Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
70th out of 246 books
—
90 voters
The Mother
Within this novel Ms. Buck paints the portrait of a poor woman living in a remote village whose joys are few and hardships are many. As the ancient traditions, which she bases her philosophies upon, begin to collide with the new ideals of the communist era, this peasant woman must find a balance between them and deal with the consequences.
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
January 1st 2004
by Moyer Bell
(first published 1933)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,517)
Feb 02, 2013
arcobaleno
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
letteraturastraniera
Amara, tristissima attesa!
Mi sono imbattuta quasi per caso in questo romanzo, ma ho potuto gustare una buona lettura. Il racconto procede con un ritmo pacato e una scrittura scarna; senza giri di parole né ampollosità; assolutamente privo di retorica; con una semplicità che tuttavia continua ad alimentare l’interesse, adattandosi perfettamente alla onesta essenzialità delle esistenze. Una storia di miserie familiari, di persone prive perfino di un nome e di una tomba sulla quale piangere, in un...more
Mi sono imbattuta quasi per caso in questo romanzo, ma ho potuto gustare una buona lettura. Il racconto procede con un ritmo pacato e una scrittura scarna; senza giri di parole né ampollosità; assolutamente privo di retorica; con una semplicità che tuttavia continua ad alimentare l’interesse, adattandosi perfettamente alla onesta essenzialità delle esistenze. Una storia di miserie familiari, di persone prive perfino di un nome e di una tomba sulla quale piangere, in un...more
La prossima volta vi mando mia mamma
Troppi libri in casa mia.
Lo dice mia mamma che è stufa di vedersene attorno così tanti, lo dice mio padre che quando cerca un libro non sa da dove iniziare a guardare per trovarlo, lo dico io che vado a sbattere contro le pile che partono da terra in camera mia.
In effetti, è anche comprensibile: sommando gli 82 anni di un vorace lettore, per di più appassionato di storia, agli 84 di una vorace lettrice, per di più insegnante per quasi cinquant’anni, e aggiunge...more
Troppi libri in casa mia.
Lo dice mia mamma che è stufa di vedersene attorno così tanti, lo dice mio padre che quando cerca un libro non sa da dove iniziare a guardare per trovarlo, lo dico io che vado a sbattere contro le pile che partono da terra in camera mia.
In effetti, è anche comprensibile: sommando gli 82 anni di un vorace lettore, per di più appassionato di storia, agli 84 di una vorace lettrice, per di più insegnante per quasi cinquant’anni, e aggiunge...more
This novel concerns a peasant woman, a mother of three, whose husband is a gambler and libertine. One day, after a quarrel, he leaves her. To avoid shame, she pretends he is at work in a city, and as the years go by, pretends he is dead. It's a depressing tale in many ways, because the woman's brief affair brings her, in her mind and in reality, much trouble. However, it ends on a note of hope, as the family cycle is continued and the Chinese peasant's conception of fulfillment is granted.
Buck w...more
Buck w...more
WHAT A STORY. This book came out after “The Good Earth” and follows the life of a passionate Chinese peasant mother. Early in the story, her husband leaves her with no explanation and she is left to care and provide for the family. She also has pride and desires to uphold her dignity in the hamlet where she lives, so she makes decisions that seem best to her, but they greatly complicate her life.
Pearl Buck wrote this novel soon after “The Good Earth” but she did not think it was good. She consi...more
Pearl Buck wrote this novel soon after “The Good Earth” but she did not think it was good. She consi...more
إذا اجتمعت قصة ممتازة مع ترجمة ممتازة بين دفتي كتاب واحد فالقارئ بلا شك سيحلق فوق السحاب. لم أقرأ منذ زمن رواية تخطف الأنفاس و مترجمة ترجمة أدبية رفيعة كهذه الرواية. و منذ قرأت "الأرض الطيبة" منذ حوالي عشرين علما و أنا منبهر بأسلوب "بيرل بك" الرشيق و الدقيق، وهذا العمل يؤكد أن "الأرض الطيبة" لم تكن ضربة حظ أو رمية بغير رامٍ.
تصور هذه الرواية حياة فلاحة صينية، بل حياة فلاحة شرقية، وهذا لأنك ستفاجأ – مثلما ستفعل حال قراءتك "الأرض الطيبة" – بتشابه العادات بل و الشقاء و التفاني بين الفلاح المصري و ال...more
تصور هذه الرواية حياة فلاحة صينية، بل حياة فلاحة شرقية، وهذا لأنك ستفاجأ – مثلما ستفعل حال قراءتك "الأرض الطيبة" – بتشابه العادات بل و الشقاء و التفاني بين الفلاح المصري و ال...more
This was my first Pearl Buck book, and I liked it a lot. It gave me my first glimpse into pre-revolutionary rural China and the role of women in that society.
