The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck

This is a story of a Chinese farmer Wang Lung. It is of his poverty at youth and having to ask a slave as wife from a rich lord; his miserable flee to the south to escape famine; his hard working and unexpected fortune in the time of social upheavals; his growing rich with more and more lands and eventual becoming a rich lord; his burning lust to a beautiful prostitute Lotus and cruelty to his wife O-lan. Above all, his love to the good earth, which smoothed his ruining sexual desire, nourished him all the time, the only one bringing peace and joy to his heart.

I would say that this is a solid work. Pearl Buck observed and wrote it down faithfully. However, this story, almost every plot and scene, reads so familiar. Probably Pearl Buck borrowed too many elements from her readings in Chinese literature, and eventually she lost her own voice in this work. If this is not true, at least I can say that Buck's observation is superficial, not penetrate through the life of Chinese people. Reading this novel is like reading a faithful report by an anonymous author. Therefore, this work does not meet my expectation, considering it winners of Nobel Prize in Literature and Pulitzer Prize. Lao She (老舍)'s Rickshaw Boy (骆驼祥子) is far superior than this one, but it did received Nobel Prize, whose authority is then questionable.

Some thoughts about human desire.

"... it is not to be thought ... that one woman is enough for any man ... And it is not for you to repine when he has money and buys himself another ..." This is the nature of human beings. It is not shameful since human beings are born with it. It is not sinful since it is not obtained by choice. It is the consequence of natural selection. We are selected (winners, in nicer words) to spread seeds. So what's wrong with the lust? It is said that it is against morality. But morality is not truth. Morality (mixed with a big part of junk) is established to balance human desire and make it under control. Therefore, they are of opposing forces, and it is the existence of both and their interactions that makes progress. Lost in either one will blind your eyes. Keep sane, and observe how they play.

Desire is considered healthy or unhealthy. Wang Lung's desire for land is considered health, and therefore regarded as "love", and his lust for the beautiful prostitute Lotus ruining. However, from Wang Lung's side, they are the same, just the will to own something not owned. The real difference lies in whether the desired one rewards back positively. However, it is risky to depend on the other side's response. Be a master of oneself.

The book I read is a paperback published by Washington Square Press. ISBN 0743272935.