The Good Earth is the story of a Chinese peasant farmer who rises from subsistence farming to wealth and prosperity. Wang Lung's highly improbable rise allows Buck to depict various levels of society in pre-revolutionary China. The year is never identified, but the existence of trains as a new thing places it in the early twentieth century. The novel's success was due not just to its quality as a novel but due to the fact that it introduced many Westerners to Chinese culture for the first time.

The title refers to a theme running through the book of the healing power of staying connected with the land. The irony of this is that it is not a connection to the good earth that resulted in Wang Lung's wealth but some looting committed by his wife during the fall of an unnamed city. The novel is engaging but not particularly deep, more on a level of popular fiction than high literature. The novel's strength is in its depiction of Chinese peasant culture and the plight of Chinese women, which is depicted in a matter of fact manner without authorial editorializing. The cultural aspect is also the cause of most of the book's criticism.

The Good Earth's reputation has declined in recent years, partially due to the the rise of identity politics in literary criticism. Identity critics find fault with the book because it is the story of a Chinese family told by a white woman from the United States. If the novel had been written by a Chinese woman or even a Chinese-American, it might hold a very different place in the world of literary criticism. Buck knew as much or more about China than any American of her time, but she was not Chinese so her work falls under the shadow of post-colonialism. Taken on its own merits as a novel, The Good Earth is pretty good. It is when you try to read it as a cultural document of China that it becomes conflicted.

My friend sent me this book without warning. She thought I might like it, and she was right. 

Imperial Woman was a fascinating story of the Chinese Dowager Empress Cixi, or Tsu-Hsi as she's called in the book. Cixi joins the court of the Emperor as a concubine and manages to become the main influence over the Emperor, and eventually Empress - by means that are sometimes ruthless, sometimes kind, but always with the goal in sight of extrapolating herself from a position of servitude. 

Buck's portrayal of Cixi was fascinating. It cannot have been easy to create even a fictional character in such a lifelike fashion when the characters life depended on her keeping her thoughts and feelings to herself, and whose legend is blurred by rumours and superstitions that were rife during her reign, and where a breach of confidentiality or a breach of loyalty may well have carried a death sentence.

I had some issues with the book after the first half, where the story dragged a little and where I got a bit lost in trying to figure out how and why Buck wanted to force a love story into a plot that was already filled with political intrigue, suspense, historical events, and fascinating tidbits about life at the Chinese court during the late Qing dynasty. It just didn't need a love story that may or may not be based on historical fact. To me this just distracted from Cixi's mission to restore China as a respected, economically autonomous country, free from the colonial grip of the 8 Nation Alliance.

This historical setting, the discussion of China's struggle against the powers that tried to claim China as their own, was what made the book stand out for me.

Buck challenged the notions of colonialism from an unusual perspective. She does not paint China, or the Chinese court in any case, through a romanticised view by any stretch - there were plenty of descriptions that made me wince - but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story from a point of view that does not presume the respectability and civility of the Western European governments as part of the story. The issues of colonialism were fascinating in this book. The only other aspect that eclipsed this for me was Buck's portrayal of a woman in a man's world, trying to save a bankrupt empire from disaster. Even though some of the historical events are given in general terms rather than details, this was an informative, entertaining, and though-provoking work of historical fiction. 

I really did enjoy this one. I thought that Buck had a good handle on the characters. The main reason why I didn't give this five stars though is that I was confused about the timeline and location of this book. I know that it takes place in China. But the way things are written I would have guessed earlier than what the book shows. The book ends with talk of communism and people being executed for it. So I was wondering what time period this takes place in when I got to the end. I also wish that Buck had tied up the loose end of the husband a bit better. 

"The Mother" has an unnamed woman (Mother) is left reeling when her husband (too pretty and too ready to have a good time) abandons her, their three children (two sons and a daughter) and his mother. She scrambles and does what is necessary in order to survive in her village without allowing anyone to guess that she has been left due to the stigma that would cause. 

I thought that the mother was not a hard character to get to know. She does what she can to keep her family whole and you feel sorry for her at times when she realizes how foolish she has been when she starts to obsess about another man. I like that Buck doesn't show any judgement once again about what choices this character makes. The story is told in a linear fashion. We start with the Mother giving birth to one male son and then her subsequent pregnancies. The story follows her from her marriage to her oldest son making her a grandmother. I think that it shows a nice cycle of what women are to expect in there later years in this community once they grow old and their children start a life of their own.

I liked the writing and thought the flow was consistent throughout. I do wish that I had  better sense of the location and time period. 

The story ends with the Mother being given some hope. Though I wonder if her life ends up the same way as her mother in law's did.

There have been many reviews written about "The Good Earth" so I doubt I will be able to rival those. I just have to say that this book had me hooked from beginning to end. I literally tried to hide from people while in the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador so I could finish this book. I don't know why it drew me in so much, but it did. I cared about this family that started off so poor, but the father (Wang Lung) who keeps his faith in the land (or Good Earth) is able to become a wealthy landowner over time. This of course leaves to a rift with him and his faithful wife (O-lan). 

I don't know how realistic this book is. I am sure that Pearl S. Buck did some research. Since the author lived in China with her missionary parents one wonders how did that color her writing and observations though. I didn't get disdain from Buck while reading her words and there doesn't seem to be any elements that the Chinese people in this book are backwards. She is able to draw them as very developed characters for the most part I thought. I had a hard time with some of the characters, but that is because we didn't stay with them as much (the three sons of Wang Lung and O-lan). 

I loved the ending which of course had me running to put "Sons" (House of Earth #2) on hold as soon as possible to see what becomes of Wang Lung's three sons who are so different from each other. 

Bank:
April 15: $20
April 17: $23. I read "The Wangs Vs the World", electronic pages 368.
April 24: $28. I read "Dream Wedding", electronic pages 512.
April 25: $28. Landed on BL and had to post a vacation photo or tell a story about a vacation.
April 29: $31. Read "Whitethorn Woods", 354 pages Kindle edition, $3.00
April 29: $34. Read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", 256 pages;$3.00.
May 4: $37. Read "The Ghost Brigades" Paperback, 346 pages; $3.00
May 8: $42. Read "American Gods" Hardcover, 465 pages; $5.00.
May 8: $45. Read "Moon Called" 298 pages Kindle edition; $3.00.
May 13: $50. Read "Solitude Creek" 434 pages electronic; $5.00.
May 14: $53. Read "No Country for Old Men" 320 pages Kindle edition; $3.00
May 19: $56. Read "The Witches: Salem, 1692" 384 ebook; $3.00

May 30: $59     Read "The Good Earth" 372 pages ebook: $3.00

Oh man, this story. It's a doozy. Some parts are just so very sad. The family just keeps trying and trying and trying. Their life is such a struggle. The woman, OMG, her entire life is heartbreaking. Thinking of her makes me feel overwhelmed. The Good Earth is about a family trying to live off the land and better themselves. Each decision affects their entire future. It's a humbling story for sure. This is a hard book for me to rate. I love a book that makes me emotional, and this did that very much. Some parts made me upset in a bad way though, but I guess it really was just staying true to how life was. If you're looking for a story to take you away, this did that for me. It totally took over my mind while I was reading it. If you're looking for a upbeat tale, this probably isn't it. It's not all sad like my review is making it sound though. I do recommend it very much.
4+ stars