هذا كتاب لن يحبه الصينيون المعاصرون في ما أعتقد.

يتبع قصة عائلة وانغ لانغ في الصين الزراعية قبل الحرب العالمية الثانية.
وانغ لانغ فلاح صيني، أرضه أعز ما في دنياه. هو نموذج للفلاح الساذج- شديد السذاجة.
عالم وانغ لانغ ضيق، الزراعة اليدوية تستهلك كل وقته، لم يتعلم القراءة قط، لم يعرف حياة المدن إلا لما فر إليها حين كاد يموت جوعا.
فقره وفقر والده منعه من الزواج إلا بجارية من جواري البيت الكبير تصدقوا بها عليه، أو-لاي، المرأة المكافحة الصابرة المدبرة الطيبة، المكسورة كسرا لا يجبر، فقد باعها أهلها للبيت الكبير وهي بعد طفلة. نراها دائما خاضعة مكسورة لايسمع لها صوت. هي أكثر شخصية تعلقت بها. تنجب الطفل تلو الطفل لتضمن المكانة لنفسها بإنجاب الأولاد الذكور لزوجها. لكنها زوجة صيني قبل الثورة الشيوعية، يهينها زوجها ويعاملها بفظاظة وعدم تقدير حتى آخر أيامها حين يشتد عليها المرض.
شيئا فشيئا، بالعمل الدؤوب المكلل بحب الأرض الطيبة، يبدأ وانغ لانغ في الإثراء واستحصال أجر كده. وهو كلما جمع شيئا من المال اشترى أرضا وضمها لأرضه.

وانغ لانغ لديه عقدة نقص شديدة، هدفه- اللاشعوري ربما- هو أن يصير السيد هوانغ الكبير، العين الثري الذي وهبه جاريته زوجة. فهو يبتاع أراضي السيد هوانغ مرة بعد مرة، ثم يستقبل مدبرة منزله في بيته، ثم في النهاية يشتري البيت الكبير وينتقل للإقامة فيه. وانغ لانغ في محاولته الخروج من سلم الفقر الاجتماعي، يقلد الأثرياء بطريقة خرقاء، يتردد على صالات الشاي ودور البغاء، ولا يلبث أن يقع في غرام مومس، تستهلك الكثير من ماله، يسيء بفظاظة لزوجته أو-لان، يتزوج المومس ويبني لها جناحا في بيته هو أرقى جناح، لكنه كما هو متوقع، بعد فترة قصيرة يمل منها. يشتري الجواري كما يفعل الأثرياء، ينتقل للبيت الكبير، ثم وهو شيخ في الثمانين، يغرم بطفلة من جواريه. محاولات واضحة لتقليد النبلاء،

لكنه يظل في داخله ذلك الفلاح المحب للأرض الطيبة، حتى بعد أن يصبح صاحب أملاك وجوار وأراض.

لم أحب هذه الصورة المثيرة للشفقة. كنت آمل أن يخرج أحد من أبناء وانغ لانغ عن هذه الصورة النمطية المثيرة للشفقة للفلاح،؛ لكن لا أحد منهم كان شخصية راديكالية أو غير نمطية على الأقل، فاهتماماتهم لا تتعدى التجارة بخيرات الأرض أو اكتراء الأراضي أو حل خصام الزوجات، وحتى في المشهد الأخير يتفق اثنان من أبنائه على بيع الأرض الطيبة لكن لا يغير ذلك في الأمر شيئا، تفكيرهما يظل قرويا رجعيا خجولا. ربما الابن الثالث الذي انضم للثورة في نهاية الرواية سيكون المحرك للأحداث في الأجزاء القادمة من الثلاثية.

جهل الفلاح وسذاجته، احتقار النساء، تعدد الزوجات، زواج القاصرات، بيع البنات، العنف المنزلي، عبادة الأوثان، هذه عادات صينية أضحت غير متقبلة لا في الصين ولا خارجها. بيرل باك تحتفل بها. لا أحد ينكر أنها وجدت لقرون في ثقافة الصين، لكن هناك خلل في عرض بيرل باك، تجعلها تبدو جيدة ربما بشكل منفر، لذلك أقول تحتفل بها. لكن مع ذلك، "احتفلت" بيرل باك بعادات صينية جميلة؛ كالعلاقات الأسرية واحترام الكبار.

