New Pearl S. Buck Novel to be Available in the Fall

According to the New York Times, a recently discovered novel by Pearl S. Buck, The Eternal Wonder,  will be released this fall.

Forty years after being written, an unpublished novel by Pearl S. Buck, the Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, will be released this fall, her publisher said on Tuesday. 

The manuscript was stumbled upon in a storage unit in Texas and returned to the Buck family in December in exchange for a small fee, said Jane Friedman, the chief executive of Open Road Integrated Media, the publisher.

The Kindle Ebook is already available for pre-order on Amazon.com.  Remember that a portion of the proceeds from any purchases you make from Amazon through the links on this site benefit the Birthplace, so if you are interested in a pre-order, consider doing so here!

A Week Ago Today

The tree that broke the fence also severed the power line to the Birthplace

Last Friday started out out wonderfully, and ended in devastation.  No doubt some of you have been wondering about damage at the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace.  There's been a good deal of damage to trees, the fence and what seems to be minor damage to the exterior of both houses.  We've also lost our power line to the property. 

We'll only be able to really judge once the power's back on and we can take a good look around, inside and out, but though the damage will not be either cheap or easy to repair, it does not seem to be major.  We were fortunate.   Psychologically, though, the damage bites quite a bit.

Daleen Berry on Pearl S. Buck Writer's Workshop and Other News from Around the Web

The Pearl S. Buck Writers Workshop

Thanks to Eddy Pendarvis for forwarding along this interesting blog post, "What Pearl S. Buck, Blueberries and Bovines Have in Common," which begins as follows:

This morning I woke up from a dream in which I was trying to find a colorful clause to go with the verb “giggled,” as in “like a little girl.

That’s what happens when you go to a writing workshop taught by Jim Minick, author of several books, including The Blueberry Years. (While at Jim’s site, be sure to check out his wife Sarah’s baskets; they are exquisite!)

The workshop was held yesterday, in conjunction with Allegheny Echoes, at the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace in Hillsboro, W.Va. And it was wonderful, educational and hopefully made all of us better, stronger writers.  

Continue reading on Daleen Berry's Blog.

Other items related to Pearl S. Buck that appeared online recently include:

Symposium on Pearl S. Buck Part of 110 Anniversary Celebrations of Nanjing University

A symposium on Pearl S. Buck and her time in China was recently held as part of a series of events celebrating the 110th anniversary of Nanjing University. According to a short article on the symposium in China Daily, approximately 20 scholars and researchers from around the world attended the symposium, and the prevailing view was that,

Pearl S. Buck was a remarkable cultural envoy who played a pioneering role in demystifying China in the American mind in the early 20th century...

Hilary Spurling Review in the Times

In today's New York Times is a review of Hilary Spurling's new biography, Pearl Buck in China: Journey to the Good Earth. The review also mentions Pearl Buck scholar Peter Conn, who will be the keynote speaker at our upcoming writer's fair and birthday celebration. Also on the New York Times website: an excerpt from Pearl Buck in China.

For any information about the writer's fair and Pearl S. Buck birthday celebration, you can call the Birthplace at (304)653-4430.

Taking Comfort in Small Joys

Atlantic correspondent Christina Davidson recently highlighted the Pearl Buck Museum in her series Recession Road Trip:

"I knew driving north on US 219 would take me through some of the most lush and pristine wilderness that can be found anywhere in the country. What I did not realize was that the route would pass by the birthplace of Pearl Buck. Since I brought The Good Earth in my traveling library, it seemed fated that I stop for a visit.

Marietta Stemple and Betty Morrison, two lifetime residents of the area, tag-teamed my tour of the house, perfectly restored to its original 1847 glory. They described how Buck's Dutch grandfather had chopped down the trees to make the planks and beams of the solid wood and brick structure, where her mother had grown up and Pearl had been born before her parents moved to China. . . ."

Full Article: "Taking Comfort in Small Joys"

Writers Pay Tribute to Pearl S. Buck

HILLSBORO, W.Va.--Some of West Virginia's most well-known writers are expected to gather in Hillsboro June 25-27 to celebrate the life of Pearl S. Buck and offer workshops on writing.

