The Good Earth Trilogy: The Good Earth, Sons, and A House Divided

House of Earth #1-3

by Pearl S. Buck

Trilogy containing "The Good Earth," "A House Dividrd," and "Sons."

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, China, Historical, Novels, Literature

722 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1935

About the author

Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker Buck was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for The Good Earth, the best-selling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and which won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, Buck became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China" and for her "masterpieces", two memoir-biographies of her missionary parents.
Buck was born in West Virginia, but in October 1892, her parents took their 4-month-old baby to China. As the daughter of missionaries and later as a missionary herself, Buck spent most of her life before 1934 in Zhenjiang, with her parents, and in Nanjing, with her first husband. She and her parents spent their summers in a villa in Kuling, Mount Lu, Jiujiang, and it was during this annual pilgrimage that the young girl decided to become a writer. She graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, then returned to China. From 1914 to 1932, after marrying John Lossing Buck she served as a Presbyterian missionary, but she came to doubt the need for foreign missions. Her views became controversial during the Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy, leading to her resignation. After returning to the United States in 1935, she married the publisher Richard J. Walsh and continued writing prolifically. She became an activist and prominent advocate of the rights of women and racial equality, and wrote widely on Chinese and Asian cultures, becoming particularly well known for her efforts on behalf of Asian and mixed-race adoption.

Reviews

[Barb Goldstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. Hard to put down.

This story grips you at the start. Would recommend reading the entire trilogy from start to finish. I was sad to finish. Definitely Pearl S Buck at her best.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This trilogy was thrilling from beginning to end. The first book, The Good Earth was by far my favorite as it documents a man and then a family's struggle though famine and poverty into prosperity. The main character, Wang Lung is relatable and realistic. Buck's writing style reminded me of Hemingway as it was straightforward but I found it to have a nuance and elegance all its own. She maintains this style throughout the trilogy. The second installment explores the aftermath of Wang Lung's death and the choices his sons make and their lack of suffering serves as a foil for the first novel, which, I think is why I preferred the first. The second novel focuses on the third son who the reader believes will be a great man but then we find in the third installment, that he becomes what he loathed all along. It is this man's son who closes the trilogy with his experiences in China and in presumably, America. The third novel really showcases the difference in culture and explores the complexities of both the western and eastern experiences of the time. The trilogy is set during a National and International upheaval, and change. Buck's description of this is superb. I recommend this trilogy to anyone who wishes to explore the Chinese culture or to read about family and the struggles that lie within them.

[Marsha Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely own books, preferring to use the library or borrow, so when I do, it means it's exceptional and means something special to me. I had to search to buy this out of print trilogy......twice! I loaned the first one out & never got it back. Most of us had Buck's "The Good Earth" as required reading, but I wonder if many are aware that it is part one of a trilogy followed by "Sons", then " A House Divided".....chronicling the rise and fall of a family in three generations. Lessons to be observed for us all. Great books.

[Jamie Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to say, that without Pearl, I wouldn't be a writer. THE GOOD EARTH is still in my top 10 reads. Her writing style is unlike any others. I read these yearly, since I was a teen, and I enjoy them every single time.

[Cheryl Fontes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Saw the movie, too. I did not like the book’s ending. I thought Wang Lung never truly appreciated O-Lan and refused to see her intelligence.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the first in the trilogy - setting aside for now!

[Nabila Tabassum Chowdhury · Rating 5 out of 5]