أصرت بيرل باك على تذكير وانغ لانغ بأفعال الأغنياء قبله- وهو أصلا اكتسب ثروته من سرقة أحد الأغنياء في غوغاء اقتحم المتسولون خلالها بيته.
إذن، ما رسالة الرواية؟
بالعمل الجاد والتدبير الجيد، يصير الفقير غنيا، على شاكلة الأغنياء الذين أذلوه واضطهدوه في فقره؟! وكأنها حلقة مفرغة في دورة أبدية

اللغة عادية، الترجمة جيدة جدا، لكن الاستعارات القرآنية ليست مناسبة لرواية صينية.

G9 LL
The book was published by Pearl S. Buck in 1931. Later the book won the Pultzer's prize. Buck won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1938. The Good Earth had a large affect towards Buck's Nobel Prize.

The book shows the truth in China's past. The author lived in China for the most part of her life. She observed Chinese people's daily lives and wrote the book about it. This book shows the culture in Chinese society back in the 20th century.

This is a story about a Chinese farmer. Who dedicated his life to his land. Pearl S. Buck described in detail about his life. The perspective in this book is very interesting and the language used in this book is different from other books.

This is one of the books you should read! :)

It's not easy to explain how someone feels when they read a book that feels like it's a part of them, as if it will weave itself into the fabric of a soul and walk with someone through their life.

I save 5 stars for books that move me this deeply. Perhaps that's a bit unfair to all the other awesome books out there that might deserve it, but oh well. That's what 4 star ratings are for; besides, there has to be a way to acknowledge a book that is an all-time favorite and give it the respect it deserves for being so special.

Oh, if only all writers could write as well as Pearl S. Buck! Whether you love or hate this novel (some people feel very strongly about it either way), you can't deny that the author has major talent.

She writes with such descriptive fluidity, and maintains a current of understated humility, where she doesn't let herself get in the way of the story. I'm sorry, but too many people try to show off their skills and it's distracting. Just give us the story already, and let us see for ourselves.

No doubt you already know what this amazing book is about, so there's no need to rehash it since it's been said on here a thousand times. I just wanted to use this review to say how much I love her writing ability, and can't wait to read the other 2 books in the trilogy.

I found this to be an incredibly moving and humanistic story, full of anger, tragedy, joy, and the elements that make for a great novel. It's a story any person in any country can relate to. The writing is beautiful and reads like a parable more than straight documentation or history, which was her intent, and a tribute to many of the old Chinese tales I've read (now reading it at an older age, I see a lot of references and tributes to other Chinese works I had not known of before). That is also part of its allure and I don't know if I could have appreciated it as much if I had not read it when I was younger first. =)

Ι never imagined that a simple portrayal of a Chinese farmer's everyday life could be so riveting. Pearl Buck's writing is magical, hypnotic, utterly engrossing. I virtually devoured the book in two days. Amazingly enough, I, who live worlds (and ages) apart from the book's setting, could totally relate to this story about the cyclical nature of life, the passions and desires that motivate a human being, pain, suffering, ambition, agony, pride and all sorts of human emotions.
It's the third book that I read this year, while thinking that I shouldn't have waited so long to give it a chance.

The livelong interest in Asian culture manifests on each page of this unique novel.

Living what one writes
Some authors have the ability to absorb the mentality of cultures they live in and are fascinated by to create works that are simply impossible to copy because they stand unique in their style, language and deep, hidden messages, references and innuendos. Similar to Arthur Goldens' work Memoirs of a Geisha, Buck´s work integrates key elements of Asian mentality, history, and the authentic life of a hard-working farmer and is close to a real historic description, a great alternative to a history book.

Culture forming behaviour
If the setting would be in another culture, the whole behavior of many of the roles of the key characters might the different and the story could develop in a completely different direction. Let´s imagine an author would have lived together with a tribe or studied indigene populations for his whole life or had an interest in an advanced ancient civilization a written a novel about it. There could be more monuments of human history like this one written by historians going the Follett way.

No alternatives
It might be difficult to impossible for an author who has no lifelong interest, ten thousands of hours of thinking and reflecting about the culture and the love to finetune a book until total perfection, to create something like this. And to a certain extent this is great too, because in this way works like this will be very difficult to produce in inflationary, mainstream amounts.

