Book Review--The Good Earth

. As I wait to bring home my Chinese daughter, I am reading everything I can get my hands on related to Chinese history and culture, both fiction and non fiction. I'm also reading my share of adoption related books, as well as general parenting/baby/toddler care books. So! I've decided to do a book review once a week until I travel. Please feel free to leave your comments/opinions about the featured books, and tell me what you are reading!


As you know, The Good Earth is a classic. I read this for a book club and really like it. Here is a summary from the book cover: "In the Good Earth, Pearl Buck presents a graphic view of a China when the last emperor reigned and the vast political and social upheavals of the twentieth century were but distant rumblings for the ordinary people. This moving, classic story of the honest farmer Wang Lung and his selfless wife O-lan is must reading for those who would fully appreciate the sweeping changes that occured in the lives of the Chinese people during the twentieth century."

I like this book because it gives you a glimpse of what life was like for a very average Chinese family during the early part of the century. This family deals with poverty and plenty at different times in their lives. They survive feast and famine, relationship upheavals, love and hate, fear, jealousy and pride---much like all families, but they live it against the backdrop of the cultural and political world of China............... and what a differnt world it is.

The story also highlights the unique difficulties in life for Chinese women and daughters during this time in history--- a time when daughters were routinely sold as slaves or killed at birth during times of hardship.

The author, Pearl Buck, is a fascinating woman who lived half her life in China and had an obvious love and respect for the Chinese people. She is interesting to read about in her own right, and my copy of the book has pictures and a small biography of Ms. Buck. She actually started one of the very first Chinese adoption programs after returning to the United States late in life. You can read more about her at this web site: www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/Buck/biography.html