The Good Earth

I just finished a re-read of Pearl Buck's 'The Good Earth.'  I read it when I was very young and remember greatly enjoying it (and being impressed with myself for reading such and adult book!).  But now, 40 years later, all I could remember was this Chinese woman whelping out babies and returning to the field to hoe next to her husband, then bringing the infants with her to the field and letting the rich milk drip from one tit onto the ground as her child suckled the other.  At 12, I guess you hang on to the most earthy parts.

Here's what I think as an adult:  everyone interested in writing and writers should probably read this.  It is a classic.  But I found it to be a classic of style more than substance. 

Nothing much happens.  An ordinary Chinese farmer rises from poverty to wealth through prudent investing in land and a stroke or two of good luck.  We pick the story up on his wedding day and end days before his death, as his sons plot the selling off of his precious land after he's gone.  It's like an 19th Century Chinese version of Dynasty.  Ha!  That's almost a pun, I guess. 

The parallel is apt:  there are lots of soap opera elements in this story:  Our hero bringing a prostitute into his home to live with and service him as his wife sleeps alone in another room, the son of his Uncle chasing the women of the house and probably getting it on with the prostitute (though we're never quite sure), the collapse of one great house and the rise of another.  Perfect for TV. 

And I did experience a bit of the 'gotta see what happens next' grip that keeps you involved in a book.  But that's not what makes this one great.  It's the way it's written.  Pearl Buck uses words like an artist uses brush and paint to tell a story.  You  can see Wang Lung and O-Lan and you work there beside them in the field.   You huddle in the tiny hut of mats they live in up against the wall of the great house.  You experience O-Lan's agony and determination when she strangles her newborn daughter rather than have it starve slowly to death. 

I watched this whole story as I would watch a very good movie.  And I am in awe of Pearl Buck's ability to paint with words.  I understand better why careful descriptions of settings and people are so important in the telling of a tale.  It's the details that bring the story to life and they are here in abundance.  So, does it make my top 10 list?  No.  Do I recommend it?  Yes, absolutely.  Like Gone With The Wind, everyone should read it.