The Good Earth - Softcover

Buck, Pearl S.

4

249,511 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 4871879402 ISBN 13: 9784871879408

Publisher: Ishi Press, 2014

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The Good Earth is one of the most famous novels of all time. It won for the author both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. It was the best selling fiction work in 1931 and 1932. The author has been honored with a 5� Great Americans series postage stamp issued by the United States Postal Service. So many millions of people have read it and have based their knowledge of pre-revolutionary China on it that it has influenced the course of future events. Unfortunately, this may have had the consequence of some people supporting the 1949 take-over of China by Chairman Mao based on what Pearl Buck wrote about poverty and life in rural China. Pearl S. Buck lived most of her life in China up until to the time she wrote this book. When Nixon went to China to visit Chairman Mao in 1972, Peal Buck wanted to go along too as translator. She was heartbroken when Mao's wife denounced Pearl Buck as an “American cultural imperialist". Mao whom Pearl Buck had initially supported would not allow her to visit. This book that Pearl Buck wrote had been banned in China and nobody had read or was allowed to read this book.

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About the Author:

Pearl S. Buck lived most of her life in China up until to the time she wrote this book. She was born on June 26, 1892 as Pearl Sydenstricker in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Her parents were religious missionaries with the Southern Presbyterian Church. They had lived in China since 1880. They already had several children who had died in infancy in China. They were fortunate in that they came to America just before giving birth to Pearl. They returned to China with Pearl when she was only three months old. Pearl lived in China for the next 40 years, except to attend college. She was fourth of seven children, but only one of three to survive to adulthood. She attended Randolph Macon Women's College in Lynchburg Virginia for four years. In 1917 she married John Lossing Buck, an agricultural economist living in China. They lived in a rural province which became the inspiration for The Good Earth. The couple had a baby in 1921 which was born with PKU and was profoundly retarded. Pearl had a hysterectomy when a tumor was found during the delivery and thus could not have any more children. They adopted a child and taught at Nanking University. Pearl found she could get paid for writing and began writing for a living. She was published in The Nation, Atlantic Monthly and other publications. Her first novel was East Wind, West Wind. After The Good Earth, she never had another big hit but there was always a market for her books. Pearl Buck died on March 6, 1973 at age 80.

Review:

“Bertozzi beautifully distills Buck’s text into poignant snippets... perfectly capturing the story’s timeless subject matter while also underscoring the antiquity of the depicted world. Even within this foreign worldview, Buck and Bertozzi convey rich moral complexity and universal concerns. A finely rendered showcase for a classic tale.”—Kirkus Reviews

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