Sons: The Good Earth Trilogy, Volume 2

A good book. Not as good as The Good Earth, but worth your credit. The writing is just as flawless, but instead of a rag to riches story we have a bunch of unhappy rich people. Since the characters are not as easy to love, the book is not as good as the first. If you have not read The Good Earth, read that first.

Nepotism is studied in detail and of course the results are not good. There are some good lessons for parents about raising children and trying to steer their lives in certain directions. Matter of fact the book ends with a surprise for a father about his son. This leads you to want to read the third book, which I hope to do some day.

Years ago I used to play a game called, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and this book, made me want to go back to that game. It seems one of the sons may even be in the game, I am not sure. The book Romance of the Three Kingdoms is mentioned in this book.

The Good Earth was the best selling book in 1932 and 1933 and won a Pulitzer. This book can not compete with that, but it is a great historical fiction.

This audiorecording was great. It was not quite as good as the first book but it is well worth the purchase . I would highly recommend it.

This is book two of the "Good Earth" trilogy it was copyrighted in 1932, the trilogy won the Pulitzer prize. The Good Earth won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Peal S. Buck was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. The "Sons" picks up the story from the end of the "Good Earth" at the death of Wang Lung and follows the lives of the three sons. The book lacks the passion that Wang Lung had for the land that drove the "Good Earth."
These sons grew up rich and lived a rich spoiled life each a bit different, the educated son is Wang the Landlord, the money maker is Wang the Merchant and Wang the Tiger is the war lord. The story is about the son's rising against their father and the bitter struggles to the death between the old and the new China. Buck brought many real life situation into a story of a old and foreign culture to us. She writes of love, suicide, loneliness, greed and the drive for power. She demonstrated the role of women in the old China. It is a story of love, tragedy and war. Anthony Heald did a good job narrating the story. Buck is a master story teller.

I would definitely read this book again because it shows the rise and fall of family lines both financially and in relationships in a very frank and detailed manner. The family dynamic is very interesting and the lessons in Buck's books can be applied to one's life over and over.

You have to compare it to The Good Earth because that is its predecessor. The first book is a little more likeable with more sympathetic characters, but this one is just as engaging.

I loved "The Good Earth" and this book is the 2nd generation of those characters.

Pearl Buck's writing is suburb. I loved finding out what happened to the characters especially Pear Blossom.

The narrator was great but I do not think it was better than just reading the book for yourself. I just enjoy listening to books as I am driving around for my job.

Pear Blossom and "the Poor Fool"

I think that although this book is not as good as "the Good Earth" , it is worth the credit.