Book Club

(From Book Notes column, Feb. 14, 1999): In the Feb. 7 book club review of Pearl Buck’s “The Good Earth,” Lisa Giegel was identified as the author of the review drafted by the North Idaho group Food for Thought. Actually, Giegel was merely the contact who submitted the article. The review itself was written by group member Lynn Dahmen. My apologies for the misunderstanding.

Name: Food for Thought

Cities: Spokane, North Idaho

Group history: Began meeting in March 1997. Eleven members, ranging in age from 28 to 55, meet monthly at various spots - members’ houses, restaurants and parks (in warm weather). Individuals suggest books that go on a working list. The group name was chosen “because reading feeds our minds and because food is always a part of our meetings.”

Club reviewer: Lisa Giegel.

Book reviewed: “The Good Earth” by Pearl Buck. Various editions are available. Featured text is from Washington Square Press, 379 pages, $6.99 paper (ISBN 0-671-510-12-6).

The review: This first book of a trilogy will absorb the reader through three generations, says Giegel. It is a seemingly simple story, about a Chinese peasant farmer who makes good, but the Nobel Prize-winning author tells it with true artistry. Buck’s story about the Wang family mimics the Chinese revolution and serves as commentary on the era’s political situation. Land is central to the story: Wang Lung believes all good things are from the earth and all things will eventually return to it. As he gains in wealth and moves away from the land, Wang loses his moral bearings. “Everyone enjoyed it with one exception,” adds Giegel. “One member couldn’t get past the way women in China were treated as second-class citizens at the turn of the 20th century.”