Tropes show how literature is conceived and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

Published in 1931, The Good Earth was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. Author Pearl S. Buck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. She was the first American woman to win both the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes. Pearl spent her life working continuously on behalf of underprivileged children.

Although Pearl Buck was born in West Virginia in 1892, she grew up in rural China where her parents were missionaries. The Good Earth is based on her own observations of rural village life in China in the early 20th century.

As I was reading this classic, I had the feeling I was reading a parable, a reminder of important life lessons.

The story is a cycle of life, rags to riches saga of one peasant farmer and his family. We are reminded that our sustenance comes from the earth. There is a deep connection between man and the land. Working hard to acquire wealth is not necessarily a bad thing, but too often the rise to wealth and status can result in the breakdown of traditional values. Obsession with land and wealth can lead to moral corruption.

Pearl focuses also on the role of woman in rural China during this period. The farmer’s wife, O-Lan, is one of the most sympathetic female characters I have come across. With humble beginnings as a slave in the home of a rich family, she is long-suffering and loyal. She works hard. She works in the field, goes inside to give birth, cleans the birthing area, and returns to the field to work some more. Even after the family has acquired some land and wealth, it doesn’t change her. She is strong and clever. However, I kept hoping she would speak up and become a better self-advocate. That was not her way. Her internal dialogue is not revealed, and it would be incredible if an author used this character and wrote a spin narrative for O-Lan the way Percival Everett did for James.

Overall, this was an enjoyable reading experience of an enduring classic.

O-lan (Luise Rainer) e Wang Lung (Paul Muni) - "The Good Earth/Terra Bendita" (1937) - realizador Sidney Franklin

”Terra Abençoada” originalmente publicado em 1931, vencedor do Prémio Pulitzer de Ficção em 1932 é o primeiro romance que leio da escritora norte-americana Pearl S. Buck (1892 – 1973) galardoada com o Prémio Nobel da Literatura em 1938.
”Terra Abençoada” é um verdadeiro clássico da literatura mundial, numa narrativa que decorre no reinado do último Imperador da China, tem como protagonista o jovem agricultor Wang Lung que casa com O-lan; um casamento que o seu pai, o velho, arranjou ao procurar na Casa Grande, a Casa de Hwang, se não havia por lá nenhuma escrava disponível - ”- Uma que não seja demasiado jovem e nem muito bonita (…)” (Pág. 15).
No dia do casamento a Venerável Senhora da Casa de Hwang disse a Wang Lung ”- Esta mulher tinha apenas dez anos quando veio para a nossa casa e aqui viveu até agora, até à idade de vinte anos. Comprei-a num ano de escassez, (…). Como podes ver, ela tem um corpo forte (…). Ela saberá trabalhar nos campos, tirar água e fazer tudo o mais que desejares. Não é bonita, mas disso tu não necessitas. Só os homens ociosos precisam de mulheres bonitas que os distraiam. Também não é esperta. Mas faz o que lhe mandam e tem boa índole. Tanto quanto sei ainda é virgem. (…) Leva-a e trata-a bem. É uma boa escrava, embora um pouco lenta e néscia (…). (Pág. 24 – 25)
Wang Lung e O-lan casam e começam em conjunto a trabalhar arduamente nos campos. As colheitas são produtivas, permitindo a Wang Lung e à sua mulher amealhar as “moedas” de prata que invariavelmente poupam e “escondem”.
A família aumenta e O-lan cumpre a promessa de mostrar o seu primeiro filho à Venerável Senhora; Wang Lung suspeita que a Casa de Hwang está em dificuldades económicas, propondo-se mais tarde - juntando as suas economias – comprar as terras da Casa Grande de Hwang.
Wang Lung é um verdadeiro e genuíno agricultor, apesar de analfabeto é um inquestionável empreendedor que vai prosperando, trabalhando e poupando de modo a não se preocupar com os períodos em que devido a condições climatéricas desfavoráveis a culturas se perdiam.
Pearl S. Buck constrói a narrativa de uma forma deslumbrante, centrando-se, essencialmente, em Wang Lung, na sua família, nos seus familiares e nos seus vizinhos, traçando um retrato excepcional sobre uma saga familiar e sobre uma China no início do século XX, dominada por tradições ancestrais, as relações entre pais e filhos, sobre o amor e a paixão, sobre a prosperidade e a decadência, sobre a sobrevivência e a fome, sobre a inveja e a ociosidade, sobre a opressão a que as mulheres chinesas estavam sujeitas, enfrentando o abuso e a arbitrariedade na infância feminina, muitas vezes determinadas pela sua beleza ou pela ausência dessa beleza, circunstâncias decisivas que condicionam a sua vida futura; mas igualmente, sobre a escravatura e as concubinas.
”Terra Abençoada” é um excelente romance, um obra imperdível, com inúmeras temáticas, mas onde o fascínio que a terra exerce, a ligação à natureza e à ética no trabalho são determinantes para a bondade e para a prosperidade humana.

