The Good Earth begins with a young Chinese peasant preparing for his wedding to a young servant girl he has never met who is not too pretty but doesn't have pox scars. The novel details their lives when the farm becomes prosperous, when they endure a famine, their children and love for a disabled child, wealth found during a revolution, sons being educated, with aspects of Chinese culture woven through. The book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1938.
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| Pearl S. Buck |
The classics are classics for a reason in that they endure and champion the human spirit. Pearl Sydenstricker Buck was born to Presbyterian missionaries Absalom Sydenstricker and Caroline Stulting of West Virginia. Pearl Buck grew up in China and returned to China after marrying and graduating from college. A hallmark of her childhood was that her parents never allowed her to refer to the Chinese as heathens. They considered them their equals.
Born in 1892, Pearl Buck left China in 1934 at 42 believing she would eventually return. But she did not. She was not allowed to return to China with President Richard Nixon in 1972.
Pearl S. Buck advocated for women's rights, Asian rights, and the adoption of Asian and multiracial children resulting from American troops stationed in Asian countries. She wrote many books, short stories and essays and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1938.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1938/buck-bio.html
http://www.biography.com/people/pearl-s-buck-9230389
PBS is currently showcasing a film titled "To Walk Invisible" about the lives of the Bronte sisters who lived in the shadow of a ne'er do well brother yet wrote some of the most controversial fiction of 1840's England. Anne Bronte died at 29 in 1849 and wrote The Tenant at Wildfeld Hall and Agnes Gray. Emily died in 1848 at the age of 30 and wrote Wuthering Heights. Charlotte died just before her 39th birthday in 1855 and wrote Jane Eyre.
https://www.bronte.org.uk/the-brontes-and-haworth/novels
Buzz Bernard is a former meteorologist who writes thrillers gleaned from natural phenomena such as hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes. Buzz worked for the weather channel for 13 years as a senior meteorologist and is a retired Air Force Colonel who served as a weather officer for over thirty years.Buzz is the President of the Southeastern Writer's Conference and this is where I met him.
http://buzzbernard.com/
I remember reading The Good Earth and The Long Love when I was in high school too, they made a huge impression. As you said, the classics are classics for a reason.
ReplyDeleteBeyond tragic the way the Brontes died so young, so many masterpieces unwritten.
Nilanjana
From Madly-in-Verse
Hi Ann - I've never heard of Pearl Buck and her story line ... what a fascinating book that sounds - and her history. The Brontes were an exceptional English family of writing children ... I bet Buzz has some wonderful tales of weather related horrors ... thanks for these recommendations .. cheers Hilary
ReplyDeletePearl lived a remarkable life for a woman during that time.
ReplyDeleteI heard the name of the book, but did not know the plot. Obviously never read it. Might down the road.
ReplyDeleteBetty
I read The Good Earth. I wonder if kids still read it in school. The Bronte sisters all had such short lives.
ReplyDeleteIn the past two years, I've read something by each of the Bronte sisters. They were such great writers. Too bad they had such short lives.I want to read more of Anne's stories. Most people seemed to have forgotten her.
ReplyDeleteA charming author to read
ReplyDeleteOut of the loop with B, guess the cat isn't as well read as thee haha
ReplyDeleteThis is a great theme, and well done! Hugs.
ReplyDeleteHow sad that she wasn't allowed back into China after she'd spent so much time there.
ReplyDeleteDiscarded Darlings - Jean Davis, Speculative Fiction Writer, A to Z: Editing Fiction
I had no idea of Ms. Buck's connection to China, and the premise of Buzz Bernard's stories sounds thrilling!
ReplyDeleteFascinating info here, Ann ;-)