Pearl Buck in China

Journey to The Good Earth

De: Hilary Spurling

Narrado por: Hilary Spurling

The author of the much honored two-volume biography of Henri Matisse unearths the life and work of the Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winner Pearl Buck, whose novels in the 1930's and 40's were the first written for a Western audience to describe ordinary life in the still secret China of the late 19th and early 20th century. Published in 1931, The Good Earth sold tens of millions of copies worldwide and is still in print today.

©2010 Hilary Spurling (P)2010 Oasis

Amazing life experience. A feminist, and survivor.

Absolutely loved it. An amazing study of this fabulous soul, and her survival. Will now start reading her books.

Fascinating read with some thoughtful insights

The portrayal of life in China at that time is a unique blend of personal memoir and historical journey, with perspectives on some of the often hidden aspects of living the ministry life in that part of the world - as well as here in the U.S. This book inspired me to read her complete trilogy and other writings on historical aspects of life in China, written in elegantly descriptive prose. She is a master story-teller in her later works.

A biography as gripping as a novel

If you could sum up Pearl Buck in China in three words, what would they be?

Tragic inspiring mesmerizing

What did you like best about this story?

Pearl Buck's life in China was much more complex and interesting than I would have imagined before listening to this book. And tragic too. The biographer doesn't omit any of the gritty, grimy details of her life. And there were many! But they add substance to Buck's portrait and vividly illustrate what a remarkable woman (person) Pearl Buck was and what a remarkable life she had lived.

Have you listened to any of Hilary Spurling’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Pearl Buck's greatest novel was her life

Any additional comments?

I lived for two years in Nanjing and one year in Zhenjiang and I was never informed that Pearl Buck had lived in either city. Obviously the Chinese are conflicted about her. But China was an important part of her life, and for millions -- both Chinese and non-Chinese -- she offered a glimpse of a civilization that they would otherwise have never known.

Ok, but didn’t care for the narrator

Interesting story. Wish each chapter had been a ‘part’ with separate chapters within. Hilary needed to slow down and take a breath between sections. Sometimes felt like one big run-on sentence.

Fascinating history

I purchased this book based on an interview I heard on NPR. It has taken me a long while to get through the audio version - I wish the NPR book reviewer had been the narrator. This narrator certainly knew her story, but perhaps too well - her bored monotone really detracted from a fascinating history; numerous pronunciation mistakes made it painfully obvious when she needed a break.
However, Ms Spurling has done exhaustive research on Pearl Buck, her family, her inner struggles and the window she opened for the west to view the badly misunderstood culture of China. The first hand accounts of the terror experienced during the Boxer rebellion and the other uprisings and incidents in the 20th century made me wonder how foreigners found the strength to remain in China. I was particularly taken with Pearl Buck's persistent calls for her readers to rethink the purpose and strategies of foreign missions, and feelings of racial and cultural superiority.

A heart breaking story

This is a very interesting and sad story. It’s illuminating and gives great insight into what China was like in the past.

Fascinating and Thorough

Women writers fascinate me. So do odd people, gifted people, and exotically experienced people. Of Pearl Buck I've only read The Good Earth, but now I want more. This is a terrific story, wonderfully written and told by terrific, clear narrator.

More Comprehensive than Expected

I can relate to Spurling's discursive, run-on sentences. Her reading and writing style can be a bit disorienting to many readers and listeners alike. Spurling refers often to the writings of Pearl S. Buck, which makes this one one hand a biography and another a compendium of Buck's works. Spurling overall, does an excellent job at weaving the parallels between Buck's works of literature and her actual life, and how the two realities cross-pollinated to produce Buck's colorful life story.

Very good

A poignant analysis of one of the most important artists of the 20th century. This book not only educates the reader about Pearl Buck, her childhood and family life, it paints a detailed picture of pre-revolutionary China; chronicling the lifestyle of the missionaries who struggled to blend with and help the impoverished population there. Excellent non-fiction.

Depressing, stressful narration ruins a good book

The story itself is very interesting, but the narration is very depressing to continue listening for more than half an hour at a time. Every time I start listening, I ping pong between 1 star to reflect how it makes me feel or 2 stars to be nice. It makes me angry sometimes what a bad mood it puts me in.

The author didn't seem to have grasped the basics of narration, that you need to open your mouth wide and enunciate with a smile. The result is a monotone and emotionless narration as if the author is regretting the decision to narrate her own book and wants you to feel sorry listening to it too. She reads as if there are no commas, periods, or paragraph breaks, just a long long list of events, one after another, that you better pay attention every close second or you miss an event. A BREATHLESS take of a book for 9 hours. It's extremely depressing, stressful, boring, and a downer even if your day has been great so far.

She also has no idea how to pronounce Chinese and butchers all the Chinese words, which is just a shame, given that she wrote this whole book about someone born and raised in and loves China, but didn't bother to learn the pronunciation of the Latin romanization before narrating this book with so many Chinese location names. Like, there's no soft sounds in Chinese, in particular, no such sound as ks in Chinese, and an X is pronounced like sh! It's so ridiculous listening to her pronouncing every name with an x consonant as ks! So rarely does a narrator butcher Chinese so badly that I cannot even guess what many consonants from her mouth might actually be!

They should have found a professional voice actor to narrate this. The result would have been ten times better. Before that happens, I'll just have to put up with this as this is currently the only biography on Pearl Buck on Audible. I'm only listening to it for the content.