از آن وقت به بعد، دیگر دو پسربچه ونگ لانگ فقط "بزرگ‌تر" و "کوچک‌تر" نامیده نشدند. استاد پیر به آنها اسم مکتبی داد. این پیرمرد پس از پرسیدن شغل پدرشان دو اسم به آن دو پسر داد: برای بزرگ‌تر نانگ‌ان و برای کوچک‌تر نانگ‌ون. کلمه اول هر اسم، معنی‌اش این است:
که کسی که دارایی‌اش از خاک است.

میگن "خاک‌خوب" شاهکار پرل باک، نویسنده آمریکایی و جلد اول از یک مجموعه سه جلدیه.
همون‌طور که پشت کتاب نوشته شده " در این کتاب عرف و عادات و بارهای دهقانان چینی را که با فقر و گرسنگی و جنگ‌های داخلی بیشتر از انقلاب درگیرند، با دقتی واقع‌بینانه توصیف شده است."
اگر به رمان کلاسیکِ اجتماعی علاقه مندید، حتما توصیه میکنم این کتاب رو بخونید.

به نظرم کتاب خیلی کاملی بود، هم از لحاظ داستان و هم از لحاظ اجتماعی و روان‌شناختی!
در واقع شما در قالب داستان دارید به بررسی نقش "تلاش و کوشش" و "مال و ثروت" تو نوع زندگی و اخلاق انسان‌ها و حتی تاثیر این آدم‌ها تو جامعه می‌پردازید و همه این مفاهیم در دل داستانی بسی دل‌نشینه. توصیفات و فضاسازی‌ها ملموس و قابل و درکه، و همین باعث خوش‌خوان‌تر شدن داستان میشه.

من به خوبی با "ونگ لانگ" ، شخصیت اصلی داستان، ارتباط برقرار کرده بودم و البته شخصیت‌ش رو دوست داشتم، آدم سخت‌کوشی که در تلاش بود تا زندگی بهتری بدست بیاره و یا آدمی که حتی اگه بد میشد از بد بودنش بدش میومد! تناقضات شخصیتی ونگ‌لانگ با اونچه که نشون میداد یا مجبور بود بهش پایبند باشه برام جالب بود.

به نظر من این کتاب خیلی واقعیه! نویسنده تونسته بود تفکرات نقش اول داستان‌ش رو به خوبی به منِ خواننده القا کنه، مثلا وقتی از گرسنگی و قحطی حرف میزنه، من می‌تونستم کاملا وضع اسفبارشون رو درک کنم.

نکته جالب دیگه‌ای که تو این کتاب بود، عقاید و آداب و رسوم جالب و بعضا خرافاتی‌شون بود که به‌جا و به‌اندازه در حاشیه داستان بهشون پرداخته بود.

پنج_شش صفحه اول ترجمه برام کمی نامفهوم بود، البته این مشکلیه که تقریبا با همه رمان‌های کلاسیک ترجمه شده داره. اما بعدش اونقدر داستان جذابه که مشکلات ترجمه‌ای به چشم نمیاد و در کل ترجمه روانی داره.

به نظر من کتاب مثل شخصیت اصلی‌شه! یه جوان پر شور و هیجان، که کم‌کم در انتهای داستان با پیر شدن "ونگ لانگ" کتاب هم ریتم آرومی میگیره تا درست همون‌جایی که باید تموم شه.

بخواهم جمع بندی کنم، پیشنهاد میکنم حتما بخونید داستان قشنگی داره که واقعا به خوانندش درس‌ زندگی میده!

فکر میکنم کتاب اونقدر کامل بود که نیازی نیست برم دنبال جلدهای بعدی‌ش. ترجیح میدم همین‌جایی که این کتاب تموم شد، داستان تو ذهن من تموم شه.

