Indeed, although writers win the Nobel for their body of work, it was Buck’s smash-hit novel The Good Earth (1931) that had most seized the world’s attention.ĭespite scholarly reserve, The Good Earth is a remarkable novel. Many of her contemporary critics burned with obvious misogyny, a racist disinterest in her Chinese subjects, and just plain jealousy at her titanic commercial success. Pearl Buck was the first American woman-and only the third American after Sinclair Lewis (1930) and Eugene O’Neill (1936)-to win the Nobel Prize. Chinahand Buck.” To this day, scholars often dismiss Buck’s writings as didactic or trite. Critic Norman Holmes Pearson labeled the choice “hammish,” while William Faulkner derided Pearl as “Mrs. It should have gone to Dreiser.” Despite tremendous popular support, the literary establishment shared Buck’s disbelief. On November 11, 1938, Pearl Buck awoke to learn that she had won the Nobel Prize for Literature.Her first reaction-in Chinese-was “ Wo bu xiangxin (我不相信)” or “I don’t believe it.” She added in English: “That’s ridiculous.
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