দীর্ঘ দুইমাস ধরে এই বইটি পড়েছি। কাল রাতে ঘুমাবার সময় যখন আর এই বইটি পড়ছিলাম না, তখন বইটির জন্য মন খারাপ হচ্ছিল। তখন মনে হল আলাদা ভাবে সিরিজটির ব্যাপারে কিছু লেখা দরকার। বইটা আসলে তিনটা ক্রোনোলজিকাল উপন্যাসের সংকলন। তিনটা উপন্যাসের ব্যাপারে লম্বা লম্বা অনেক কথা-বার্তা লেখি ফেলেছি।
The Good Earth (House of Earth, #1) , Sons (House of Earth, #2) , A House Divided (House of Earth, #3)
একটা হল এডুকেশন। যেটা একই সাথে নিজের জগৎটাকে বড় করে দেয়, কিন্তু বাড়তে থাকে অপ্রাপ্তি। আছে জেনারেশন গ্যাপ। নিজেরা একই বয়সটা পার করে আসার পরও জেনারেশন গ্যাপ কেন তৈরি হয়। কারণ পারিপার্শ্বিকতা। ঐ বয়সটা পূর্ববর্তী জেনারেশন পার করে আসলেও তারা পার করেনি নতুন পারিপার্শ্বিকতা। আছে ইউনিভার্সাল কিছু অনুভূতি, যা চীন হোক বা বাংলাদেশ হোক বা আমেরিকাই হোক না কেন। আছে ক্ষুদ্রতম একক ধরে অনুভূতির চিত্রায়ন, যা লেখকের কৃতিত্ব। আছে বাস্তবতা, ক্ষুদ্রতম অনুভূতি গুলো বাস্তব করে ফেলেছে চরিত্র গুলোকে। বাস্তবতা হয়তো আছে পারিপার্শ্বিকতায়ও। হয়তো শব্দটা লিখলাম চীন সম্পর্কে জ্ঞানের অভাবে কারণে।

এতকিছু করতে গিয়ে যে ব্যাপারটা ঘটেছে সেটা হল বইটা খুবই স্লো পেসড। প্রতি ১৫ পৃষ্ঠা পড়তে আমার সময় লেগেছে ১ ঘণ্টা করে। প্রথম দিকে আরও বেশী। শেষের দিকে একটু কম হয়তো লেখিকার সাথে পরিচিত হয়ে যাওয়ায়। এই হিসেবে ১১৬০ পৃষ্ঠার জন্য গত দুইমাসে আমি মোট ৭৮ ঘণ্টা ব্যয় করেছি বইটির পিছে। এতটা সময়ে বইটা বেশ আপনজন হয়ে গেছে। আমি এখন আমার ট্যাব হাতে নিয়ে অন্য বই পড়ার কথা থাকলেও অভ্যাস বশত হাউজ অব আর্থের পিডিএফটি ওপেন করি। পিডিএফের কথায় মনে পড়লো বইটির পিছে একটা অনৈতিক কাজ করা হয়ে গেছে। অনলাইন একটা লাইব্রেরী থেকে বই নামানো যায় ১৫ দিনের জন্য। ১৫ দিন পর আর পিডিএফ ওপেন করা যায় না। এবং ১৫ দিন পর আবার সিরিয়াল দিয়ে ২/৩ মাস পর আবার বইটি ১৫ দিনের জন্য পাওয়া যায়। এই কারণে আমার পিডিএফ চুরি করতে হয়েছে। আমি জীবনে বাস্তব লাইব্রেরী থেকে বই চুরি করিনি কিন্তু ভার্চুয়াল লাইব্রেরী থেকে বই চুরি করলাম। লেদার বাউন্ড, পুরোনো বই :P ! প্রসঙ্গে ফিরে আসি, এতটা সময় ব্যয় করা কি বইটি ডিসার্ভ করে। আমার মতে করে।

আরও অনেককিছু ভেবেছিলাম, কিন্তু ভুলে গেছি। আবার মনে পড়লে রিভিউ এডিট করে রাখবো। অন লাইনের এটাই সুবিধা, আন-লিমিটেড স্পেস! :)

[John Janaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

China from the Inside

Pearl Buck, the child of American missionaries, who grew up in rural China speaking both Mandarin and English, presents something of the drama of Chinese history in the early part of the twentieth century woven into the three generation saga of the Wang family. Beautifully written, hopeful, but unflinching in the face of flaws and evils of the past and prophetic of those to come. This magnificent trilogy led to her winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938.

[Fabrice Conchon · Rating 5 out of 5]

La terre chinoise

Voici le premier volet de la trilogie de Pearl Buck, très grande écrivaine de la première moitié du siècle dernier, accessoirement prix Nobel de littérature 1938. Il s'agit dans ce livre de nous raconter la vie de Wang Lung, paysan pauvre de la Chine du nord qui, à force de courage, d'abnégation de aussi quelques coups de pouce du destin réussir à s'élever et finir sa vie riche propriétaire terrien.

