by Pearl Buck
Recommended as one of a selection of (sometimes tenuously) related books in a ‘six degrees’ list on the BookerTalk blog, I decided it really was time I read this book. Indeed, anything by Pearl Buck, whose work I am ignorant of, though I seem to recall seeing at least one of her works on my parents’ shelves when they were members of a book club which sent them a book a month during a spell working in Nigeria in the early 1960s. Unusually, I had read every book on this ‘six degrees’ list except the Pearl Buck. So it seemed to be calling to me. I ordered the book from the library, and took it with me on a Danube river cruise holiday. The exceptionally wet weather on the cruise gave me plenty of opportunity for reading.
The book enthralled me. Pearl Buck’s background, spending two long stretches of time in China as a child and later as a young bride, gave her insights into Chinese culture and ways of life that uniquely made her able to write this book, entirely from the perspective of a Chinese peasant. The hardships endured by Wang Lung and his wife O-lan (peasant farmers) contrast vividly with the wealth and luxury to be found in the House of Hwang in the nearby town. The Old Lord and Old Mistress hold considerable sway in the town, but their eventual downfall is related with a hint of sadness.
For Wang Lung, what matters is the land and his relationship to it, respecting it and also depending on it as a provider for his family. When he is obliged to leave his farm and travel to the city to look for work, he is destitute but also emotionally devastated by leaving the land behind. IN the end, the Good Earth restore him to relative prosperity and contentment in old age.
I don’t think I will rush to read other works from Pearl Buck’s substantial output. (Though I may peruse my parents’ bookshelves to see whether that volume from the book club is still there – I’m intrigued to know which one it was!)
Thanks Karen for this recommendation.
A rug and a book 