The Good Earth

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck is a novel worth picking up and investing in. At first I was a little turned off by the book, I mean it was on Oprah’s Book of the Month thing and I normally don’t pick up any reading associated with Oprah. I have to admit though, that with this one, she was dead on. The book follows the life of Wang Lung, a Chinese man living when the last emperor reigned. The book opens the day Wang Lung is to go into the Great House of Hwang and ask for a slave so he can marry and continue his name. Thus comes my favorite character in the entire book, O-Lan. O-Lan describe as ugly, wide of mouth and large feet (her mother had never properly bound them) quickly captured my heart. She hardly ever speaks in the book, and is a selfless, devoted wife to Wang Lung who never really sees her for all her worth until the end of the book when its too late. The book follows Wang Lung’s life through the large changes he and his family occurred during this century. It has a great emphasis on the ‘land’ and how important it becomes to Wang Lung, which is essentially the main character in the book. From the start I was captivated by the way Buck’s writing seemed to grace across the page. Her words, are simple but read as though she had taken great care in piecing them together. It’s captivating and engrossing and after reading this wonderful piece of Literature can see easily why Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel. So give your mind a break from all the mind candy you may have been reading lately and pick up this book. I don’t think its likely to disappoint.