I bought this book ages ago on some clearance table at some book store--you know, a classic that I planned to read "soon". And of course it's been sitting on my "to read" shelf for several years (I like to think that I'm just savoring all those books--anticipating the delight of reading each one of them when I get around to it. My daughter thinks it's more accurate to say that I'm just procrastinating the good stuff in favor of the more lightweight stuff I tend to accumulate on my Kindle. Ha.). But the book club here in my neighborhood chose it for this month's book, so I finally sat down to read it. I'm in the middle of a pile of books right now...can't seem to settle to the one that I'm "in the mood" to read. I'm tired of some of the "fluff" I've been reading lately and so I'm hopping back and forth between some more substantial stuff that requires a bit more concentrated attention. I finally had to just make myself sit down and finish this one so I could participate in our book club discussion.
This is the story of one man, Wang Lung, and his struggles, his beliefs, his family, his strengths and weaknesses. We meet him as he marries and we follow him until his life ends--when he's an old man, the proud father of 3 sons (and 2 daughters too, but they, of course, are nothing to be proud of). The story is set during the reign of the last emperor, right before the revolution that changed China forever.
I really liked the book. I don't think I can write anything that hasn't been written before--it's a Pulitzer Prize winning book, after all, a "great modern classic". So I'm sure my thoughts just scratch the surface. One of the themes that I found most interesting, however, was how Wang's poverty strengthened him, but his wealth weakened his sons. I think a lot about this idea as it applies to kids today. Most parents want their kids to have stuff that they themselves didn't have. They don't want their kids to feel deprived, they want to provide comfort and ease, and our culture is particularly indulgent when it comes to children (we buy them stuff, we take them places, we dress them up, we pay for sports, we pay for lessons, etc....), but is this really good for kids? I'm not sure. I don't think it's particularly good for kids to be always told "we can't afford it"--I think it might make money overly important to them and give pursuit of wealth a disproportionate importance. And I think it's hard for well-off parents to tell their kids "no" when they have no concrete reason to--making it all too easy for kids to end up getting way too much of what they ask for. That is if parents even think these things through BEFORE they have their kids. I know I didn't think a whole lot beyond allowance, making the kids save, encouraging them to get jobs after each one turned 16, etc. Just the basic stuff.
I was visiting yesterday with a friend from Malaysia. She talked a lot about financially helping her brother, her nephews, her mother. In her culture, the parents support the kids until the kids can support the parents. The family members that have money share with the ones that don't, until those family members make good and can contribute as well. Makes it a give-and-take family relationship that lasts a lifetime. That's not how we do it here. Many (most?) American kids take take take for their entire childhood and they aren't really expected to give back. Parents are expected to save, to invest, to have a retirement, to make themselves comfortable and hopefully to leave something to the kids after they die as well. I wonder if that lifestyle turns kids into permanent entitled takers. Of course, sometimes kids do end up having to help their aging parents. But it's not the desired outcome for either parents or kids in our culture. It's a very interesting idea to me. Makes me think that I probably should have/should now encourage my kids to financially help each other. As the elders get financially stable, perhaps they should help the ones still in school? Instead of every man for himself, it should be share and share alike? That's a strong Christian principle, you know. Hm. Don't know if it's a good idea for families or not. Deserves more thought on my part, for sure. Anyway, it was just one of many interesting themes in The Good Earth.
Sex: It's there, of course, and part of the plot revolves around Wang's "lustful" period of life. But it is not titillating; it's simply an accepted part of life.
Bad language: nope
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