The Good Earth...

The Good Earth (1931) - Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973)


the earth filters our life
with feasts and famines

in China
for the peasant farmer
the earth is the culture
of being strong
moving forward
celebrating the harvests
and withstanding the droughts

when life is all about
the connections
the interactions
the respect of the earth
then and only then
do social and political cultures
pale into vague ghosts
passing
their moment of glory or crisis
is a microcosm
a speck of dust
on the lens of what merely matters

social satisfaction has time restraints
material wealth is fool's gold

only the earth
offers
enigmatic
infinite
purpose

the greater good
of Nature's earth
for mankind

MY GOODREADS REVIEW The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you seek a fast-paced narrative or multi-layers of character details, they are not to be found in The Good Earth. Remove all novel expectations and embark on a 'slow TV' journey in the pre-World War II countryside of the Chinese peasant. Slow travelling unveils some remarkable points of interest so easily under valued, even overlooked, in our pre-fabricated world of standards. Author Pearl S. Buck is the outsider looking over this rural peasant lifestyle. She may have been born in Virginia in the United Sates, but she grew up in China. In short, she was a reality observer over time. The result is a fresh view of nature and culture-driven living that may be globally unknown or, in China, taken for granted. She was like a 'go-between'. Awareness of Buck's status highlights the raw reality of the novel's narrative and instigates a breathless fascination, magnetising the reader. Wang Lung and his dutiful O-lan are encased in a tense liaison between Chinese culture and the demands of the seasonally fickle worlds of Mother Nature's earth. Economic survival is all about keeping their culture and the earth in shifting balance. Their lives compare and contrast with others who also live out their lives dealing with the need for balance. But there are those who ignore that need - to their peril.

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