Personal Response to The Good Earth

I love it. It's a very relaxing read; I enjoy feeling the same emotions of Wang Lung and O-lan. The nervousness of the wedding day--the excitement of hearing news of O-lan's pregnancy--the anticipation of what the hours of labor would bring--and the satisfaction of content when the young couple walking back into the House of Hwang, their heads held high. The vernacular of the time amuses me. It's childish of me, I know, but I laugh every time I read the word "man-child". It has never occur ed to me that a boy is really just a man-child, and later on when the boy supposedly matures, the "child" of "man-child" is dropped. Surprisingly, I wasn't offended by the lack of respect for the women during this time period. I feel only sad and heart-broken that Wang Lung and O-lan think they can't have a deeply emotional relationship even when they so want to. I'm thoroughly excited to read the rest of the book, to see if maybe their relationship will turn into actual love one day.