Okay, after Anna Karenina, Oprah and her Book Club owed me (and most likely the rest of the Book Club members) big time. Perhaps that's why she chose The Good Earth as the next book for the infamous group to read. I can say that I am officially pardoning Oprah of any wrong-doing with Anna thanks to this new book. This book could easily have been a boring and uninteresting read, but Pearl S. Buck writes in such an amazingly simplistic manner that somehow you are immediately sucked in.

It helps to know that Buck is a white American woman, but spent most of her life growing up in the China she writes so fondly of. This way you know none of the writing is judgemental towards the Chinese culture and it's people, but a truthful reflection of what she saw. I once again bring up the fact that her writing and imagery is simple but draws you in.

One theme that seemed very constant throughout the book was that of money not being able to buy you happiness, actually quite the opposite happened to our main character, Wang Lung. It seemed that as his moeny grew and his prosperity flourished his problems increased as well, even more worries constantly pushed at him while he longed for peace. Peace which he could only find by returning to the simplicity of the soil and the earth.

The one thing that bothered me in this book was the passing of time. It was very vague and unclear at times, something that irritates me when I read. I feel more comfortable if I have a general idea of the timeline of a novel, especially in one such as The Good Earth which basically spans one man's lifetime.

Other than that I found the book absolutely fantastic, well written, well characterized, and just a very good read.