Good Earth [Paperback]

Pearl S. Buck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1990

Story of the Chinese peasant Wang Lung and his wife O-Lan and their rise from poverty to riches.

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (August 15, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671729896
• ISBN-13: 978-0671729899
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book for all minds and good souls!, March 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Earth (Paperback)

The novel, The Good Earth is a novel written by Pearl S. Buck. The book set in the time of turn of the century China, is about the fifty year fraction of the life span of the main character, Wang Lung, and how his life and his ever-growing family drastically changes through out the years. Wang Lung starts off as a poor farmer and gradually evolves into a rich dynasty with money coming from every angle. This wonderful book shows irony in a way I thought not possible, how money can change a person, and how sometimes the ". . .rich become too rich." My personal favorite part of the novel is when Wang Lung tricks his aunt and uncle into becoming opium addicts. I also enjoyed some of the blunt humor the author produces in the quotations of the characters. The Good Earth is a definite must for students in the high school level to read because it shows the destruction of the female sex in great detail. Women in the novel are known for being almost worthless objects. Its almost sickening to read the hardships of Chinese women and how they had no choice but to live with it. Female pupils, no matter how they try not to, will eventually face similar situations, maybe not as drastic, but still degrading. Ironically, The Good Earth makes women proud to be women and may cause men to be a little embarrassed as they read how their past "brothers" treated the opposite sex. The novel is full of material, not just for the mind, but also for the soul.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars this book was an interesting look into another culture, March 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Earth (Paperback)

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.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book worth reading., April 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Earth (Paperback)

The Good Earth

The Good Earth is a book written by Pearl S. Buck. The book is about the life of a poor farmer named Wang Lung, living in the country of China, and during the late 1800s. The story starts out with Wang Lung on his wedding day with his arranged marriage to a slave in a Great House. The slave's name is O-Lan and she was a very hard worker. During the first years of their marriage they had a couple of sons and prosperity. After the second son came a daughter, and the hardships. A huge drought came along and the family had to move south of their village to a city. In the city they begged for money and pretty soon they got it. The family became rich even more than before. More children were born, Wang Lung bought more and more land, and he even lent money to other people. The family became more broken and selfish as the years went by. The book ended with Wang Lung being a selfish, typical rich man, and dying The book was not one of my favorite books, but I didn't not like it either. The book was written wonderfully and I congratulate Pearl Buck on this achievement. This is the kind of book that you think a lot in and that you should read again and again. My favorite is when Wang Lung felt really bad about the death of O-lan and how ashamed he was that he never loved her. I did not like Wang Lung and I was glad when he did died. He was a very selfish man that only cared about things that had to do with money. The sad part is that a lot of people are like in our world. I think that the book The Good Earth is an important book to read. It helps people realize that we should not be so materialistic. I am glad that I read this book.