Set in the grinding poverty of rural Anhui, the novel opens as the humble farmer Wang Lung wakes on his wedding day. Many critics have chosen to see simplistic melodrama and even offensive stereotypes in its pages however, for millions more worldwide readers, the novel is distinguished by its deeply moving sincerity. Indeed, although writers win the Nobel for their body of work, it was Buck’s smash-hit novel The Good Earth (1931) that had most seized the world’s attention.ĭespite scholarly reserve, The Good Earth is a remarkable novel. Many of her contemporary critics burned with obvious misogyny, a racist disinterest in her Chinese subjects, and just plain jealousy at her titanic commercial success. Pearl Buck was the first American woman-and only the third American after Sinclair Lewis (1930) and Eugene O’Neill (1936)-to win the Nobel Prize. Chinahand Buck.” To this day, scholars often dismiss Buck’s writings as didactic or trite. Critic Norman Holmes Pearson labeled the choice “hammish,” while William Faulkner derided Pearl as “Mrs. It should have gone to Dreiser.” Despite tremendous popular support, the literary establishment shared Buck’s disbelief.
On November 11, 1938, Pearl Buck awoke to learn that she had won the Nobel Prize for Literature.Her first reaction-in Chinese-was “ Wo bu xiangxin (我不相信)” or “I don’t believe it.” She added in English: “That’s ridiculous.
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