land more than anything. Through hard work and good luck, Wang Lung manages to remain faithful to the land than eventually makes him prosperous. Although the story lacks major conflict, the setting of this book is very interesting, and it introduced me to a culture that I didn't know much about. The outside world, such as the war that was taking place, was not really addressed. As far as Wang Lung was concerned, land was more important than any war. So, if you are fascinated by unfamiliar societies, you will enjoy this book. However, don't be looking for any suspenseful climaxes or surprising plot twists, because they are not coming!