The Good Earth

By: Pearl S. Buck

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize Winner, Novel 1932

This Pulitzer Prize-winning classic tells the poignant tale of a Chinese farmer and his family in old agrarian China. The humble Wang Lung glories in the soil he works, nurturing the land as it nurtures him and his family. Nearby, the nobles of the House of Hwang consider themselves above the land and its workers; but they will soon meet their own downfall.

Hard times come upon Wang Lung and his family when flood and drought force them to seek work in the city. The working people riot, breaking into the homes of the rich and forcing them to flee. When Wang Lung shows mercy to one noble and is rewarded, he begins to rise in the world, even as the House of Hwang falls.

©1958 Pearl S. Buck (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"A beautiful, beautiful book. At last we read, in the pages of a novel, of the real people of China." ( Saturday Review)
" The Good Earth has style, power, coherence and a pervasive sense of dramatic reality." ( New York Times Book Review)
"To read this story of Wang Lung is to be slowly and deeply purified; and when the last page is finished it is as if some significant part of one's own days were over." ( Bookman)

Loved this

Saw the movie years ago but this narration was so much better
Really good narrator

Classic

This is the tale of the life of Wang Lung. Although he was a simple farmer who made mistakes from time to time, his experiences in life taught him that true wealth lies in the land. I enjoyed rereading this classic tale of poverty to wealth.

just such a great book

I think this may be the single best piece of writing skill in my experience. I regret that I had not read it previously. So moving. Kudos to the narrator...absolutely first rate.

Awesome.

Any additional comments?

Excellent story and narration - I had not read the story before this. There are apparently 2 additional books to this story.

Great story! Even though I can't figure out why

This was a great book! It's just a story about a Chinese farmer a hundred years ago, so it took me a while to buy it and read it, but everybody says it's real good so I decided to stretch outside of my comfort zone and try it, and I really liked it! Well worth it. By the time I was into it a couple of chapters, I really wanted to know what was going to happen to Wang Lung and his family. Now I've got the movie on the way from Blockbuster, and I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Multifaceted and layered story worth the read

This is a very interesting story about a man's rise to wealth through his land. In one respect, it's a very happy story about becoming wealthy through hard work and respect of your origins. But the entire time I was listening to this story, I felt there was a sadder, second story, which is the story of the first man's wife. She is undoubtably responsible for this man's rise to wealth yet remains a slave in her home, never escaping a life of work and stuck in a marriage with a man who does not love her or even think she is pretty. It's also an interesting snapshot into a time in history I cannot fathom living in. I would recommend this story based on these many layers as well as for the characters who are multifaceted and well developed. My only complete is that the narrator, though he's a good narrator, read too fast for my liking and I had to slow the story down to 0.75x.

life has its seasons

A,honest story about the challenges of a man with character, and the nature of the human appetite.

Great listen!!

Any additional comments?

I had read this book when I was very young and liked it. This time around I was able to understand and probe into the depth of the characters. I loved it!

another time and place

I first read The Good Earth when I was in 8th or 9th grade. I loved it then and I wanted to see how I felt about it now. It was great. I still loved being zoomed across the continents and time for a peek into another culture and time in history. Pearl Buck's experiences in China are distilled in her character development.
The narrator brought the characters to life.

Human nature no matter the culture

If you could sum up The Good Earth in three words, what would they be?

prosperity, pride, love

What did you like best about this story?

That the main character, Wang Lung, kept some compassion throughout his life and old age.

Which character – as performed by Anthony Heald – was your favorite?

O-lan. She was genuine and loved though she was not loved in return.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When O-lan went to work in the field immediately after delivering her baby. Also when she surrendered the two pearls.