I looked and couldn't find that anyone had started a thread for this classic.

I've had The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck on my TBR list for quite some time so I figured this challenge was a good reason to take it off the shelf.  For those of you not familiar, it's the story of a fWang Lung who is a farmer in China prior to the revolution.  It follows his and his family's lives from his wedding until his old age.  It goes into the trials and tribulations of him taking a "second wife" into his home, his growth in wealth, his angst over his children, etc.  The life he lives is always tied to "the good earth" which he owns and works.  I really enjoy books that depict Chinese culture so this one was right up my alley. 

If you enjoy Amy Tan or Lisa See I suggest you give this on a try.  I think you'll like it.

I loved The Good Earth.  Fantastic book, Lung is such a complex and real character. 

My TBR-pile classic is Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Marble Faun.  I love Hawthorne but haven't read that one yet & it was one of the very first PBS books I ordered.

Yes! The Good Earth is a wondeful book. I loved the drama and learning about the culture a bit. It's one of the few books of which I've maintained strong images in my head. A movie would ruin it.

and yes, I am a Tan and See fan too. I really want to read Shang-Hai Girls.

I read and enjoyed The Good Earth a couple of years ago.  It made me so grateful that I didn't live (as a woman/wife) at that place and time!

I agree, Vivian.  I had no idea that sons were referred to as sons but daughters were referred to as slaves.  That's the first I had ever encountered that phrasing and since Buck based the story on what she encountered while living in China I have no doubt that was fact. 

When China underwent its Communist Revolution (I mean the one about 1949), I wondered how that would work out, because of the feeling for the land and OWNERSHIP of it, such as Wang Lung's in Pearl Buck's The Good Earth.   I always think of that piece of ancient Chinese folk-wisdom:  "The best fertilizer for any piece of earth is the footsteps of its owner."