Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973), the daughter of missionaries, was born in West Virginia but spent most of her time until 1934 in China. She began writing while in China and published her first novel shortly after returning to the United States. Her novel The Good Earth was the bestselling fiction book in the United States in 1931 and 1932, and it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938 she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, “for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces.”
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Praise for Books
“The Good Earth has style, power, coherence, and a pervasive sense of dramatic reality.” —New York Times Book Review
“A comment upon the meaning and tragedy of life as it is lived in any age in any quarter of the globe.” —New York Times
“One of the most important and revealing novels of our time.” —Pittsburgh Post Gazette
“One need never have lived in China or know anything about the Chinese to understand it or respond to its appeal.” —Boston Transcript
“A beautiful, beautiful book. At last we read, in the pages of a novel, of the real people of China.” —Saturday 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
“With the first chapter, a wonderful rendition of a time-honored story begins. Anthony Heald captures Buck’s commentary on the human condition with a humble tone that matches the poignant life of Wang Lung and his wife, Olan, as they eke out a living in rural China. Heald’s performance pays homage to the novel’s historical integrity in its detailed account of the Boxer Rebellion and its aftermath. This is an outstanding production of Buck’s most famous work.” —AudioFile
“Heald’s beguiling voice is used to great effect in his impressive reading of this 1932 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel...Heald does not attempt a Chinese accent in his reading of this classic. Instead, he softly eases into tonal shifts...His wise decision not to force a false sound into his reading allows listeners to fully enjoy and luxuriate in the lovely cadence of the narration. A beautiful writer, Buck is a master at controlling the narrative while spinning out delicate and sublime sentences. Heald reads them perfectly, doing what should be done with all literary classics produced in audio format—letting the words take over so that listeners experience the text in a way so profound that they easily immerse themselves into the plot and fall under the writer’s spell. Heald’s fabulous reading is a great achievement, and his subtle changes in tone and inflection to indicate wizened old men and others of varying ages add authenticity to this timeless story. An essential purchase for well-rounded audio collections.” —Booklist
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.
