The Good Earth by Pearl Buck

Name: Pearl Buck

Year Won: 1938

Read: The Good Earth

Original Language: English

Reason: "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces"

About: "The Good Earth" follows Wang Lung and his wife O-Lan as they farm the land in their small peasant village and have children. During a famine, they flee south, just to return north again to farm when things recover. Eventually they become wealthy and Wang Lung acquires a concubine, which breaks O-Lan's heart.

What I liked: This is a really, really good book. It's often considered a contributing factor in the US choosing to side with/protect China during WWII. It became an Academy Award winning movie. It was a best seller for two years after its release and recently was an Oprah book club pick. It's unusual for a book to have that level of popularity and critical acclaim, especially over that period of time. But reading it, you can see why it's been so popular and so well regarded for so long.

The characters in "The Good Earth" feel timeless and eternal, yet really, really interesting. The descriptions of peasant life are vivid and sympathetic. The drama is consistent, yet never feels melodramatic. The writing is beautiful. This is one of the better books I've read in a long time and am happy I read it because of this project.

What I Disliked: There isn't much in the way of a conventional plot. It's mostly just peasants doing peasant things. Also, Wang Lung's sometimes callous treatment of O-Lan can be heartbreaking, as can some of the things she endures.

Should it have won a Nobel: Yes. It's a really good book. It also holds up much better nearly a century after it was written than most on this list.

Next Up: "The Long Journey" by Johannes V. Jensen (there was nothing at the library by Frans Eemil Sillanpää)