Sons [Hardcover]

Pearl Buck (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Methuen (1961)
• ASIN: B000K1Y7IA
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker was born on June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Her parents were Southern Presbyterian missionaries, most often stationed in China, and from childhood, Pearl spoke both English and Chinese. She returned to China shortly after graduation from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1914, and the following year, she met a young agricultural economist named John Lossing Buck. They married in 1917, and immediately moved to Nanhsuchou in rural Anhwei province. In this impoverished community, Pearl Buck gathered the material that she would later use in The Good Earth and other stories of China.
Pearl began to publish stories and essays in the 1920s, in magazines such as The Nation, The Chinese Recorder, Asia, and The Atlantic Monthly. Her first novel, East Wind, West Wind, was published by the John Day Company in 1930. John Day's publisher, Richard Walsh, would eventually become Pearl's second husband, in 1935, after both received divorces.

In 1931, John Day published Pearl's second novel, The Good Earth. This became the bestselling book of both 1931 and 1932, won the Pulitzer Prize and the Howells Medal in 1935, and would be adapted as a major MGM film in 1937. Other novels and books of nonfiction quickly followed. In 1938, less than a decade after her first book had appeared, Pearl won the Nobel Prize in literature, the first American woman to do so. By the time of her death in 1973, Pearl had published more than seventy books: novels, collections of stories, biography and autobiography, poetry, drama, children's literature, and translations from the Chinese. She is buried at Green Hills Farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting story!, April 6, 2003

By 

momwith2kids (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sons (Good Earth Trilogy, Vol 2) (Paperback)

This second volume to the "House of Earth Trilogy" takes off right where "The Good Earth" ends. I was fortunate enough to find a copy with all three books in one so for me there was no space between the two. Written in the same style of the first novel, this story begins with the lives of three sons of Wang Lung: Wang the eldest (Landlord), Wang the second (Merchant) and particularly, Wang the third (The Tiger). By far the most important and interesting character in this book is Wang the Tiger, who became a powerful war lord. Much was written about his life and how he longed to live the life of a soldier, having nothing but disdain for the farmer's life his father wanted for him. It's an interesting irony, how none of the sons respected what Wang Lung, their father, had left for them. The eldest only interested in the façade of the rich life, the second only interested in money, and of course, the Tiger, whose main purpose was to be a strong and powerful leader.

It's an exciting and sad novel. Reading the evolution of the Tiger's rise to power made the Merchant's and Landlord's lives pale in comparison. Wang the Tiger was a most fascinating character, always obsessed with control not only of others, but of his own inner feelings. It was as if he was driven to be more than human...strong and willful, void of any weakness, void of any softness of heart, setting impossible standards for himself.

Once his son was born, he transferred all of his focus from warring, to raising his son as a warrior like himself. His love for his son, like his love for power, was unwavering, unbending, and suffocating. For example, this was evident in the times when the Tiger noticed that his little boy was so grave and quiet for one so young. Also, though his son did whatever he was told to do, he lacked any spirit or enjoyment in his tasks. Unfortunately, every time the Tiger saw this, he had a moment of clarity, but was quick to ignore or bury it, and thus never really attained the wisdom to forsee what would become of his only precious son.

This was a wonderful and exciting novel to read, very different and lively feeling to that of "The Good Earth." Yet it's absolutely necessary to read it as part of the trilogy. Once you finish, you'll be anxious to know what becomes of the Tiger's son, and how the coming revolution will change their relationship.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Is Wang Lung Spinning in His Grave?, May 9, 2005

By 

Melissa McCauley (North Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sons (Good Earth Trilogy, Vol 2) (Paperback)

SONS is the sequel to the famous (and thanks to Oprah - newly popular) THE GOOD EARTH. The story begins just where the previous book left off, with Wang Lung a dying old man, hoping his sons will handle his legacy wisely. Of course, they do not.

The oldest son, Wang The Landlord, turns into fat, greedy man who sells off much of the land to pursue hedonistic pleasures. Wang the Merchant, the second son, sticks more to the letter of his father's wishes, but is an opportunistic skinflint who loves silver above all else. These two think always of their position in society and how to advance it, and care more about how they appear in others' eyes than the actual substance of their lives. Their children are spoiled and worthless, just as Wang Lung saw the old lord Hwang's sons become in THE GOOD EARTH. The reader gets the feeling Wang Lung would be disgusted.

The majority of the novel follows the wild, rebellious third son, who becomes known as Wang the Tiger. He ran away from home as a teenager to be a soldier, and this book finds him a young man planning to escape his master and establish his own dynasty in the north. With his trusted companions, Wang the Tiger fights his way to becoming the controlling warlord of a region in the north, and he finally falls in love with a fierce robber girl. (These scenes painted vivid pictures in my mind reminiscent of the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.) Much to his bewilderment, the years go by and his life does not work out as he plans. He ends up with a son he does not understand, just as his father did not understand him.

Pearl S. Buck's plodding, biblical phrasing is not so easy for the modern reader, and I confess that while it was a good story, every page seemed like two or three, and I found myself groaning aloud "Isn't it over YET?"

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Sequel, but I like The Good Earth best, June 17, 2006

By 

Chelsea Liddle (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sons (Good Earth Trilogy, Vol 2) (Paperback)

After devouring "The Good Earth," I was dying to read more and see where Pearl Buck would go next with this dynamic family. I found that "Sons" was a good read, but a little slower and not as exciting and thrilling. But true to the original, right as I starting losing just a little bit of interest she would introduce a new twist or turn which made me always come back for more. She is an amazing writer and her insights into the culture are always fascinating. If you really liked The Good Earth, Sons will probably be a fun, quick read, but I don't feel that it is as vital of a work as The Good Earth.