This Pulitzer Prize-winning classic tells the poignant tale of a Chinese farmer and his family in old agrarian China. The humble Wang Lung glories in the soil he works, nurturing the land as it nurtures him and his family. Nearby, the nobles of the House of Hwang consider themselves above the land and its workers; but they will soon meet their own downfall.
Hard times come upon Wang Lung and his family when flood and drought force them to seek work in the city. The working people riot, breaking into the homes of the rich and forcing them to flee. When Wang Lung shows mercy to one noble and is rewarded, he begins to rise in the world, even as the House of Hwang falls.
As is often the case in classic works, the front matter of this book contains a lengthy quotation. When this happens on audio, there may be a few minutes of confusion when one wonders if the correct CD was placed in the player. But with the first chapter, a wonderful rendition of a time-honored story begins. Anthony Heald captures Buck's commentary on the human condition with a humble tone that matches the poignant life of Wang Lung and his wife, Olan, as they eke out a living in rural China. Heald's performance pays homage to the novel's historical integrity in its detailed account of the Boxer Rebellion and its aftermath. This is an outstanding production of Buck's most famous work. D.L.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
New York Times Book Review...
"The Good Earth has style, power, coherence and a pervasive sense of dramatic reality."
About the Author
Pearl S. Buck was born in West Virginia and taken to China before the turn of the century. She began writing while in China and published her first novel shortly after returning to the United States. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for The Good Earth and the Noble Prize in Literature in 1938.
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