The Good Earth

One of the books I selected as a part of my 2011 reading challenge needed to be Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction. (So many titles to choose from!) I finally picked The Good Earth by Pearl Buck and discovered that not only did this book win the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, but in 1938 she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for “her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces". It’s interesting to note that she refused to accept the prize in person because it was being presented in Nazi Germany.

The Good Earth was published in 1931 and eventually translated into more than 30 languages. Much of its appeal has to do with Buck’s talent for describing ordinary details and customs of pre-revolutionary Chinese peasant life which she was able to do because she grew up in China and was acquainted with its history and culture. She was also familiar with Chinese literature and oral story telling traditions, which is reflected in the narrative style she uses in her novel. As a result I feel there was an authenticity to the way the story unfolds in simple words and phrases, as well as the sparse dialogue between characters whose way of speaking and interacting with each other is dictated by strict social norms and conventions.

I enjoyed this book very much and it left me fascinated with Pearl Buck herself. A little bit of research on-line revealed that evidently she wrote The Good Earth in less than three months and went on to become quite well known because of the awards it received. Nevertheless, despite her Nobel prize for literature, the “literary establishment” (heavy weight writers like William Faulkner included) thumbed its collective nose at her even going so far as to criticize the Swedish Academy for awarding her such a prestigious prize.

Today her books are considered dated when compared to novels about China that are being written by contemporary Chinese writers. But in the thirties she was one of the few, perhaps the only, person writing about China. And the fact that that's where she grew up, learning to speak Chinese even before she could speak English, certainly qualified her to write about what she learned there.

Throughout her life, she and her second husband Richard Walsh, (who was also her publisher) were involved in a number of humanitarian efforts through the East/West Association an organization devoted to mutual understanding between the United States and Asian Countries. Pearl Buck also founded Welcome House, known today as Opportunity House, the first international, inter-racial adoption agency in the United States, as well as establishing The Pearl Buck Foundation. “This then is our responsibility,” she said in one of her speeches, “to share what we have, so that the benefits of human wisdom with its infinite deities, may be enjoyed by all.

Eleanor Roosevelt was one of Pearl Buck’s role models as was Margaret Mead; and Pearl was an avid advocate of women’s rights and racial equality. It was probably for these reasons, as well as her interest in Asian cultures that the F.B.I. kept detailed files on her for years. She had been classified as a Communist sympathizer but at the same the Chinese government accused her of being a “running dog of capitalism,” and her books were banned there until as recently as 1997.

The Good Earth was made into a film in 1937 and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two of them (Best Actress and Best Cinematography). Ironically, the Actress who won the award for her portrayal of O-Lan had not been the first choice for the role. In addition to employing Chinese as extras and giving the role of Wang-Lung’s sons to Chinese actors, the role of O-Lan had originally been intended for Chinese actress Anna May Wong. However, the Hays Code miscegenation rules banned the portrayal of mixed race marriages on screen, and so she was rejected because the actor who took the part of Wang-Lung was white.