The Good Earth

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Summary: The Good Earth
Review: I recommend The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. This book is intersting in many ways. The first way its interesting is it shows what it is like for poor families that lived in China back in the day. The second thing is it makes you feel what the story characters are going through. A reason I recommend this book is it is kinda of romantic but yet sad in a way. The book has many values and lessons that can be learned from the characters mistakes. This is so because Pearl wrote her books from things she saw around her everyday life in China. This is why I recommend the book, The Good Earth.

Rating:
Summary: The Good Earth
Review: I really like The Good Earth because I am Chinese and I wanted to know some history about China. At first I didn't really like the book, but as I kept on reading it got more interesting. I actually felt like I was standing in the scene watching every single thing the book was talking about. Every time I stopped I always wondered what would happen next. On some of the parts of the book I didn't really understand, but when I was finished with the chapter there was some clues to help me understand. I also thought the book was really descriptive.
I recommend this book to anybody that likes to know more history about China. This book will keep you entertained like it did to me. It talks about a man named Wang Lung. In the middle of the book he became poor so he moved to the south. One day he stole a lot of gold from a really rich and ran with his family back to his old home and lived there as a really rich man.
My favorite part in this book is when Wang Lung steals all the gold from the rich man. He runs back to his old home as a really rich man.

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Summary: One of the best books I've ever read.
Review: This book is truly amazing. I cannot recommend it enough. I read it in a few days, not being able to put it down. The story is wonderful, the characters are incredibly real and the writing is beautiful. Buck's writing is pure and clear, like crystal. There is nothing 'fancy' about it, just perfect descriptions of perfectly chosen scenes and details. The main character of Wang Lung is engaging because he both a good man and a flawed man - in short, he is real. I also found his wife, O-lan to be intriguing. We never really get to know her mind - because Wang Lung never really gets to know her mind, and we see the world through his eyes. But as a reader you are hungry to find out what she is thinking and feeling, but for the most part Pearl Buck cleverly keeps you hungry. And the one time we do get a glimpse into O-lan's mind is the most moving episode in the entire book....

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Summary: A Truly Excellent Book
Review: While many people call this book boring, slow moving, or altogether worthless, I think that it is fascinating and beautiful. The reading is quite easy (I read it first in 4th grade, and then once more in 7th grade), and Buck's style is straightforward but still very descriptive.

Ultimately, this story introduces the reader to a culture most people are unfamiliar with, and a family story that will keep the reader questioning themselves. One thing I enjoyed most about this book was the view of the main character, Wang Lung. From the beginning, I was "rooting" for him, but as time goes on, one must wonder, is he a villain? Is he good? He can't fit into our cultural stereotypes based on his actions, and that is a triumph of this book; by its end, you'll be able to think "outside the box" of Western cultural values. A must read and a classic.

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Summary: [[*Excellent]
Review: What a great book. The Good Earth is a novel about the life of a Chinese man named Wang Lung who dreams of riches and honor in his family. Starting out as a poor farmer, serving his father and laboring for days on his land, Wang Lung moves up in class and social status through his life, overcoming one obstacle at a time. Through love, lust, family relations, and famine, Wang Lung sees that he can always depend on his land. The Good Earth is a must-read and kept my attention throughout the whole book.

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Summary: ¤ ..exceptional cultural story..¤
Review: In my English II class, I had just finished reading the novel, The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck. It is basically about Wang Lung and his life as a former farmer to a wealthy landowner. Along with his ordeals, he has O-Lan to bore him their 5 children. Lung has great respect for the land because it portrays how letting wealth overpower them by being wasteful and free-giving in their expense, that eventually it will lead them to perverse at one point. Though in the end his sons have a different perspective of the land having no intentions but to sell it whatsoever to abuse the power of having excessive wealth from the lands' value. Overall, I think the story was great, specially exposing me to the Chinese culture, who I am not quite familiar with their beliefs and traditions. The concept of the symbolization & themes are excellent in conveyance to the significance of the title, The Good Earth itself. Although, it seems as if it appeals to me as somewhat having greediness involved, I was touched by the first daughter of Wang Lung, being the retarded girl she is. To think that if she was ever sold as a slave without having knowledge of her condition, she would've been killed due to its annoyance to the master. I personally would recommend this book to someone who finds pleasure in reading literature outside of their culture that deals with family.

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Summary: One of the Best Novels Ever
Review: The Good Earth is one of the best novels of all time. The novel is about the life of a poor farmer named Wang-Lung who becomes the lord of a great house. Due to his hard work in farming his "beloved" earth, and his wife O-lan's hard work in household and farming tasks, they are able to prosper despite many obstacles.

However, becoming rich does not end Wang Lung's problems. It only causes more. First there is the concubine Lotus Flower, Wang Lung's evil uncle, Wang Lung's evil cousin, Wang Lung's sons, etc... The list goes on and on, as you will, when you begin the book. Ultimately, the story closes with an ironic ending that leaves the reader with a moral.

Pearl S. Buck, the author of this excellent novel, wonderfully presents the reader with a real view of China and the Chinese culture during the early 1900s, which is enlightening and enjoyable to read. The way the story is written is simple enough, as far as classics go, but filled with deep meaning that will touch any reader even after they have finished the book.

