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amarj33t_5ingh's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A House Divided, the redemption of Wang Lung through his grandson Wang Yuang who straddles two inter-clashing worlds: his native China and the fast encroaching West.
Wang Yuan is the only son of the veteran warlord Wang the Tiger. But unlike the Tiger, he envisions beating his swords into ploughshares. This does not endear him to his father for whom war is a religion. The Tiger fled his own father's seemingly monotonous farming life, but it is this very life his own son craves.
Exiled by the Tiger, Yuan finds shelter with his sister but only to be entrapped in a world of fatal melodrama in which he is arraigned for revolutionary tendencies and then exiled once again to the USA.
America, the promised land holds no promise for Yuan who rejects its superficiality and forced empathy.
He returns to a changed China where men like his father are now oppressed by a new social dynamic and where the very essence of Chinese identity is itself under heavy attack from the powers of liberalism. But where the only unchanging element is the beloved land of his grandfather and it is upon this land he finds his salvation.
Once again, Buck paints a rich tapestry of Chinese life juxtaposed against the non-Chinese. Her elegant prose depicts a fast changing world which leaves the youth rootless but also makes them the masters of their own destiny.
Wang Yuan is the only son of the veteran warlord Wang the Tiger. But unlike the Tiger, he envisions beating his swords into ploughshares. This does not endear him to his father for whom war is a religion. The Tiger fled his own father's seemingly monotonous farming life, but it is this very life his own son craves.
Exiled by the Tiger, Yuan finds shelter with his sister but only to be entrapped in a world of fatal melodrama in which he is arraigned for revolutionary tendencies and then exiled once again to the USA.
America, the promised land holds no promise for Yuan who rejects its superficiality and forced empathy.
He returns to a changed China where men like his father are now oppressed by a new social dynamic and where the very essence of Chinese identity is itself under heavy attack from the powers of liberalism. But where the only unchanging element is the beloved land of his grandfather and it is upon this land he finds his salvation.
Once again, Buck paints a rich tapestry of Chinese life juxtaposed against the non-Chinese. Her elegant prose depicts a fast changing world which leaves the youth rootless but also makes them the masters of their own destiny.
sarah2229's review
3.0
I wanted to finish the trilogy. This book was just ok. It seemed to drag on in some parts.
now_booking's review
3.0
Conclusion of a Family Saga
This final installment of the House of Earth Trilogy presents the outcome of a revolution that changes the face of a society. I liked this book slightly more than the second installment in the trilogy because it expanded beyond the relationship between fathers and sons and more into the relationships between men and women, something I’m much more interested in. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this book was a romance, because it definitely was not. But for the first time in this trilogy, it is acknowledged that perhaps all women aren’t the same, perhaps they each have something different and unique to contribute and to offer.
I found it interesting how all the Wang men were all so similar in their self-interest and willingness to ignore the good of the family for their personal good, and for that reason so divided in their aims even though Wang the patriarch has tried so hard to set things up so that land would keep his family together. This was an interesting look at the diffusion of new and western ways into a traditional society and an exposition of the irony of revolution and how that quest never ends.
This final installment of the House of Earth Trilogy presents the outcome of a revolution that changes the face of a society. I liked this book slightly more than the second installment in the trilogy because it expanded beyond the relationship between fathers and sons and more into the relationships between men and women, something I’m much more interested in. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this book was a romance, because it definitely was not. But for the first time in this trilogy, it is acknowledged that perhaps all women aren’t the same, perhaps they each have something different and unique to contribute and to offer.
I found it interesting how all the Wang men were all so similar in their self-interest and willingness to ignore the good of the family for their personal good, and for that reason so divided in their aims even though Wang the patriarch has tried so hard to set things up so that land would keep his family together. This was an interesting look at the diffusion of new and western ways into a traditional society and an exposition of the irony of revolution and how that quest never ends.
septimasnape's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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