Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: The Living Reed Author: Pearl Buck ISBN: 1-55921-022-2 Publisher: Moyer Bell Limited Type of book: Korea, 1881-1945?, communism, christianity, Russia, America, multi-generational, love, duties, sacrifice, royalty, Japanese treatment, democracy, misleading Year it was published: 1963 Summary: THE LIVING REED tells the story of a close-knit family who dedicate themselves to the salvation of their homeland, that tiny peninsula hanging like a golden fruit before the longing eyes of surrounding nations. The reader lives with them from the splendid era of Queen Min to the climactic days of the Second World War, and emerges not only with admiration for the Korean people and their rich culture but with the excitement of discovering a little known and fascinating history closely entangled with the history of America itself. Kim Il-han, an adviser to the throne when we first meet him in 1881, is to become the family patriarch, and the steadfast and passionate lo...

Name of Book: A House Divided Author: Pearl Buck ISBN: 1559210346  (671-78797-7 Version I have) Publisher: Pocket Books Part of a Series: House of Earth series: The Good Earth, Sons prequels Type of book: China, revolution, international student, 1900s, Former AM/WF Year it was published: 1935 (version I have 1975) Summary: The epic of China begins with soil, and with the simple peasants like Wang Lung whose story was told in The Good Earth . It rises and swells on the fortunes of the warlords and merchants, men like the Sons of Wang Lung. It surges anew in modern China- Communist China- in the third generation of the House of Wang. A House Divided brings Wang's grandson to America, where troubled and alone, he must choose between the old values and the new, between two generations- one dead, one powerless to be born. Characters: The characters are well rounded and understnadable to some extent. In this part, Pearl Buck attempts to explore Wang Yuan's...

Name of Book: East Wind, West Wind Author: Pearl Buck ISBN:  1559210869 Publisher: The World Publishing Company Type of book: 1920s, China, East, West, values, interracial relationship, Asian male/ White female, struggles, duty, obligation Year it was published: 1930 (Version I have January 1944) Summary: East Wind: West Wind is told from the eyes of a traditional Chinese girl, Kwei-lan, married to a Chinese medical doctor, educated abroad. The story follows Kwei-lan as she begins to accept different points of view from the western world, and re-discovers her sense of self through this coming-of-age narrative. Characters: I'm not sure how I could describe the characters, except they all change throughout the novel; Kwei-lan changes into someone who disliked and was unhappy with Western culture into someone who does accept Western traditions and values. She also looks up to her husband all the time, one attitude that she doesn't change at all. Kwei-Lan'...

Name of Book: Sons Author: Pearl Buck ISBN:  0786274948 Publisher: World Publishing Company Part of a Series: House of earth series Type of book: China, late 1800s? to 1900s, family saga, wars, warlord, merchant, desire Year it was published: 1932 (version I have 1945) Summary: Second in the trilogy that began with The Good Earth, Buck's classic and starkly real tale of sons rising against their honored fathers tells of the bitter struggle to the death between the old and the new in China. Revolutions sweep the vast nation, leaving destruction and death in their wake, yet also promising emancipation to China's oppressed millions who are groping for a way to survive in a modern age. Characters: One might remember the eldest son, the one that's lusty, restless and a real lord's son, the one that spends money without thought and concocted the idea of addicting a cousin's parents to opium. In this book he remains the same, except that he gains a...

Name of Book: The Good Earth Author: Pearl Buck ISBN: 0-7432-7293-5 Publisher: Washington Square Press Part of a Series: The house of good earth trilogy; Sons and A House Divided sequels Type of book: generational, farming, famine, rise to wealth, 1800s, China, gender, Year it was published: 1931 Summary: Though more than sixty years have passed since this remarkable novel won the Pulitzer Prize, it has retained its popularity and become one of the great modern classics. "I can only write what I know, and I know nothing but China, having always lived there," wrote Pearl Buck. In The Good Earth she presents a graphic view of a China when the last emperor reigned and the vast political and social upheavals of the twentieth century were but distant rumblings for the ordinary people. This moving, classic story of the honest farmer Wang Lung and his selfless wife O-lan is must reading for those who would fully appreciate the sweeping changes that have occurred...