The Good Earth

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Summary: A humanistic portrait of a China in turmoil
Review: Masterfully simplistic, The Good Earth represents an enlightening portrait of the state of the Chinese nation as it passed from the hands of the corrupt and bloated Qing into the (then) idealistic arms of the Nationalists. Through narrating the life of the farmer Wang Lung, Buck meditates on the effects which the corruption of the Qing, the revolution, warlordism, and the countless other threads which run through early-20th century Chinese history had on the peasantry, the middle classes and the elites, alike.

Judging by the other reviews of this book, it appears as though some level of erudition is required for it to represent an enjoyable read. This is not the case, however; Buck's prose style is stunningly, and beautifully simple. Further, no depth of knowledge of regional history is needed to understand how Wang Lung's life experiences stand for the instability of Chinese life during this period of upheaval and great socio-political change.

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Summary: GREAT NOVEL!!!
Review: I bought this book because I've read some notes about it, the first thing that attract me was the title, so I bought it.
Once I started reading it, I couldn't stop reading it! This book really created me so much feelings toward the characters, because its reflect the circle of life of anyone, it could be you or me.

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Summary: The Good Earth
Review: The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, is a fiction story about how Wang Lung and his family, in Northern China in the nineteenth century, carried on and flourished through difficulty and hardship. Wang Lung was an ordinary peasant, who strongly believed and worshiped the Confucius religion. His wife, O-lan, was a kitchen slave of the wealthy House of Hwang before she was married. She was an unattractive woman who rarely spoke. Being a former slave, O-lan worked hard and was trustworthy to her husband.
In the beginning of the book, Wang Lung went to the House of Hwang to marry O-lan. After their marriage, both worked very hard in the fields and prospered. However, a famine occurred later. Because of this, the family was forced to go a city in the South. There, they had no choice but to beg for food. Would the family survive through the hard times?
Later in the book, Wang Lung discovers the importance of the earth. Without it, Wang Lung wouldn't have prospered at all; he would just be a regular farmer. In the book, Wang Lung stated, "They cannot take the land from me. The labor of my body and the fruit of the fields I have put into that which cannot be take away. If I had the silver, they would have taken it. If I had bought the silver to store it, they would have taken it all. I have the land still, and it is mine."
Pearl S. Buck wrote the book in an excellent style, although some of the words and grammar in the novel are a little old-fashioned in a way. The book contained many realistic details, creating a vivid picture in the reader's mind. Buck continued to keep the reader's attention as if the reader cannot put the book down. The Good Earth is part of a trilogy, followed by Sons and A House Divided. I suggest to offer this book to anyone who wishes to know more about different people's ways of life including their cultures, religions, and traditions.

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Summary: WASTE OF TIME!!!
Review: Everybody say it with me now - BORING!!!! the Chinese were so evil. this was one of the worst books i've read in my life. Watch TV instead, it's equally as productive

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Summary: Poetic dance
Review: I sing praises to Pearl S. Buck for her portrayal of Wang Lung, an honest, hard-workig, simple farmer who loved his land and prospered through his determination. Or his loyal, selfless wife, O-lan who stood by him in his steadfast ambition, even to the point of risking her health and emotional well-being. Her portrayal of these characters, which goes into great depth to teach us about rural China in the time of the last emperor's reign in pre-revolutionary China, was heart rending and shows us a sensitive side to this culture that if often overlooked.

This couple's love for the land, their children, and each other holds them together, even when Wang Lung began to prosper and indulge in the pleasures of the flesh by the taking of a concubine. And, O-lan, through her steadfast faith and loyality shows us glimpses of a wounded heart in the face of such indulgences despite her status as a wife.

The language in this book reminds me of a poetic ballad and is beautiful. This book truly deserves its classic status. I cannot say enough about it. Currently, I am reading Sons, the second book in the Good Earth Trilogy, and I cannot wait to read A House Divided. I simply cannot say enough about the quality of The Good Earth.