C'est une merveilleuse épopée, pleine de vie qui nous fait entrer dans la vie de ces gens, nous fait partager leur terrible pauvreté, leurs espoirs et les nombreuses vicissitudes de leurs destins avec un style lumineux qui fait partager au lecteur l'existence de ces chinois du nord au début du XXème siècle qui pourtant m'était complètement étrangère.

Tout y est, la vie des paysans misérables, les rapports de classes extrêmement hiérarchiques, l'horreur des périodes de famine, l'exode des paysans dans les villes pour simplement survivre avec les petits boulots et les soupes populaires, les émeutes sporadiques où les maisons des riches sont pillées, les bandes de brigands qui ravagent la campagne, l'élévation sociale amorcée par la possibilité d'acheter de la terre, le respect religieux des ancêtres et de la famille, la fréquentation pour les gens aisés des maisons de passe, l'éducation des enfants de paysans, l'achat d'une seconde femme - en fait une concubine -, la gestion par l'affermage de vastes terres possédées par les paysans riches, les ravages de l'opium, l'activité de négoce sur le marché aux grains, la guerre et les armées en campagne qui ravagent les lieux où ils s'installent ... tout y est et le tout agencé pour nous raconter l'histoire captivante de cette famille avec ces personnages, certes un peu archétypiques (les fils sont assez caractéristiques du type de personnes qu'ils veulent représenter : le bourgeois, le paysan riche et le guerrier probablement révolutionnaire) mais tellement attachants.

A ce propos, je mentionne simplement l'une des réserve que j'avais sur le livre ... jusqu'à dix pages avant la fin : je ne savais pas précisément à quel moment précis l'histoire (qui court sur une bonne trentaine d'années) se déroulait. La fin nous le fait comprendre à mon avis. Wang Lung et les siens ont été témoins des derniers feux de la Chine impériale avant la révolution de 1911 qui vient, je pense, clore cette partie. Il est amusant de constater que le pouvoir central semble très lointain, voire inexistant (on n'y mentionne jamais l'empereur) et que les bouleversements politiques n'affectent absolument pas la vie des gens, beaucoup moins en tout cas que les aléas climatiques.

Je n'ai aucun reproche à faire à ce livre splendide et je m'apprête avec gourmandise à entamer le deuxième et suivre les pas de Wang Lung et des siens dans la nouvelle Chine républicaine. Enfin républicaine, c'est ce que je croyais en finissant ce premier tome.

Les fils de Wang Lung

Le deuxième tome de la trilogie commence, et c'est bien normal, avec la mort du patriarche et le partage de son empire. On pense alors que le récit va suivre en parallèle les destinées de ses trois fils : Wang le propriétaire - bourgeois et indolent -, Wang le marchand - industrieux, roublard et pingre - et Wang le tigre - le fils cadet, le guerrier qui va devenir seigneur de la guerre -. Cela aurait été intéressant car cela aurait fait de ce deuxième opus l'exact opposé du premier : plutôt que de suivre la destinée linéaire d'une seule personne (Wang Lung dans La terre chinoise), on suit la destinée en parallèle de ses trois fils. Las ! Le récit se concentre quasi-exclusivement sur Wang le tigre et la manière dont il va lever son armée et devenir un potentat local.

C'est toujours aussi bien documenté, c'est toujours aussi intéressant de pénétrer dans cette Chine assez méconnue mais le livre est moins captivant que celui qui le précède : la vie de Wang le tigre est moins épique que celle de son père qui est vraiment passé par tous les états, de l'extrême pauvreté à la richesse opulente et l'intérêt qu'on éprouve pour ce livre est moindre. On nous explique ici l'ascension régulière d'un homme de guerre ambitieux qui va atteindre une position respectable sans cependant devenir Napoléon. Il y a toujours les mêmes conflits familiaux, les fils qui ne répondent pas aux espérances de leurs parents (entre les fils de Wang Lung qui vendent sa terre et celui de Wang le tigre qui refuse d'être guerrier).

A noter que plus que jamais, il est difficile de situer le livre dans le temps. Je m'étais trompé dans mon commentaire ci-dessus (que je n'ai pas modifié) : le tome précédent ne se termine pas en 1910 mais par "une" révolution qui a secoué la Chine impériale, certainement antérieure. Le deuxième volet (qui se termine une petite trentaine d'années plus tard), mentionne aussi, vers la fin, une grande révolution qui menace de renverser le pouvoir des seigneurs de la guerre. Je n'ose conjecturer qu'il s'agit cette fois de celle de 1910 !