The story was heartbreaking and real. I haven't read any other reviews of Pearl Buck's style, but in my estimation she writes in a very realistic not overly sentimental style. Throughout the book are themes of ongoing seasons, of sowing and harvesting, of aging and life and death all being part of the natural cycle of things.
The plot is the...more
The story was heartbreaking and real. I haven't read any other reviews of Pearl Buck's style, but in my estimation she writes in a very realistic not overly sentimental style. Throughout the book are themes of ongoing seasons, of sowing and harvesting, of aging and life and death all being part of the natural cycle of things.
The plot is the...more
Doesn't live up to the The House of Earth trilogy nor some of the mid-year novels like THE PAVILLION OF WOMEN and DRAGON SEED. Written during the time before she left China for the last time and published in between SONS and A HOUSE DIVIDED, THE MOTHER is again the story told from one point of view of a poor farmer from early adulthood through old age, except this time the hero is a woman with no name, only referred to as "the mother." While she takes us inside the mother, the story has a prodig...more
I am a big fan of Ms. Buck's work. I read and loved 'Pavilion of Women', 'Imperial Woman', 'The Good Earth',and 'Peony' among others, but this book was lacking. There were just too many things left unexplained.
The main character's husband's disappearance seems more of a cheap plot point than a real plot device. The death of her daughter felt again like a cheap plot point, and her son's death... ehh. I enjoyed this book at first, but as it went on, the story didn't feel as coherent as it had befo...more
The main character's husband's disappearance seems more of a cheap plot point than a real plot device. The death of her daughter felt again like a cheap plot point, and her son's death... ehh. I enjoyed this book at first, but as it went on, the story didn't feel as coherent as it had befo...more
Mar 12, 2013
Rebecca Bryan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
lit-and-lattes
I did not pick this book out myself. I actually received it as part of a temporary book swap that a book club of mine was doing. I was warned by the loaner that this is a sad book, and she was not wrong, though I did end up liking it despite that fact. The author's writing style is unusual, yet lyrical in a way and somewhat formal. I thought I would have trouble comprehending it, but it turned out to be fairly easy. It struck me as odd that the author did not give the characters names, and I tho...more
This is the story of a Chinese peasant mother living in a remote hamlet in pre- revolutionary communist China. The mother lives in poverty and desperation believing that the sorrows of her life are the result of her sins. Her husband leaves her to raise the three children, tend the farm, and care for his old mother. The mother is deeply shamed by her husband's desertion, so she lies about it. This is a very depressing narrative; however, it gives the reader a glimpse into the customs of Chinese...more
Somebody left this book (a 1939 edition, translated into Estonian) in my mailbox a little while ago. The story was beautiful and entertaining (in the beginning) and quite educational. There were quite a few lines in it that begged me to read them over and over, especially in the first half of the book. It also made me cry a few times because certain parts in it hit home a little too hard. I think what I liked the most were the author's (oddly sweet and heartwarming) descriptions of the anger and...more
Another absolutely beautiful Pearl Buck novel! I gave it four stars instead of five because it deals with one main theme (motherhood) instead of an array of themes, and there are not as many overt religious or feminist overtones in this one as in my five star picks.
HOWEVER, this novel is raw, honest, painful, and gorgeous in its portrayal of "the mother," a poor farmer woman whose journey we follow and whose pain we feel acutely. "I swear if they measured up the joy and sorrow I have had in my w...more
HOWEVER, this novel is raw, honest, painful, and gorgeous in its portrayal of "the mother," a poor farmer woman whose journey we follow and whose pain we feel acutely. "I swear if they measured up the joy and sorrow I have had in my w...more
Sep 18, 2008
Candice
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Candice by:
Missy
One of the women in my book group recommended this, and we discussed it yesterday. Another of our members, a retired college English professor, is an expert on Pearl S. Buck, and she led the discussion. I had read The Good Earth years ago and looked forward to another book by Mrs. Buck.
It's the story of a mother in China, probably in the 1920's. The life is unbelievably difficult for this poor peasant woman, but she shoulders her burdens and makes a living for her family. So many sad experiences...more
It's the story of a mother in China, probably in the 1920's. The life is unbelievably difficult for this poor peasant woman, but she shoulders her burdens and makes a living for her family. So many sad experiences...more
Pearl S. Buck, The Mother (Pocket, 1934)
It is hard to know what to make of this early novel (her fourth) by Pearl S. Buck, who had won the Pulitzer Prize the year before for The Good Earth (her second) and would, in a few years, be a Nobel laureate. Hard because it is difficult to reconcile such a widely-acclaimed author with a novel such as this.