ونگ لانگ با صدای لرزان و بریده بریده گفت:" وقتی خانواده‌ای شروع به فروختن زمین کند، آخر عمرش است. ما از زمین بیرون آمده‌ایم و باید به زمین برگردیم. اگر زمینتان را نگه دارید میتوانید زنده بمانید. هیچ کس نمی‌تواند زمین را از شما بدزدد.

پ.ن: کتاب رو به پیشنهاد غرفه‌دار نشر علمی فرهنگی، نمایشگاه کتاب ۱۳۹۸ خریدم، نمیدونم اون آقا کی بود و کجاست ولی دمت گرم اخوی!

This book is a hard one to rate. I found the book difficult to read emotionally, but knew all the while that it was brilliant.

It was sad to see how Wang Lung's obsession with land ruined his potential for happiness. And it seemed that with more money came more difficult problems.

The cycle of the rich House of Hwang turning into the farmer's house-with all its disgusting rich-people habits--was the most brilliant part of all. And it began with him buying that bit of land even before all the real problems began. I guess I should have realized this was a problem for him when he chose to use his meagre earnings to buy more land than save to feed his little family.

I really despised Wang Lung, while I loved O-lan. How could he not have loved her for what she had given to him, so humbly and silently? Couldn't he find her beauty despite her physical appearance? After O-lan died, I seriously wanted Wang Lung to suffer. I was hoping his house would be robbed like the rich houses that were pillaged by robbers "when the rich get too rich."

I found it ironic, however, at the end when Wang Lung's biggest comforts came in the form of daughters (those daughters that were so useless they called them "slaves" and merely shrugged when they were born)--with his "little fool" as he called her and Peach Blossom, who was like a daughter to him. While his sons caused him nothing but trouble.

There is so much to mention here, I feel like I should have taken notes. But I feel that this is definitely a book worth reading, although it was hard. But the lesson here was learned: lusting after money/land will only bring hardship.

It had come out of the earth, this silver, out of his earth that he ploughed and turned and spent himself upon. He took his life from the earth; drop by drop by his sweat he wrung food from it and from the food, silver.

The Good Earth is known for telling the story of a poor, hard-working farmer, Wang Lung, who slowly and steadily gains more land and wealth for himself than he has ever imagined owning. Forced to marry a slave from the House of Hwang, the wealthy and rich family of his province, O-lan becomes his loyal but unappreciated wife, subservient to her husband’s needs and desires. Wang’s connection to the earth is central to his life. He is a good man underneath and it is his love of the land that provides him with the moral and traditional values that he finds important- love of his family, work ethic, religious piety. However, Wang Lung’s desire for wealth and riches contradicts his goodness and eventually causes him to lose his connection with the land. Wealth alone is not enough to sustain Wang Lung as he rises and gains more and more. Now, his social status becomes influential to him with a need for silk clothes, concubines and better houses. He lets the gain influence his actions and he begins to head down a darker moral path. The once important traditional values now begin to erode with the corruption of wealth. Thus it is too late when Wang Lung realizes that his sons are destined to repeat the same negative path that the sons of the House of Hwang made by severing their ties with all their father has created.


The plot is minimal focusing on the daily duties and rituals of a rural Chinese life at a time when famine, flood and poverty can upend a plentiful harvest time causing death and ruin. Many rural people were forced to flee south to the city for survival. Wang Lung’s family finds themselves in this situation, away from their livelihood of farming because there was nothing to produce. City life proved abominable for Wang’s family. O-lan sets to begging with their children while Wang barely earns enough to feed them daily while pulling a rickshaw. Here is when Wang discovers just how much of an alien he is because the culture of the city is nothing like his own home in the rural province.

He lived in the rich city as an alien as a rat in a rich man’s house that is fed on scraps thrown away, and hides here and there and is never a part of the real life of the house.

The Good Earth highlights many Chinese practices such as foot binding, opium-smoking, female infanticide, and concubines. O-lan’s strong female character shows some of the the hardships and limitations women endured. Her own daughter was called a poor fool and many families sold their girls into slavery in order to survive.

Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel in 1932 and 6 years later she won the Nobel Prize.

This is a beautifully written story which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. From rags to riches, simple man to greedy who overlooked the most important things; most notably his faithful and dutiful wife Olan. She was my favourite character.
My first read by Pearl Buck, but definitely not my last.