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Summary: Book about Chinese people, family, and work ethics
Review: This book was about a man named Wang Lung and his wife O-Lan. They are poor farmers. The end up having two boys and two girls (one died), and then twins--a boy and a girl. One year there is a drought, and farming is out of the question. They have no money and no food, but they stay there as long as they can. When they can't take anymore, they go south to find work. They built a hut out of mats and the mother and children beg while the father works pulling a wagon type thing that acts as a taxi. They just get by for months, until one day, the gates to a very large house where a well-to-do family lived are torn down. There is a mad rush into the house to take valuable things from it. The man ends up with handfuls of gold and O-Lan gets some jewels. They are able to go back to their home, where it has been raining. They acquire more and more land steadily and become rich. Wang Lung invites a mistress to come live in the house, and this devestates O-Lan. You'll have to read the book to find out the rest. I had to read it for school, but it was pretty good. All the bad luck they ran in to was pretty depressing, but overall, it was a good book. There was some mature content though, and it shouldn't be read until high school.

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Summary: A classic that deserves to be a classic
Review: There are over 200 reviews to this book already, so what's left to say about "The Good Earth"? Just a couple of things. First of all, after reading the first few pages you forget that this book takes place during pre-revolutionary China. Buck has written this story so that it transcends a specific time and place, developing the character Wang Lung as an archetypal figure. Someone we should all be able to identify with. As he slowly builds a fortune for himself, through a combination of backbreaking work and some unbelievable luck, Wang Lung forgets about his previous suffering and allows himself to be seduced by expensive temptations. Sound familiar? It's like the rags-to-riches-to-burnout stories we hear from Hollywood.

There is a moral to this story -- don't forget your humble beginnings -- but Buck is careful not to preach between passages. Also, by juxtaposing the bleak conditions of the peasant class to the decadence of the ruling elite, she accurately describes the circumstances that lead to violent civil unrest. She tackles big socio-political themes, but does so without bogging down the narrative. B. Traven -- famous for documenting the roots and causes of the Mexican Revolution in his "jungle novels" -- is the only other author I can thick of who is able to achieve this balance between story development and philosophizing.

In other words, Buck has produced a very rare masterpiece: one that makes you think and feel. Read it -- it deserves to be a classic.

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Summary: Timeless story
Review: Although Pearl Buck's story was written seventy years ago, the lessons about mankind are timeless and especially applicable in today's society. The culture of China presented in the story is always quite interesting.

The story is very captivating, as the life of Wang Lung is traced from his youth to old age. As Wang Lung grows older, he becomes richer and richer through his hard work, and this in turn is amazing to read how he changes. It implies the concept that Lord Acton speaks of when he says, "All power corrupts and absolute powers corrupts completely." Buck is able to show the innate and natural quality of man to always want more. This concept of greed comes full circle at the end of the book, when Wang Lung's sons have become exactly what brought Wang Lung wealth -- greedy lords that do not remember the value of the land.

This idea has deep implications in our own life -- how much do we really need to survive? Oftentimes, as portrayed in the story, it is so easy to want things, but really all we need in a day's wage is enough to put food on the table and shelter over our heads. Buck does a wonderful job in the Pulitzer price winning work of threading this idea into a story set in historic China.

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Summary: A definite must read!
Review: Pearl S. Buck's 'The Good Earth' is one of the best novels I have ever read. The story of Wang Lung and his family is so moving and displays many strong traits such as loyalty and hard work. This book is the best of the trilogy, but the others are excellent also. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in other cultures and/or who thinks they work too hard, it will open their eyes and mind.

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Summary: The Good Earth
Review: This book really took me to another place and time. Somewhere very different from where we live today yet not so different. The first thing I thought of after reading this book was the horribleness of foot binding, tea houses, and all the others this book reveals. And as hard as we try to deny anything such as that still exists, it does. People still torture themselves for the sake of beauty or to fit in, tea houses were probably the ancient equivelant of prostitution, trophy wives-it looks like- are here to stay, and polygamy still exists in the US- so it is kind of a reality check that what the reader sees in the book as wrong may still be in practice. This book really was about human nature above all things, Wang Lung's love for the land, ambition, honesty, inability to see all his wife did for him until it was too late, and lust for a pretty face (or feet should I say?) I think that Wang Lung represented the reader, the good and bad, through hard times and times of plenty he was never satisfied with his life but struggled to gain more and climb the social ladder. It was exhilarating to see him begin as a simple tenant farmer who works land for the House of Hwang into the owner of it.