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madameroyale's review against another edition
2.5
Sad to say, but this was my least favorite of all of Smith’s novels. One of the things that has impressed me so much about her writing is that Smith always manages to make her readers feel pity and understanding for even her most infuriating characters. But the men in this book do not have that same nuance, and it makes for a very frustrating read for 95% of the time. I actually gave up on reading it a couple times, because Patrick was so abhorrent at the beginning and Claude was clearly going to ruin Maggie’s life from the moment he showed up. The book started to turn a corner for about thirty pages near the end, where we get to watch Denny work to make his way in the world. That is when it really felt like a Betty Smith book, so I softened a lot towards it, but on the whole I didn’t enjoy the majority of the novel at all.
puddlecham's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
kathleenguthriewoods's review against another edition
4.0
Yes, of course, it's dated. And still charming, heartbreaking, and hopeful.
stephxsu's review against another edition
Smith's book [b:A Tree Grows in Brooklyn|14891|A Tree Grows in Brooklyn|Betty Smith|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327883484s/14891.jpg|833257] is basically flawless, but this one didn't do it for me at all. It's completely different, to be sure: I think that Smith deliberately makes all the characters in MAGGIE-NOW unsympathetic, which is more like reality than we'd like to admit. However, it's literature, dudes, and self-involved human reader that I am, I'm not going to spend several hours of my life on people who are never happy, won't ever be happy, and don't deserve to be happy, not on account of unfortunate external circumstances but because of their own mindsets.
There are plenty of books with unsympathetic characters that I appreciate (the book, and their depiction of those characters, not the characters themselves), and it's not like Smith does this badly. But MAGGIE-NOW is unrelentingly unsympathetic, and a little less than halfway through, I was forced to close the covers to this book forever, to spare myself the agony of watching these characters cause their own train wrecks.
There are plenty of books with unsympathetic characters that I appreciate (the book, and their depiction of those characters, not the characters themselves), and it's not like Smith does this badly. But MAGGIE-NOW is unrelentingly unsympathetic, and a little less than halfway through, I was forced to close the covers to this book forever, to spare myself the agony of watching these characters cause their own train wrecks.
miss_moose's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jamesonfink's review
5.0
Distinct, well-defined characters who all have detailed internal and external lives. Pat’s blustery and broad, but I’m giving it a pass.
This book has a phenomenal, extremely only-in-New-York, ending. It moved me greatly with sentiment, humor, and wonder. One of the best finishes of any book, ever.
This book has a phenomenal, extremely only-in-New-York, ending. It moved me greatly with sentiment, humor, and wonder. One of the best finishes of any book, ever.
lindseysparks's review against another edition
4.0
Reread 2023: Sadly part of this is way more relevant now than it was when I read it 20 years ago.
kimiloughlin's review against another edition
3.0
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of my favorite books so I was excited to read another Betty Smith. Maggie-Now has Smith's compulsively readable writing and charming depictions of historic Williamsburg (albeit from the Irish American perspective, there are very few mentions of other people besides White Irish and European immigrants) but lacks the overall complexity that ATGIB provides. The book mostly centers on Margaret Moore, also known as Maggie-Now, and her relationship to the men in her life. She is ruled by three male figures: her father, Patrick Dennis Moore (aka Patsy Denny, later Pat) who is a crotchety Irish immigrant that seems to never be happy; her brother, Denny Moore, who was born to Maggie-Now's mother late in life and was handed to 16-year-old Maggie as her mother died; and her love, Claude Bassett, who is never happy staying in one place and continuously leaves her every March only to return at the first snow of the following winter. Unlike ATGIB's Francie, who very clearly portrays Smith's own feminist views, Maggie-Now is stuck in her circumstances and doesn't make much effort to escape them. She lives to care for these men, no matter how poorly she is treated (or ignored).
While there was an element of being stuck in your circumstances in ATGIB, the characters are crafted with care so even those that cause more pain, like Francie's father Johnny, are still loving and admirable in some ways. Pat Moore on the other hand seems to never have a good word for anyone, even his hard-working daughter who has given her whole life to care for her brother and father. Maggie-Now feels like Smith's criticism of a woman's role in society which she definitely accomplishes. You will find yourself cringing at what is expected of a young Catholic woman in a poor neighborhood. However, Maggie-Now is missing any element of fight and leaves you feeling hopeless at the world (despite this being 2020, 62 years after original publication). That all being said, I did fly through it despite the dreariness and it made me intrigued to read the rest of Smith's work.
While there was an element of being stuck in your circumstances in ATGIB, the characters are crafted with care so even those that cause more pain, like Francie's father Johnny, are still loving and admirable in some ways. Pat Moore on the other hand seems to never have a good word for anyone, even his hard-working daughter who has given her whole life to care for her brother and father. Maggie-Now feels like Smith's criticism of a woman's role in society which she definitely accomplishes. You will find yourself cringing at what is expected of a young Catholic woman in a poor neighborhood. However, Maggie-Now is missing any element of fight and leaves you feeling hopeless at the world (despite this being 2020, 62 years after original publication). That all being said, I did fly through it despite the dreariness and it made me intrigued to read the rest of Smith's work.
smiley938's review against another edition
3.0
This book was fine, but there is a detachment in the storytelling that made this only a 3-star read for me.