. . .

Ruth Taylor, chairwoman of the workshop, said "West Virginia was Pearl's birthplace and many of her books, even those she wrote while in China, make mention of places in Pocahontas County. Her writings and humanitarian spirit still have a profound effect on authors and storytellers all over the world."

To read the full story go to: http://www.dailymail.com/Entertainment/200906110612

Inspired to Greener Living by The Good Earth

From: "Contain Yourself by Growing Your Own Produce" by Lisa Shames, Chicago Sun Times

"[Brad] Moldofsky, a free-lance technical writer in Skokie who credits Pearl Buck's The Good Earth and the writings of Michael Pollan for his newfound green thumb, has been chronicling his successes -- and failures -- as an amateur gardener on the Local Beet Chicago's Web site, www.thelocalbeet.com."

Check out Moldofsky's Blog on the Local Beet: "The Backyard Farmer"

"Old Partner", A Korean Documentary by Lee Chung-ryul Inspired by Pearl Buck

Excerpt from: John Glionna. "To a South Korean Farmer, this Cow was Sacred." Los Angeles Times, Mar 27, 2009. http://www.latimes.com.

"[Director Lee Chung-ryul] wanted to make a documentary about the beauty of simple things. To tell the story, he chose a farmer who preferred his devoted old cow over any modern tractor.

He was inspired by his own rural childhood and the novelist Pearl S. Buck, who nearly a century ago wrote of a farmer and cow she saw on a trip to Korea.

'She said it was the most beautiful scene she had ever witnessed,' says Lee, 42, a small man with a Beatles-style mop of hair. 'Now the cow's status has changed. They're no longer family members but seen as pieces of meat.'

For five years, he searched for the right relationship between man and beast. In 2002, he was introduced to Choi, who recently had been informed that his female ox's days were numbered. She had already lived far longer than most.

The pair's similarities astounded him: Nearly deaf with a malformed leg, the limping farmer was often forced to crawl across his rice fields. The staggering brown cow, which is never given a name, was no better off. Choi often groomed the skinny animal's diseased hide and fed her special gruel to keep her strength up.

For Lee, the pair seemed to have a secret pact: Keep working together or we'll both die.

In 2005, he began shooting what he saw as an intimate chronicle of the cow's final year."

Trailer:

Reflections from Women's History Month 2009

Chiefland Citizen News

"Pearl Buck (1892-1973), author of nearly 100 works, is often overlooked in university courses and women’s studies programs even though she was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature. She has the unusual ability to bridge cultures, both East and West. The daughter of Christian missionaries, Buck grew up in China before making her home in the United States. She’s a favorite of mine and I collect her work. Occasionally I can be spotted digging through stacks in used bookstores in search of the remaining few I lack.

Buck is best known for The Good Earth - perhaps because it was made into a movie. If you haven’t read her before, skip it. Many of her novels such as Imperial Woman chronicle the history of China. I recommend Pavilion of Women which tells the story of a faithful wife who decides to retire from her marriage at the age of 40, give her husband a concubine and devote herself to study books forbidden to women.

Buck’s dual(ing) biographies of her parents - Fighting Angel about her father’s evangelical work to convert the Chinese to Christianity and The Exile about her mother’s struggle to maintain a home for her children, render medical care for those around her, and find spirituality in quotidian life - are must reads for anyone who has tried to understand parents.

In God’s Men, Buck writes of two men who want to change the world, one who wants to feed it food, and one who wants to feed it news. This book explores the competing desires of body, mind and soul as well as the judicious or manipulative use of power."

From: Warren Parkin. "Explore Women Authors for Women's History Month." Chiefland Citizen News, Mar 25, 2009. http://www.chieflandcitizen.com/ (accessed Apr 8, 2009).

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-WV

"The women of West Virginia have played important roles not only in the history of our beloved state, but also in the history of our great nation. Therefore, with March being celebrated as “Women’s History Month,” I want to acknowledge some great West Virginia women and their contributions. . ." For more go to: "BYRD'S EYE VIEW: WV Women Make History", Huntington News, http://www.huntingtonnews.net.