La famille dispersée

Troisième et ultime volet de la trilogie qui, là encore, choisit de nous raconter l'histoire d'un personnage particulier, de sa vie dans cette Chine changeante du début du XXème siècle : il s'agit de Wang Yuan, le petit-fils de l'ancêtre Wang Lung, fils de Wang le tigre.

Le livre est par bien des aspects l'opposé du premier tome, mais n'en est pas moins intéressant. Le personnage principal est un urbain, lettré, dont la vie sera guidée non pas par la survie d'abord et l'élévation sociale mais plus l'élévation morale : on suit l'histoire d'un homme sur une période de probablement une dizaine d'années (et non pas une génération comme dans ), qui a environ vingt ans au début et donc à peu près trente à la fin, l'âge où se forme l'esprit, les certitudes morales et politiques et où les décisions qui vont impacter le reste de la vie (carrière, amours) se prennent.

Le ferment de l'intrigue, ce qui amène les événements, n'est pas l'action volontaire du personnage principal qui est plutôt passif mais l'Histoire. A noter que cet opus est à mon avis plus facile à situer dans le temps. On mentionne nommément (enfin ! Page 658, un "depuis la chute de l'empire"), l'anarchie régnante du nouveau pouvoir républicain et la nouvelle guérilla, plus radicale, communiste, à laquelle va se joindre le personnage de Meng. Ces jalons historiques ne sont jamais nommés, non plus que les lieux géographiques ("la grande ville" pour, je pense Canton ou Nankin, il m'a fallu de nombreuses pages avant d'avoir la certitude que Yuan va passer quelque temps aux Etats-Unis) mais le souffle épique de la prose de Pearl Buck est bien là : on vibre avec ces personnages, ils sont vivants, ils ont du relief, ils sont bien réels avec des états d'âme très d'époque (comme l'obsession de la "race", mot assez connoté aujourd'hui mais qui obnubilait les jeunes nationalistes chinois de l'époque comme Yuan).

Les personnages secondaires sont attachants : l'opposition chez les "jeunes" entre Mei-ling la jeune fille sage et traditionnelle et Ai-lan la jeune fille délurée et occidentalisée, entre Sheng le dandy et son frère Meng le révolutionnaire établit une galerie de personages hauts en couleurs qui, comme dans le premier tome, nous donne un bel instantanée de cette Chine que, je dois admettre, je ne connaissais pas du tout.

Le "macrocosme" historique ne cède jamais le pas au "microcosme" des destinées individuelles et c'est très bien ainsi car Pearl Buck excelle à les décrire, j'en veux pour preuve la toute fin, en tout point similaire à la fin du premier tome (un personnage est au seuil de la mort sans mourir "sur scène" si j'ose dire) ce qui en fait à la fois un livre touchant et aussi captivant, qui atteste de l'immense talent de conteuse et en même temps de la formidable connaissance de la Chine de son auteure.

Un grand livre, que dis-je, trois grand livres avec un seul regret : que Pearl Buck n'ait pas continué et ne nous ait pas conté la suite de l'histoire de la famille Wang au travers l'invasion japonaise, la guerre et le férule des communistes.

[Brenna Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

ugh men are the worst!!! this book was phenomenal though 😍

also i had no idea this book is almost 100 years old, it feels much more current. it was very stressful at many points so i had to take a lot of breaks, but totally worth the read.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hoped it would be worth it. It was.

[Helen Ahern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a mighty journey from Wang Lung to Wang Yuan. 3 books and 1207 pages. If it wasn’t so good it would have taken forever. It was getting the full 5 stars but I’m downgrading to 4 1/2 because of the ending. That is probably because I live in the western world in 2023. My favourite person in the whole book was O-Lan. The story of the Wang family will remain with me forever.

[Sokcheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging plot. Good execution.

[LorriLee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this trilogy - Buck definitely understood the Chinese collectivist culture. Her style of writing was a bit ponderous at times - she weaved back and forth page after page to get a point across but she did it so beautifully that it is hard to criticize. Of the three books I think I like the last, A House Divided, as it provided much of the historical content of a nation in conflict in the face paced world of changing technology and and the spread of individualism subverting family and cultural tradition.

