L’orizzonte delle letture della mia prima adolescenza era principalmente costituito dalla biblioteca di casa, messa insieme soprattutto da mia madre, con bestseller della generazione precedente, tra cui diversi titoli della premio Nobel 1938 Pearl Buck. Oggi ne ho però pallidi ricordi (sia pure con immagini indelebili come la fasciatura dei piedi delle donne o il taglio del codino degli uomini) per cui da tempo volevo recuperare qualche titolo, magari con una traduzione più moderna.Si tratta di ...

Ling Tan is a Chinese farmer living with his extended family and working the land outside a nearby city (which is never named but obviously is Nanking). The novel starts with their peaceful life, which is then interrupted by war. The peasants had never seen airplanes and bombs, and they are plunged into a violent world. The invading troops demand their livestock and harvested crops, and the family hides several pigs in a remote location to avoid handing them over. Hardships become a regular part...

Наченах да слушам 2 книги на Pearl S. Buck. Тя е писала основно историческа проза, ситуирана в Китай, първата половина на XX век. Изследва живота на обикновените семейства, традициите и как всяка от новостите на века се приема. Тази книга конкретно е за японската инвазия през ВСВ и проследява съдбините на типично фермерско семейство и като цяло на общността им.Голяма трансформация преживяват героите. От:"Трябва само да не се съпротивлявам. А това всъщност е лесно за човек като мен".До измислянет...

نسل اژدها روایت یک خانواده روستایی است که بیشتر در زمینه کشاورزی فعالیت می کنند. با شروع جنگ جهانی دوم و اشغال چین، زندگی این خانواده و سایر اهالی روستا دچار تغییر و آشوب می شود. و نویسنده ضمن روایت زندگی روزمره و شخصی اعضای این خانواده و بیان مبارزات مردمی و مخفیانه ساکنان چین، قحطی و گرسنگی، خیانت، فساد و فحشا و سایر تبعات منفی جنگ را به خوبی شرح می دهد...

"Stirpe di drago", racconta l'epopea di Ling Tan e la sua famiglia di campagna, nella Cina, negli anni del Secondo Conflitto Mondiale.Per i cinesi il drago non è una creatura malefica ma un dio amico degli uomini che lo venerano. Esso "hai in suo potere la prosperità e la pace". Reggitor delle acque e dei venti, manda la buona pioggia ed è pertanto simbolo della fecondità. Nella dinastia Hsia due draghi si batterono in un terribile duello fino a scomparire entrambi, lasciando solo una fertile sc...

What a grand novel to start the year with. Characters:Ling Tan fatherLao Er, 2nd son, Jade wife with childLing Sao mother and Ling Tan’s wifeWu Lien husband of eldest daughter Orchid married to eldest sonPansiao youngest daughterLao Ta eldest sonMr. Wei, Mayli daughter to marry youngest son, Lao SanThis is the story of Ling Tan, a farmer in bucolic China working the land of his forefathers and providing a home for his sons, daughters and grandchildren. The land and family were everything to him....

There are so many reasons why I should have liked this more than I did. The book was published in 1941. The Second World War had not yet ended. The Nanjing Massacre and the subsequent occupation by the Japanese is the central theme of the book. In 1948 the International Military Tribunal for the Far East estimated that over 200,000 Chinese were killed in the six weeks of the massacre, beginning on December 13, 1937 when the Japanese captured Nanjing. Other estimates set the death toll to 350,000...

For some time, I've wondered what it was like for farmers and people who lived in remote areas during times of warfare. While major battles were fought in cities and large armies tore each other apart, what did these other people experience? How did the war affect them?Pearl S Buck writes about this exact situation in the context of the Japanese invasion of China during the 1930s. She focuses on one family, the Lings, who have long lived on their land and have known peace and prosperity for many...

Pearl S. Buck writes this story of the invasion of China by the Japanese during WWII from the viewpoint of the peasant farmers outside Nanking. The city is never named and the Japanese are simply called the East-Ocean people.The language of the book is simple, as if coming from the lips of a Chinese farmer. But the thoughts and feelings are beautifully expressed. Some parts of the book are hard to read, but told without today's graphic descriptions. Don't expect today's liberated women because t...

Very few books have the sort of impact that this one does. I've read it at least 3 times and while I am a huge Pearl S. Buck fan and have read more than a dozen of her novels (by the way, she wrote her Asian novels first in Chinese, they had to be translated to English, which explains their authenticity!), I ALWAYS recommend this one first, over "The Good Earth." It's short, but powerful, and despite the horrors of the war which are addressed, it is an inpiration to read.