The Eternal Wonder

November 18, 2013
In this recently discovered manuscript published four decades after the author's death, Nobel-Prize winner Buck (The Good Earth) heaps such good fortune on her hero, famous novelist Randolph "Rann" Colfax, that conflict seems to be an afterthought. The only son of a college professor and his wife, Rann's exceptional intelligence is clear from the start. Buck lingers a bit too long in his precocious development, from the "private sea" of his mother's womb to the process of learning to read. After Rann passes college entrance exams at age 12, his father, George, enjoins him "to see the world" beyond Ohio, and dies of cancer shortly thereafter. The novel often avoids true complexity in favor of lofty perseveration on the subjects of science and art; however, certain moments of tension are evoked brilliantly. When Rann's professor, Donald Sharpe, makes a sexual overture, Rann's mother's response is one of unexpected compassion: "âHe's in need of love where he can never find it.'" Rann travels to Brooklyn, where his grandfather invites him to move in; to England, where a widowed Lady hosts him in her castle; and to France, where he meets Chinese-American Stephanie Kung, whose father asks Rann to be his son-in-law. In spite of the seemingly global admiration, Rann does not always get what he wants. Buck's use of language is masterful, but the ending is somewhat abrupt compared to the rest of the novelâperhaps evident of its unpublished or unfinished nature. Moreover, the ease with which Buck's young protagonist goes through much of life overshadows the author's lustrous writing.

January 1, 2014

In 2012, this posthumous work by Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Buck was found in a storage unit in Texas and brought to the attention of Edgar Walsh Buck, her son and literary executor. On the surface, this simple tale depicts the life of an extraordinary young man, Rann (Randolph) Colfax, and his journey from birth to adulthood. Astonishing his parents by being able to count by age two and read by three, Rann proves himself to be intellectually beyond his years when he begins college at age 12. However, his life begins to change following a dose of unwelcome reality when he is approached sexually by the one male professor for whom he had much scholarly admiration. Later, Rann's transition to adulthood comes to full fruition when he meets Lady Mary, an older Englishwoman, while traveling abroad. Finally, he becomes enamored of Stephanie, a half-Chinese and half-American girl living in Paris with her Chinese father. VERDICT Written with sensitivity and subtleness, this work makes it easy to see why Buck garnered literary accolades. Her experience in China is evident, as are the strong themes of personal and cultural identity. Forty years after Buck's passing, this is still a thoughtful work to be shared with a new generation of readers.--Shirley Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA

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