Centered on Yuang, the grandchild of Wang the farmer and of the son of Wang the Tiger, Buck has a strong understanding of what people are going through during this rapid change. Using Yuang as her vehicle, she adeptly provides the reader with the psychological and sociological ramifications of those people, like Yuan, who are stuck between the old and new and trying to find some balance. Her other characters illustrate the old, the new who are rich and younger with little sense of responsibility (a bit biased in my opinion), and those, through rebellion, fight for the need for change. She exemplified xenophobia well - both in China and in America.

I marvel at how different collectivist cultures are - steeped in tradition, family first at all costs, no individualism, judgmental families, fear of outsiders, and family secrets. She juxtaposed these ideals against the new ideas foreigners brought with them quite nicely with a clear understanding of the difficulties of the young who must make sense of these different ways of life. I see this still today in my classroom with immigrant families who want to maintain their own cultures through mixing with their own people in a country where their children are exposed to different values and ideas in school. It is so hard for them to process and find their own destinies.

What I cannot abide by is how, no matter what culture we are part of, the disdain of poor as a poignant part of life. Why is it that we globally look down on our poor, pit them against their own folly of circumstances and and blame them for not rising to better themselves. Buck has deftly shown all facets of society, the revolutions that are inevitable, and how greed can color the most noble of characters through these three books.

Although written in the early part of the 20th century, The Good Earth Trilogy still stands as a testament to Asian culture and the human condition and should be a part of every student's reading list.

[Edward Nugent · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was a bit put off by the language and style which I thought contrived and too much like reading the King James Bible, but then the flow of the story caught me, and I couldn't stop reading. I began to see the language as part of an epic storytelling perspective that makes the narrator almost invisible and the conduit for tales that capture sweeps of time through characters whose lives seem real yet representative of larger social themes.
As with any saga, the portions dealing with more distant events blend into one kind of narrative, while as the saga gets closer in time to the author's own era, the definition caused by perspective becomes less sure.
As history, the trilogy spans the period before China's re-ascendancy as a major world power. The mythology is important in helping to understand China's modern perception of itself and its perception in the Western world, especially the United States. Now I know why, as a child, I was admonished not to waste food because children were starving in China. The trilogy is as much about how the U.S. sees China as about the history.
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[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

ONCE, TWOCE, THREE TIMES

I've read the hard copy of this book (The Good Earth) a few years ago and after joining Kindle Unlimited I decided to read it again, this time as a trilogy. I loved the classic book in high school, and after reading the expanded family saga on Kindle, the struggle from simple farmer to rich landlord and from successful warlord to scholar over three generations, I love the story even more. If you haven't read the The Good Earth yet you should. If you have, consider re-reading it as part of the trilogy. Pearl S. Buck transforms the words on the pages she writes in such a way that totally immerses the reader in the culture and era through her storytelling.

[Betsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the whole trilogy. Each book followed a new generation of the Wang family, highlighting shifting traditions and historical changes in Chinese culture. In each book the protagonist is wonderfully complex, making the reader groan with disapproval sometimes and sigh with appreciation at other times.

I listened to the audio version of these books, which I will admit, made it easier to get through the continual rumination of the central characters. And the language in which it is written tends to plod along in a manner which might cause a reader to skim through the printed page. Thus 4 stars rather than 5.

[Fern Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed in "The Good Earth" for the simple reason that I thought it would be a heart-warming story of country folks (along the lines of My Antonia), and I found it to be something else entirely. It is the story of a family struggling to survive - some parts of it are actually quite harrowing (there is war and extreme poverty). However, it is a good book, and an interesting one. Once I get over myself, I might read the rest of the series ;)

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the first book! Read it in high school. Did not realize it was part of a trilogy. So when my book group chose to rad this book I decided to finish out the trilogy. Book one is five stars!!! Books two and three, while interesting, just we're not as engaging as the first book. Hence, the four stars overall.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LIKED THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT HELPED ME UNDERSTAND A PART OF HISTORY ABOUT CHINA. THE BOOK LISTED IS ONLY THE FIRST OF THE 3. I MAY LATER READ THE OTHERS. I LIKED HER STYLE OF WRITING. I LIKED THE THE MORALS OF STORY ALSO.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Good Earth is a classic and I enjoyed it just as much as I did in high school. Sons was okay but the House Divided was extremely boring. I could not finish it.