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Summary: What an awesome book
Review: I didn't know what to read for a book report in my senior English class. My mom told me about a book called, "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. She told me that she had loved the book. She also told me that my dad had read it also and enjoyed it. My dad doesn't like to read that much so I decided that this must be a good book. I started reading it and I couldn't put it down until I had to, which was more than half way into it. I loved the uniqueness of it, I loved the way it just captured you and brought you along. It took place in China during the early 1900's, with the main character, Wang Lung a farmer living with his old father, wishing for nothing more than some land of his own and to be wealthy. He marries O-lang a slave who he's not attracted to and brings her to his house to live. O-lang works so hard to please her husband. (...) I swear this book is one of the best I have read, I recomend it with my whole heart. I don't recomend it however if, you don't like to read, or you only like reading one certain type of book. But if you just go with it, keep an open mind, and you'll love it.

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Summary: The Good Book!
Review: Based on the 1931 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Pearl S. Buck, THE GOOD EARTH is a moving story about a simple Chinese farmer and the land that he lives on. It encompasses his noble and even not so noble family, disasters (droughts and floods), famine (locusts), bandits, war, unyielding weather, and poverty.

The farmer is Wang Lung, a proud man who is very proud of what he has before him -- his land. His wife, O-lan, is a slave girl who becomes Wang Lung's wife after he buys her from the great House of Hwang. Their battles against starvation and locusts begin on the land as O-lan continuously has children: two boys, a girl, another daughter in which O-lan smothers her, a retarded daughter, and twins (boy and girl). There is also his father, the old man who simply lies on his bench and eats and sleeps all day.

Wang Lung, desperate to keep his land from hardship, is forced to move his family down south to better opportunities. He becomes a ricksha driver (someone who acts like a taxi by driving customers in a wooden wagon to their destinations) and makes a little fortune there. Later, when the poor villagers bombard a rich man's palace, Wang and O-lan steal some jewels from the rich man's house and flee the southern town. They return to the North and return to the farmland.

As the years pass, his sons grow into men, he sends them to school to become scholars and continues to watch his land. He becomes wealthy and even develops a name for himself in the village. He takes up with a mistress named Lotus from the local tea shop, who brings her servant/friend Cuckoo. O-lan becomes seriously ill and dies, but no before marrying off the eldest son. Then, Wang Lung's father dies. Soon, Wang Lung's uncle and his wife and son come to live with the prospering family. Wang and his eldest son bring them opium in order to control them. (Wang's uncle is leader of the Redbeards, a band of thieving bandits and outlaws.)

As the years wane, Wang Lung gets older and Lotus becomes fatter with her foods and drinks. The second son is married off and Wang Lung's cousin, his uncle's son, goes off to join the Revolution. He returns, however, as the war moves closer to the village. He goes off again, but not before impregnating a slave. Eventually, his uncle and his wife die from the opium and are buried in the family tomb with his father, O-lan, and Wang's faithful servant, Ching.

In the end, Wang asks his sons to never forget the land that they came from. They promise to never sell it, but not before exchanging suggestive smiles to each other. (Hmmmmmm!)

It's interesting of the relationship that develops with Wang Lung and those around him. He grows with knowledge of understanding not only the land, but of his family and those around him. THE GOOD EARTH is not so much a love story as it is about a man who loves his land. It's an oxymoron that plays out ironically. Yes, they are passionate moments within the pages, but there is only one main aspect of love -- and that is for the land that one man has, or rather, all he's ever had.

My few complaints are that Buck tends not to flush out her characters completely. With so many characters involved, it is difficult to really list each person's ticks and vices. But then, why mention that one hates his cousin so, simply for eyeing his wife? Or why he loves this land? And if so, why should we care? I believe that Buck was trying to put us in Wang's shoes and say, "Yeah, I can understand that." But to me, they didn't feel drawn out enough to even care, characters and all.

Another instance is Buck's continuously annoying use of "this and that," or "hither and thither." First of all, no one talks like that! I don't care if she was born in China or the bottom of the sea, there should not be an inexorable use of a phrase on every freaking page! That tends to water down the story, which it did for THE GOOD EARTH, and becomes fussy.

At 360 pages, THE GOOD EARTH is an enjoyable read. I enjoyed the drama that unfolded and even pictured every scene clearly. (At least she didn't go into added detail about the land or the detail on the clothes that everyone wore.) I think that this would be a very good film if remade today. Naturally, due to the fact that it is controversial today for Americans to play foreigners, this would be a foregin language film with a Chinese cast. But, hey, I enjoyed the book so much that I, myself, am willing to direct it -- subtitles and all!

THE GOOD EARTH is both a good time killer and a moving story about sacrifice, survival, and family honor. It even has some added text, a small map of China and its locations, critical opinions, and intelligent forewords by the book's editor Peter Conn and even by the author herself.

What more could you ask for?

Rating:
Summary: Buck's writing
Review: The book is about dirty, filthy, hard-working Chinese peasants. Certainly, the subject would not attract many people. Most of us do not care about farmers in general. Yet Buck's book still draws people's attention. The author is not describing anything extraordinary, yet I kept flicking each page and wanted to read more. Her words are simple and does not give much psychological insight of the characters. But I still wanted to read some more.
It is her gifted style of writing that does the magic. I do not recommend it to people that are interested in books like Electro Cool-Aid Acid Test. But for me, this book will always remain as a valuable classic.