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hbdee's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book "a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," NJ being at the other end of my world from CA. PBS lists this work as one of the top 100 in American Read. The book's forward notes:
"Early on in its explosive success it was described as a book about city life, a story about grinding poverty, a tale of the struggles of immigrants in America. But all those things are setting, really, and the themes are farther-reaching: the fabric of family, the limits of love, the loss of innocence, and the birth of knowledge.
"It is not a showy book from a literary point of view. Its pages are not larded with metaphor or simile or the sound of the writer’s voice in love with its own music. Its glory is in the clear-eyed descriptions of its scenes and people. When the Nolans move, their emptied apartment has “that look of a nearsighted man with his glasses off.” When the children watch their father drink, they “pondered how a nightcap could also be an eye opener.” When Francie writes the sort of grand essay her teacher expects, she rereads her own words and concludes: “They sounded like words that came in a can; the freshness was cooked out of them.”
Betty Smith wrote this story as a memoir, but her editor advised her to write it as a work of fiction. She changed the names, but this is still essentially a memoir. As such, it reads far more realistically than most novels can muster; she didn't need to invent a story, she lived it. It begins with her parents' first steps toward marriage, a tug of war between Katie and her best friend, later to be a lifelong enemy after Katie wrestles Johnny Nolan away from her. Betty, now named Francis, is born weak and sickly; the midwife and neighbors agree it would be better for her to die. (Infants and toddlers at this time were still dying at a rate of 50%.) Katie claps back, pointing to the tree outside their tenement:
"'Everything struggles to live. Look at that tree growing up there out of that grating. It gets no sun, and water only when it rains. It’s growing out of sour earth. And it’s strong because its hard struggle to live is making it strong. My children will be strong that way.'”
This is the tree of the title, called the tree of heaven or ailanthus, which Smith describes as predicting the degradation of neighborhoods, a tree that "loves the poor." In real life, it's often called the varnish tree, or "stinking sumac," as its leaves and twigs when crushed emit an unpleasant odor. It becomes a metaphor for the resilience of life.
Katie asks her illiterate Austrian mother, Mary Rommely, what she must do for her children, and Mary's answers are wise beyond words:
"'The secret lies in the reading and the writing. You are able to read. Every day you must read one page from some good book to your child. Every day this must be until the child learns to read. Then she must read every day, I know this is the secret...“[T]he child must have a valuable thing which is called imagination. The child must have a secret world in which live things that never were. It is necessary that she believe. She must start out by believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination...To first believe with all your heart, and then not to believe, is good too. It fattens the emotions and makes them to stretch.'”
Mary even tells Katie which books she (and later her children) must read from, every day: the Bible (the Protestant one, not the Catholic, because the former is written more vividly) and Shakespeare. By the time our narrator Francie is in high school, she and her brother Neeley have read "Julius Caesar" four times.
In a school she finds for herself at 10, Francie lies to her teacher to get a 5-inch pumpkin pie. Eating on the way home, she tastes the lie as soap instead of pumpkin. When she confesses, her teacher advises her to keep a journal for the truth, and also to write stories that may not be the truth, so she'll know the difference. Would that we all could have had such inspirational advisors!
As the book ends, Francie is headed to college at Ann Arbor, and her brother will be a doctor, although neither of their parents ever made it past 6th grade. From the early 1900s past WWI, much has changed--while some things have not. Although their old neighborhood is slated for destruction, apartment high-rises will be built:
"...[I]n years to come, there would be no old neighborhood to come back to. After the war, the city was going to tear down the tenements and the ugly school where a woman principal used to whip little boys, and build a model housing project on the site; a place of living where sunlight and air were to be trapped, measured and weighed,and doled out so much per resident."
As she leaves, Francie reflects on that tree, which has been cut down but still grows:
"...[T]his tree in the yard—this tree that men chopped down...this tree that they built a bonfire around, trying to burn up its stump—this tree lived! It lived! And nothing could destroy it."
This is a transcendent work, truly deserving of immortality. For a thorough analysis in less than eight minutes, please see the One Man Book Club review in YouTube.
"Early on in its explosive success it was described as a book about city life, a story about grinding poverty, a tale of the struggles of immigrants in America. But all those things are setting, really, and the themes are farther-reaching: the fabric of family, the limits of love, the loss of innocence, and the birth of knowledge.
"It is not a showy book from a literary point of view. Its pages are not larded with metaphor or simile or the sound of the writer’s voice in love with its own music. Its glory is in the clear-eyed descriptions of its scenes and people. When the Nolans move, their emptied apartment has “that look of a nearsighted man with his glasses off.” When the children watch their father drink, they “pondered how a nightcap could also be an eye opener.” When Francie writes the sort of grand essay her teacher expects, she rereads her own words and concludes: “They sounded like words that came in a can; the freshness was cooked out of them.”
