The Good Earth

I should have done this the day I finished the book a couple of weeks ago because I've forgotten so much!!! Still!!!! Let me just say, I really enjoyed The Good Earth and thought it was a fascinating look at a culture as interpreted through Pearl Buck's eyes. I remember reading part of the bio of Pearl Buck and noting that it said that, for the era when she was writing, it was shocking that she had written it from a male's point of view. Isn't that fascinating??? Yet, I found her main character, Wang Lung, to be a very human protagonist--I appreciated him and yet sometimes I was angry with his choices. In that, I guess I was able to really relate to him! :)
I appreciated his love for his land, even if I questioned his motives for getting more and more and the ultimate price he paid for it. I loved that he cared for "his fool" and made sure that she was looked after her entire life (once again illustrating that you truly love those who you serve). My favoriate character was O-lan (though, pregnant with my 3rd baby, I can't see how on EARTH she delivered those kids quietly and without someone's help!!!!) and yet I yearned for her to find some happiness...I don't know that she ever did. Maybe contentment, but who knows if she was every happy or if she felt she deserved to be happy, having been brought up a slave and raised with that mentality. I thought it was so interesting that O-lan was considered "ugly" because of her "big feet," and that she made sure to bind the feet of her daughters so they wouldn't have to suffer the same fate. And I was so sad for O-lan, who felt so unloved because of her position and her "ugliness," even though her family would not have survived without her. I mean, had it not been for her cunning to grab the jewels, Wang Lung would never have been able to amass the fortune that he had gained after the drought. I must say that I feel that Wang Lung DID love O-lan, just not in the romantic way that perhaps was the "expectation" and he keenly felt that loss, because his life was just not the same after she passed. Also, he regretted taking away her earrings in order to please Lotus, whom he thought he desperately "loved" (ha! talk about a great example of infatuation) but who later became such a burden. I also thought it was fascinating to read about about the "Red Beard" mob who struck such horror in the farmlands in China, and to discover that the uncle belonged to this faction. It was interesting that one of the reasons Wang Lung was protected was because his uncle was in that mob, and yet how hard it was for Wang Lung to honor his uncle (and subsequently his family), even though he had to for traditions sake, and how interesting that opium turned out to be the way to "deal" with them.

I read some of the Oprah Book Club questions which I found at the back of my particular book edition, and found one especically fascinating. Basically, it was "Who did you feel most sorry for--O-lan or Lotus" because both had come from such horrid backgrounds. Obviously, since O-lan was my favorite character, I felt more for her (maybe I identified more with her because of my own self esteem issues I'm working on). But I couldn't be completely unempathetic to Lotus, though I found her character to be extremely spoiled and such a cause of contention. I think that through these two characters, I was reminded again of how difficult life was for woman in China. They had such few options: slave, prostitute, wife--if your family had dowry enough. How easy it was to dispose of women (I think back to that baby O-lan killed) and what a commodity they were!!!! Yes, you needed a woman to have a family, but how sad was it that when O-lan had children, we learned of the boys' names, but of the girls, we only heard that another "slave" had been born. It made Wang Lung's tenderness for his fool all the more important to me.

I thought the ending of the book was equally fascinating, as Wang Lung's educated sons (who had not worked the land, really) plotted to start selling it off. They, who had not had to experience true labor and had grown accustomed to an easy life, had no appreciation of the hard work that had gone on to create their lives. So telling for all of us!!! We hear it often today (even my generation and I'm 36) that so many of us take so many things for granted, which we do.

All in all, it was just a fascinating book--and one that was very easy to read. Very enjoyable. :) I look forward to reading everyone's review!!!!

:) Laurenda