[Alfie Shuvro · Rating 5 out of 5]

good one indeed!!

[Eva Hnizdo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful knowledgeable portrait of pre Communist China. El written plot, characters. Classic

[Brok3n · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rise and fall

I read The Good Earth Trilogy: The Good Earth, Sons, and A House Divided when I was in high school. I picked up The Good Earth because it appeared on classics reading lists. I think I was vaguely aware when I began it that it took place in China. It was a great story, and I subsequently read the other two books of the trilogy, Sons and A House Divided. They're pretty much smooshed together in my memory, so this one review will serve for all three. The plot synopses on the individual book pages will give you a fairly good idea of how the story is divided up between them.

So, fundamentally, The Good Earth Trilogy is a familiar story. It's one of those old stories that gets told again and again through time. Specially, it is the "rise and fall of a family" story. Other examples that come immediately to mind are Buddenbrooks, The Thorn Birds, and A Dream of Red Mansions. Among these The Good Earth is a little unusual in that it explicitly chronicles the rise of the farmer Wang Lung to wealth. (In Buddenbrooks and Dream of Red Mansions, in contrast, the rise of the family is in the past and is recounted only in the memories of older family members.)

Wang is a farmer with a deep connection to the land, hence the title. He marries a Hakka woman O-lan, who was a slave to a wealthy nearby wealthy family. She describes herself repeatedly as "ugly", she has dark skin and big feet. When Wang comes to take her away, her old mistress admonishes her "Obey him and bear him sons and yet more sons." This she does. Three sons -- also daughters, but they barely count. Daughters are routinely referred to as "slaves". Still, Wang loves his daughters, although he is almost ashamed of it.

Because of his connection to the Earth and his skill as a farmer and O-lan's support, Wang is successful and he becomes wealthy, wealthy enough to purchase the land of the formerly rich family whose slave O-lan was. He now can afford to buy slaves of his own, and in addition take a second wife. Wang's wealth begins to separate him from the Earth, and thus the decline of the family begins. His sons, having grown up in wealth, have expensive tastes and little inclination for hard work. The final book, A House Divided, depicts a country at war. Soldiers are depicted here as the worst possible scourge of a country. They eat and steal everything. This is a hard book to read.

As an American myself, I can only guess whether this is an accurate or sympathetic portrayal of China. Pearl S. Buck was an American, but when she wrote The Good Earth at the age of 39, she had lived almost her entire life in China, and she in fact wrote it in Nanking. (This and other biographical details come from her Wikipedia page.) She was the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries, but she had little respect for the mission -- in fact, little more than a year after publication of The Good Earth she left The Presbyterian Board after giving a speech in which she argued that "China did not need an institutional church dominated by missionaries who were too often ignorant of China and arrogant in their attempts to control it." It seems quite certain that Buck knew and loved China well. But, in addition to a classical Chinese education, she received a Western (meaning, of course, European) education. She vocally opposed the Chinese communists, and therefore was viewed as an enemy. I do not know what the Chinese now think of her, if they do at all.

Well, that interesting question aside, The Good Earth is a beautiful novel.

Blog review.

[Emma]

I can see why "The Good Earth" is considered a Western "classic" and is often on must-read lists, including Oprah's book club pick. Pearl S. Buck spent many years in China, and she has every right to write about her experience there as a white woman, who moved to China with her parents who were missionaries.

However, I see merit in Celeste Ng's Huffington Post article, which brings up many valid points. This is a work of fiction, and to treat this trilogy as nonfiction is a disservice. It isn't 100% historically accurate. While it was interesting that the characters vaguely referred to political events and wars that were happening, it doesn't explicitly state going ons. I Googled a lot to gain a better understanding of the historical events that were happening in China during the 50+ years that "The Good Earth" covers.

It starts when Wang Lung is a late teen/early 20s and is set to marry O-Lan, who is a slave to a very wealthy local family. The book ends when Wang is in his 70s. Many major historical events happened in China, and the world, during the 50+ years. Understanding the political background gave me a better context to read this fiction novel.

