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122nd out of 139 books
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62 voters
This Proud Heart
This Proud Heart
A revealing study of an American woman torn between her artistic goals and the demands of her personal life.
Published
1938
by John Day Co.
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I absolutely Loved this book with a capital L. It's the story of Susan, an up and coming sculptor in the 1930s, who struggles with her love of art, her love of family - children, parents, sister and husband, and her need to be herself. As I read it, I could imagine the setting, in the 30s and how tremendously difficult it would be for a girl to do anything other than teach or nurse or be a secretary, or marry and have children. Pearl Buck delivers with this book, especially in the ending which b...more
This book was published in 1938 but the theme itself is so contemporary. Susan Gaylord is a brilliant woman of many talents; she unintentionally intimidates everyone (including her husband) because she does so many things so well. This makes her sound insufferable but she is not.
I liked the insight into the mind of an artistic, creative person (Susan was a sculptor) and how difficult it was for women in the 1930's to be taken seriously in any field outside the home. I could see shadows of the c...more
I liked the insight into the mind of an artistic, creative person (Susan was a sculptor) and how difficult it was for women in the 1930's to be taken seriously in any field outside the home. I could see shadows of the c...more
Everything by Pearl S. Buck is worth reading, yet all she's really known for is The Good Earth, which is the first in a very depressing trilogy. This Proud Heart had a profound impact on me since I've worked as a free-lance artist for over 3 decades and was wading through a difficult marriage when I read this book. It reflected many of the internal truths I was discovering--Buck does that often.
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A powerful book, but I'm not sure what to think of it yet. Are we supposed to sympathese with Susan? And if so, do I? Should I? Is Art really worth more than relationships?
Amazing story! Her statue of the family was so interesting, and so insightful. It makes me wonder if I could step back from myself, where would my focus be? Sometimes it's hard to tell, because we get so comsumed and distracted with everyday things, that it would be nice if we could just step back from ourselves and see us as we really are. And if we could, would we keep going on the path we're on?
Not a book for everyone. I stumbled onto it while reading through all of Buck's works. It starts out a little bland, but as an entity...it became the story of my life. It's character made choices for the same reasons as I had and it provided insight that I was not alone.
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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
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