In her autobiography, Buck mentions that she almost destroyed the manuscript of The Mother, fearing it wasn't as good as her previously published novel...more
It is hard to know what to make of this early novel (her fourth) by Pearl S. Buck, who had won the Pulitzer Prize the year before for The Good Earth (her second) and would, in a few years, be a Nobel laureate. Hard because it is difficult to reconcile such a widely-acclaimed author with a novel such as this.
In her autobiography, Buck mentions that she almost destroyed the manuscript of The Mother, fearing it wasn't as good as her previously published novel...more
Love this book it an amazing look at a peasants life when the japense attacke. Bucks writing is so good that she actually calls the character The Mother never giving her a name. It really showed how insignificant her life was seen by the other characters. It was also a book that showed how extrodiary and dignified she really was during her life. You feel a saddness because it would be such a hard life without recognition or romantic love.
Wow! Another great book by the late author Pear Buck. I had finished reading her series of 3 and wanted to read more so chose The Mother. By a great gift of intuition she entered into the mind, heart and spirit of the Chinese peasant woman and revealed the permanent values of life. This was a moving saga of the challenges of poverty and the sorrow of loss, everyday life and the best and worse of humanity. It was another gem to read!
Με αφορμή την Ημέρα της Μητέρας εδώ στη μουντή Αγγλία θυμήθηκα το βιβλίο "Η Μάνα" που είχα διαβάσει στην παιδική μου ηλικία. Δεν θυμάμαι λεπτομέρειες από την ιστορία. Έμεινε μόνο μια γλυκιά και συγκινητική ανάμνηση και με βάση αυτό το συναίσθημα βαθμολόγησα το βιβλίο με 4 στα 5.
Nov 28, 2008
Mary JL
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those interest in China' and those who like detail characters
Shelves:
fiction-classics
This book it not as well known as "The Good Earth" but the story is timeless. It details the joys and sorrow in the life of a very poor Chinese peasant set in about 1930. It is very moving and a good character protrai of the "mother" in the story. Well worth your time.
زن های چینی و زن های ایرانی ، مادرهای چینی و مادرهای ایرانی ، دخترهای چینی و دخترهای ایرانی ... حداقل اونا خودشون رو گول نمی زنن
لقد ابتعدت بيرل باك في روايتها الأم عن روايتها الرائعة الأرض الطيبة ومع ذلك لا تخلو من العبر وتسليط الضوء على الظلم والاستغلال ومحاولات ضعيفة لمقاومة الظلم .
بالتأكيد هي ليست بمستوى رواية الأم لمكسيم غوركي الرائعة.
بالتأكيد هي ليست بمستوى رواية الأم لمكسيم غوركي الرائعة.
one of my favorite reads of all time. i was a young woman when i read it. it gave me great insight into the chinese culture of it's time, and broadened my view of my value as a wife and mother.
I was on a Pearl S. Buck kick for awhile. It was interesting to read about the mother's position in Chinese culture. The wife of he first-born son moves into the parents house with her husband, and serves his parents. Eventually the son and his wife will own the land, and make the decisions, but not until they have a son. Bearing a son in their society is the entire purpose of the woman's existence. If you don't bear sons, you are no good.
This book was very good, but when I started another one...more
This book was very good, but when I started another one...more
Interesting, absorbing read. It was cool how she went through then entire novel without ever mentioning the character's name.
Another wonderful book by Pearl Buck. Easy to read, very interesting story. More Chinese traditions that make a woman's life difficult.
Me and Jen found this book at the bookstore in Little Switzerland...very exciting find cuz it matches the Pearl Buck books I got from grandma Mary. Yay...can't wait to read it!!
It reads a lot like The Good Earth, which was an amazing book. The Mother is a study of the life of a Chinese peasant woman stuck in the revolving circle of life. You love her, you want to smack her, and in the end, she has come full circe and you're both disappointed and satisfied. Short novel, so it goes very quickly.
read this a few years ago, a fascinating and well written book. will read it again soon :-)
I really enjoy Buck's writing style and enjoyed this one very much - though not as much as "The Good earth"; this may very well just be a reflection of how crazy depressing the plot was though!
a bit depressing...her husband left her and so it goes on and on with her trials etc
One book - simple , very pictorial, entertaining and sometimes pricks the brian
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| مادر............... | 1 | 5 | Feb 15, 2008 09:48am |
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (1892–1973) was a bestselling and Nobel Prize–winning author. Her classic novel The Good Earth (1931) was awarded a Pulitzer Prize and William Dean Howells Medal. Born in Hillsboro, West Virginia, Buck was the daughter of missionaries and spent much of the first half of her life in China, where many of her books are set. In 1934, civil unrest in China forced Buck back to t...more
More about Pearl S. Buck...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“However impatient she might be in the day, however filled with little sudden angers, at night she was all tenderness.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
May 11, 2011 04:57pm