Betty Smith wrote this story as a memoir, but her editor advised her to write it as a work of fiction. She changed the names, but this is still essentially a memoir. As such, it reads far more realistically than most novels can muster; she didn't need to invent a story, she lived it. It begins with her parents' first steps toward marriage, a tug of war between Katie and her best friend, later to be a lifelong enemy after Katie wrestles Johnny Nolan away from her. Betty, now named Francis, is born weak and sickly; the midwife and neighbors agree it would be better for her to die. (Infants and toddlers at this time were still dying at a rate of 50%.) Katie claps back, pointing to the tree outside their tenement:
"'Everything struggles to live. Look at that tree growing up there out of that grating. It gets no sun, and water only when it rains. It’s growing out of sour earth. And it’s strong because its hard struggle to live is making it strong. My children will be strong that way.'”
This is the tree of the title, called the tree of heaven or ailanthus, which Smith describes as predicting the degradation of neighborhoods, a tree that "loves the poor." In real life, it's often called the varnish tree, or "stinking sumac," as its leaves and twigs when crushed emit an unpleasant odor. It becomes a metaphor for the resilience of life.
Katie asks her illiterate Austrian mother, Mary Rommely, what she must do for her children, and Mary's answers are wise beyond words:
"'The secret lies in the reading and the writing. You are able to read. Every day you must read one page from some good book to your child. Every day this must be until the child learns to read. Then she must read every day, I know this is the secret...“[T]he child must have a valuable thing which is called imagination. The child must have a secret world in which live things that never were. It is necessary that she believe. She must start out by believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination...To first believe with all your heart, and then not to believe, is good too. It fattens the emotions and makes them to stretch.'”
Mary even tells Katie which books she (and later her children) must read from, every day: the Bible (the Protestant one, not the Catholic, because the former is written more vividly) and Shakespeare. By the time our narrator Francie is in high school, she and her brother Neeley have read "Julius Caesar" four times.
In a school she finds for herself at 10, Francie lies to her teacher to get a 5-inch pumpkin pie. Eating on the way home, she tastes the lie as soap instead of pumpkin. When she confesses, her teacher advises her to keep a journal for the truth, and also to write stories that may not be the truth, so she'll know the difference. Would that we all could have had such inspirational advisors!
As the book ends, Francie is headed to college at Ann Arbor, and her brother will be a doctor, although neither of their parents ever made it past 6th grade. From the early 1900s past WWI, much has changed--while some things have not. Although their old neighborhood is slated for destruction, apartment high-rises will be built:
"...[I]n years to come, there would be no old neighborhood to come back to. After the war, the city was going to tear down the tenements and the ugly school where a woman principal used to whip little boys, and build a model housing project on the site; a place of living where sunlight and air were to be trapped, measured and weighed,and doled out so much per resident."
As she leaves, Francie reflects on that tree, which has been cut down but still grows:
"...[T]his tree in the yard—this tree that men chopped down...this tree that they built a bonfire around, trying to burn up its stump—this tree lived! It lived! And nothing could destroy it."
This is a transcendent work, truly deserving of immortality. For a thorough analysis in less than eight minutes, please see the One Man Book Club review in YouTube.
hillaryjyoung's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a beautiful coming-of-age book. Not beautiful in the “descriptive story telling” or “intriguing plot line” sense, but in a very realistic sense. I became more and more attached to Francie and her point of view. The author did a good job of representing aspects of life that just aren’t fair or don’t make sense. Is it a riveting read? No. But I loved the simplicity of it. I loved the description of Brooklyn in the 1900s, which is one of my favorite settings. I may hesitate to recommend it based on the person because I could see it coming across as boring, but I think it’s a classic for a reason. If you’re looking for a very realistic, prosaic depiction of a girl being raised by the people and circumstances around her, then definitely pick it up.
winelovingdragon's review against another edition
5.0
A rare 5 star rating from me.
I grew up with this book in a way. A hardback copy was on our bookshelves for as far back as I can remember. It was one of my mother's favorite books. I don't know why I never got around to reading it but I am so glad I did. I am going to buy a copy for myself. I wish my mother was still alive so we could discuss it!
I grew up with this book in a way. A hardback copy was on our bookshelves for as far back as I can remember. It was one of my mother's favorite books. I don't know why I never got around to reading it but I am so glad I did. I am going to buy a copy for myself. I wish my mother was still alive so we could discuss it!
jenniferrosedoc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
meljaeg's review against another edition
5.0
This book was my favorite when I was 15, and all these years later it still feels like a warm hug
treemenke's review against another edition
5.0
This one will stick with me. So glad I finally read it!