The writing was descriptive, and I could picture Wang Lung, his family, and his land. It also shed insight into how women were treated in the early 1900s, including foot binding. I will say this novel made me want to learn more about Chinese history as it is very vast and often overlooked in the U.S. educational system. I hope to find nonfiction texts to complement this trilogy.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read all 3 of these a couple of decades ago, or more like 3 decades, so the original "date started" is merely a very rough guess and will have to represent the first time I read these novels. I was so upset with the sad ending of Sons that I threw the book across the room and wouldn't recommend that anyone read beyond the first novel, The Good Earth. In fact, I'd vehemently recommended other novels written by Buck as far superior to The Good Earth, including Dragon Seed and The Living Reed. I still think Dragon Seed is her best by far, but my mind's been changed about The Good Earth Trilogy upon rereading them.

A friend had just finished the trilogy and LOVED it, particularly the A House Divided. So...I decided to read all 3 again and reassess. Not because I'm easily swayed, but age has taught me that we reinvent ourselves every decade or so and our tastes change dramatically. I didn't care for Jane Eyre either, the first read. After I read it the 2nd and 3rd times, it grew in beauty and became a cherished favorite.

OK, a little time's passed, and I've reread all 3. Sons is still my least favorite, but it serves as a necessary link between the far more complete and satisfying 1st and 3rd novels. Upon completing A House Divided, I was sad to see it end and plan on losing myself in Pearl S. Buck's writings once again for awhile. Living and working for a time in China and South Korea since my first reading of this trilogy, has also increased my relish for these books. I'd lived abroad only in Japan when I first forayed into Buck's novels and some of the descriptions of people and places seemed strange and unfamiliar to me, having no experience with China. Again, it's indisputable that age and the compiled experiences we carry inside of ourselves cannot but change our perspective on what we read.

This is such a worthwhile trilogy to read and I whole-heartedly recommend it. Read it in order and FINISH it--although the journey will not feel finished. I wish she'd keep on writing forever. I think East Wind: West Wind would be the best book to read after these 3, even though I believe it's the first she ever wrote. Still, it's written in a time period that feels like a natural follow up to the trilogy--a what came next in China, told in a way that only historical fiction can portray.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this trilogy for the historical perspective on rural China, and the development of China (at the coasts) into an international player- a topic I knew little to nothing about. I most appreciated the first book, The Good Earth, as a very well-written and well-rounded novel from start to finish. Sons definitely felt like a middle novel; I appreciated A House Divided more for how it brought the story arc into modernity and an understanding of the conflicts the main characters (especially Yuan) experienced as they attempted to balance their mixed feelings about China versus (I assume) England when they travel abroad, and then come back home. I see why A Good Earth is a classic, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys good historical, literary fiction; the others I would recommend only if you are someone like me who has to see the characters through to the end.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was massive. Three books about 3 generations of a family in China. I read "The Good Earth" in high school, and wanted to revisit it. It was a Pulitzer Prize winner, and Buck late won the Nobel Prize for her body of work. Clearly, "The Good Earth" was the best of the 3. The other books were a continuation of the story, and of the revolution in China, and of the changes in the family as they gained wealth and status. Buck tried to emulate the syntax and feeling of the Chinese language in the way she wrote; it was effective at times, but somewhat limiting, and irritating at other times. 4 stars overall, but probably only 3 for the 2nd book and maybe a 3 1/2 for the 3rd, (although books 2 and 3 both dragged in the middle sections).

[Cosmic Arcata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe you wonder why the birth rate is down, women don't want to get married and tradition is poopooed... And what the outcome of this is.

Read this trilogy... And maybe the poem The Second Coming by Yeats.

Maybe it is part of a cycle. Would be interesting to follow this book up with The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy—What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny

[MileHighSunshine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read!

How amazing these books are in describing the Chinese lifestyle during these years and many difficult times. The characters are so richly written that you feel as though you really get to know them throughout these books.

This trilogy makes you reflect on how you would handle the different situations and the huge changes taking place throughout these years.

Everyone should read these books. If you can’t read the entire trilogy then at least read “The Good Earth” (book 1).