2 Oct 2023, 7:52am
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “The Mother” by Perl S. Buck

Kate’s 2¢: “The Mother” by Perl S. Buck

“The Mother” by Perl S. Buck

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

    My Mother had a collection of books by Pearl Sydenstricker Buck. When she passed on, her library became mine and I read ll the Buck books. They told of a day and age that I’m not sure exists today.

   During the infant days of Communism, this peasant mother didn’t realize the danger her younger son was in. She was a strong-willed advocate for him, but to no avail. It is hard to imagine the long days of toil in the fields and how it wore a person down, especially, a mother with children.

   I’ve always enjoyed Buck’s stories about the struggles of the Chinese.

Encyclopedia of World Biography

Pearl S. Buck was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. Buck’s life in China as an American citizen fueled her literary and personal commitment to improve relations between Americans and Asians.

Early years

Pearl Sydenstricker was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia, on June 26, 1892. Her parents, Absalom and Caroline Sydenstricker, were Presbyterian missionaries, who were on a twelve-year leave from duty from their activities in Chinkiang, China at the time of her birth. The Sydenstrickers had returned to Hillsboro after losing all but two of their children to tropical disease. Despite their experience they returned to China when Pearl was just five months old. Unlike other foreign families, the Sydenstrickers lived in the Chinese village. Pearl spoke Chinese before learning English. Her daily lessons included morning lessons from her mother and afternoon lessons from her Chinese tutor. Pearl recalled never feeling different from the Chinese children. But at age nine the family was forced to flee to Shanghai during the antiforeign Boxer Rebellion of 1900. They returned to China at the end of the rebellion, but Pearl attended boarding school in Shanghai at age fifteen. She moved to the United States two years later and started at the Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Virginia. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1914, she took a teaching assistantship at the college but almost immediately returned to China to care for her ailing mother.

In 1917 she married John Lossing Buck, an American agricultural specialist, with whom she settled in northern China. From 1921 until 1934 they lived chiefly in Nanking, where her husband taught agricultural theory. Buck occasionally taught English literature at several universities in the city, although most of her time was spent caring for her mentally disabled daughter and her infirm parents. In 1925 Buck returned to the United States to pursue graduate studies at Cornell University, where she received a master’s degree in English in 1926. Back in Nanking the following year, she barely escaped a revolutionary army attack on the city. Meanwhile, because of her family’s financial difficulties, she resolved to begin writing.

Novels reflect love of China

Buck’s first novel, East Wind: West Wind (1930) was a study of the conflict between the old China and the new. This was followed by The Good Earth (1931), an intense novel of Chinese peasant life, which won her a Pulitzer Prize. In 1933 Buck received a second master’s degree, this time from Yale University, and in 1934 she took up permanent residence in the United States. In 1935 she divorced John Buck and married Richard J. Walsh, her publisher. Her extensive literary output resulted in a 1938 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first ever awarded to a woman.

Humanitarian efforts occupy later life

In the next three decades, while continuing to write many volumes, Buck worked to promote racial tolerance and ease the struggles of disadvantaged Asians, particularly children. In 1941 she founded the East and West Association to promote greater understanding among the world’s peoples. In 1949 she established Welcome House, an adoption agency for Asian American children. Her special interest in children resulted in many books for them. A steadfast supporter of multiracial families, in 1964 she organized the Pearl S. Buck Foundation, which supports Asian American children and their mothers living abroad.

Although Buck’s literary career embraced a variety of types, almost all of her stories are set in China: the extremely popular novel Dragon Seed, its less popular sequel The Promise (1943), and many later novels, including Peony (1948), Letter from Peking (1957), and The New Year (1968). Among her other works are the highly successful The Living Reed (1963), which details the history of a Korean family during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the late 1940s Buck also wrote a trilogy under the pen name John Sedges.

Pearl S. Buck.

Pearl S. Buck.

Honored for generous spirit

Buck’s play A Desert Incident was produced in New York City in 1959. Her ability as an essayist is represented by American Argument (written with Eslanda Goode Robeson, 1949). Friend to Friend (1958) was an open, honest conversation with Philippine president Carlos P. Rómulo (1899–1985).

Buck died of lung cancer in 1973, with more than one hundred written works to her credit. But even more significant, perhaps, were the over three hundred awards she received for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of improved race relations worldwide.   

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The mother DB38117

Buck, Pearl S, (Pearl Sydenstricker). Reading time: 7 hours, 10 minutes.

Read by Kimberly Schraf.

Family

A Chinese peasant, overwhelmed by the responsibility of an aged mother, a wife, and small children and by the routine of his daily life, is stimulated by travelers’ tales and gambler’s luck and suddenly deserts his family. The young mother slaves to support everyone with a devotion that achieves its reward at last in a grandchild.

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2 Oct 2023, 7:50am
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “The Adults” by Caroline Hulse

Kate’s 2¢: “The Adults” by Caroline Hulse

“The Adults” by Caroline Hulse

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying

      Well, I didn’t think the four adults had the right attitude to begin with.  When you lie and manipulate other people, especially when a child is involved, yes, things are going to go sour.

   This story was well-written by Hulse and read by Sarah Ovens. I enjoyed this story, although the ending wasn’t the greatest.  What do you think?

BookBrowse Logo:

Caroline Hulse Biography

Caroline Hulse spends most of her days writing, having fulfilled her dream of having a job she could do in pajamas. She also works in human resources sometimes. She is openly competitive and loves playing board and card games. She can often be found in casino poker rooms. She lives with her husband in Manchester, England.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The adults DB92998

Hulse, Caroline; Kenny, Peter. Reading time: 9 hours, 22 minutes.

Read by Sarah Ovens.

Psychological Fiction

Holidays

A separated couple decide to go on a Christmas vacation with their new partners and their seven-year-old daughter, Scarlett. The five of them (plus Scarlett’s imaginary friend) try to get along over the holiday, but the situation is a powder keg waiting to explode. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.

Downloaded: September 9, 2023

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