Its probably easier to hold a family together when there is a piece of
land, a pile of money, or some other tangible asset, like a railroad,
steel mill or a bank.  If the assets are large, some families seem to
enable and empower otherwise dull characters who would have trouble
competing on an ordinary playground.  But its also possible to hold
onto an asset, even land, when its long past time to cut one's losses.

Wang Lung's world may not have been quite so dynamic as ours.  Families
in our time and place are created and destroyed and occasionally
reassembled in an incredible array of possibilities and in response to
strange forces.

I'm going to be a grandfather.

-jc




On Friday, July 11, 2003, at 06:39  AM, Met History wrote:

> "It is the end of a family - when they begin to sell the land."
>
> ---Wang Lung on his deathbed in  "The Good Earth"
>
> --
> To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
> uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
> <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>
>

--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>