The Good Earth (Graphic Adaptation)
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Pearl S. Buck’s Pulitzer Prize–winning classic about the rise and fall of Chinese villagers before World War I comes to life in this evocative graphic novel by New York Times bestselling author Nick Bertozzi.
Although more than eighty years have passed since Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize, it has retained its popularity and become one of the great modern classics. This indelible portrait of China in the 1920s, when the last emperor reigned and the vast political and social upheavals of the twentieth century were but distant rumblings, tells the moving story of honest farmer Wang Lung and his selfless wife O-Lan. It is must reading to fully appreciate the sweeping changes that have occurred in the lives of the Chinese people during the last century.
Displaying his Eisner Award–winning talents, New York Times bestselling author Nick Bertozzi brings Buck’s epic novel to life with incredible imagery in this “finely rendered showcase…that perfectly captures the story’s timeless subject matter while also underscoring the antiquity of the depicted world” (Kirkus Reviews). Bertozzi retraces the whole cycle of life depicted in Buck’s original novel: its terrors, its passions, its ambitions, and its rewards. Now The Good Earth—the universal tale of an ordinary family caught in the tide of history—offers a whole new dimension with these beautiful, evocative images.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bertozzi (Lewis and Clark) is a veteran of historical comics, and his adaptation of Buck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel is wordy but deeply effective. The art is simple, with borderless panels, thick black brush strokes, and monochrome gray shading capturing the hard life of the cast. Set before WWI, the novel tells the intimate story of a Chinese farmer's life from his wedding to his death. Wang Lung's fortunes rise and fall dramatically in changing political climates he is scarcely aware of. His marriage to the former house slave O-Lan is followed by the birth of two sons and several successful harvests. Then come years of drought and famine. The upheaval drives them to the city, where they snatch what they can from the ruins following a riot. But wealth doesn't lead them to peace or happiness. Buck's story, a massive bestseller in its day, has been mostly consigned to the bins of dusty classics, but Bertozzi's version gives it a sharp update.