Book Review: The Good Earth

Title: The Good Earth


Author: Pearl Buck


Genre: Historical Fiction


Synopsis: This novel tells the story of Wang Lung, a Chinese Farmer, starting with his marriage and leading all the way to his final days. Wang lung is able to rise up in the world from his humble origins to greatness and wealth all because of his hard work on the land. This book takes place before the Chinese Revolution and perfectly captures a time and place that no longer exists.


Stars: 5/5


Lauren's Review: Obviously this book and author speak for themselves, she's won a Nobel Prize in literature, the novel won a Pulitzer Prize (and is even on Oprahs Book Club list! sarcasm). But somehow I had still never read it until now.

I loved it.

I think it's amazing that Pearl Buck is an American woman and she managed to perfectly describe the life of a poor Chinese farmer. I guess I probably never read it because I wasn't interested in the subject to be quite honest. Chinese history doesn't really get me excited like English history does...but it's possible that's just because I don't know enough about it. Buck opened my eyes to a totally new world.

I strongly suggest reading this novel and reading about Pearl Buck's life as well, she was an interesting person.