I read this book a couple months ago, but it is still fresh in my mind and I loved it. It basically follows the life of a poor farmer, Wang Lung, from his wedding day to his death as a very rich man in China. It gave me a greater appreciation for my Western American culture and educated me on the customs and culture of China. I was amazed at the way women were treated, either as workers or for sex. When Wang Lung picked up his wife, O-Lan at the great house of Hwang, she walked behind him, and although he was curious about her throughout their life together, he felt it was beneath him to talk to her as he would to a man. O-Lan is definitely the heroine of this novel, she worked endlessly even while pregnant in the fields and in the house and because of her economy, Wang Lung was able to purchase land from the house of Hwang. A terrible famine hit the land and they were forced to the city where they lived in a tent along the wall of a palace and ate rice at a place for the poor each day. When revolution took over, Wang Lung, was fortunate to obtain some money from a rich man to save his life and O-Lan looted some precious jewels. They were ecstatic to be able to return to their land and bought the rest of the land from the house of Hwang.
Wang Lung was now the rich and respected man of their city, but instead of acknowledging O-Lan for the part she played in this fortune, he acted the way he thought a rich man should. His sons were not taught to work the land and grew up to bicker and would eventually although it doesn't chronicle it specifically in the book, they would lose the land the same way the great house of Hwang had lost it. Wang Lung took on a concubine and hated O-Lan the more because she was not beautiful. He even took away the 2 small pearls she wished to keep from the jewels she had looted and gave them his concubine. O-Lan eventually died soon after the marriage of her first son. She had done so much and complained hardly at all, Wang Lung did seem to actually mourn a little her at her deathbed. But it seems the customs of his culture were too much for him to really acknowledge her goodness and usefulness even after she was gone.
It seems from this book at least, that although the rich chinese put down and live off of the poor ones, the poor are really no better than the rich because they wish they were the ones who could put people down. Wang Lung showed how it would be if their places were reversed and it was no different. The whole Chinese honor and respect for elders and men is messed up. I'm sure there are some good things about it and there are probably cases of families who are kind and respectful to their women, but it seems the overall prevailing culture is one of pride and appearance and authority being more important than sincerity and humility. Buck also wrote East Wind West Wind which is also set in China and is a sweet story of a Chinese woman fulling expecting to be a slave to her husband and mother-in-law, but instead finds that her Western educated husband treats her totally differently than expected and it is a lovely surprise.
Good stuff. Another excellent true story about China is Wild Swans. It is one of my very favorite books. It is written by the daughter of a man who was part of the communist movement in China and chronicles the life of the daughter, her mother and her grandmother, so it gives a good picture of life in China through some different time periods.
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