A Little Reading... The Good Earth

Summer is here and it is time to lounge by the pool and soak up some good reads. The Good Earth is one of my favorite books of all time.  Even if you have preconceived notions about reading old classics, or even if you were forced to read this in Jr. High or High School and hated it, I highly suggest you try again.  Hear me out...You are now older, wiser, and can appreciate more of what this book has to offer.

Here are my top 5 reasons you should read The Good Earth:
1.  O-lan is one of my favorite characters in all of literature.  She is the ONLY fictional character I have ever cried over.  You must meet O-lan! (The pearls!  Her feet!  Giving birth alone in her room!  Oh O-lan!)
2.  Because vintage and retro are really popular these days, you can bask in the coolness of reading the best seller of the early 1930s.
3.  The lessons about land, ownership, family, loyalty, betrayal, corruption, country, poverty, work, and who is really important in life will stay with you.  They have stayed with me.
4.  In addition to being a great book, you get a bonus history lesson about Chinese dynasties and their lingering traditions at the time such as foot-binding.
5.  You get to marvel about Pearl Buck and the mastery with which she is able to write, particularly about peasant life in China during this time.  She was born to Presbyterian missionary parents and spent much of her early life in China, and this novel won her the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature.  Not bad, not bad.

Give The Good Earth a chance (or another chance, as the case may be).  It is truly a great masterpiece of literature to be enjoyed.  It is one of my favorites.  I hope you agree.