The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

The Good Earth by Pear S. Buck is a book that I wanted to read when I was still in secondary school but for some strange reason, I never got around to reading it. Until now. More than 4 decades later!

The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize and Pearl S. Buck was a winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. The Good Earth is a gritty depiction of life in early 20^th century China. It has become a great modern classic, beloved by millions of readers.

The novel is the story of Wang Lung and his family caught in the tide of history. Wang Lung is a poor farmer in Anhui province who marries a slave girl O-lan. With themes of respect and filial piety for elder members of the traditional Chinese household, Wang Lung’s family grows as O-lan delivers three sons and three daughters; the first daughter becomes mentally handicapped as a result of severe malnutrition brought on by famine. Her father greatly pities her and calls her “Poor Fool,” a name by which she is addressed throughout her life. When the second daughter is born, the family is on the verge of starvation and O-Lan kills her second daughter to spare her the misery of growing up in such hard times, and to give the remaining family a better chance to survive.

Gradually, persevering through much trials and tribulations, Wang Lung acquires more and more land and money than he had ever dreamed of owning. Caught up in the trappings of wealth, Wang Lung becomes restless and begins to indulge in dressing in silk robes and apparels of the rich. With his marriage devoid of love, he starts frequenting a teahouse for prostitutes, eventually buying a concubine who moves into his house, further complicating already strained family relationships.

The land is to Wang Lung what religion and God have been to many others. As he ages, Wang Lung grows to re-appreciate the simple life of a hard-working farmer. His sons seem to lack their father’s work ethic and by the book’s conclusion it appears likely that the fruits of Wang Lung’s toils may be squandered by his sons.

The novel is deeply powerful and is littered with cautionary tales of wealth, idleness and lust. It touches on controversial issues like female infanticide, concubines, opium-smoking and footbinding.