A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (P.S.)
by Betty Smith
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Book Reviews of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (P.S.)
Book Review: Touching, Realistic, and At-Times Gripping
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall the book is a worthwhile read, especially if you are interested in beautifully presented American history. The main character, Francie, born at the beginning of the twentieth century, shares the story of her Brooklyn childhood in vivid and realistic detail. You can just tell, from reading this work, that the main character bore more than a hefty overlap with the author. The book is just too emotionally connected and detailed to be anything else. This is a book that is strongly, perhaps almost entirely, character driven -- and the sympathetic nature of the main character is what makes the book so endearing. I admit, I was sad when it ended. I would have kept on reading this fictional girl's life story -- probably to her death. I had a grandmother born less than ten years after Francie, and although I spent a lot of time with my grandmother over the 35 years I knew her, I feel I knew Francie better. To me, this speaks volumes about the author's gift.
I did, however, have a few gripes. Allow me to list them.
1) At times some of the characters or scenarios came across as cheesy. For instance, when Sissy (Francie's aunt) kept naming her new husbands John, regardless of their real names, it quickly got old, especially when the author reminded us of the renaming about ten times. Although this book detail may have been based on a real character, and probably was, to me it failed to translate well into the novel.
2) There were some internal inconsistencies in the book, and that is a pet peeve of mine. For instance, on page 42 (first paragraph of chapter 5) the narrator tells about Sissy having given birth to ten children who all died shortly after birth. Then, on page 64-65 (a few pages into chapter 7), the narrator tells about Sissy's first child having been stillborn (as opposed to dying after birth), and the following three born dead as well. So which was it? Although you might consider me picky, a good editor wouldn't, and nor would a young mother who just lost her baby -- a stillbirth and a baby who lived an hour or two and then died are profoundly different things.
3) Too much idealization of Francie's rotten parents. Yes, there was some criticism of them, but almost all of it, even from the author's perspective, was couched in a parent-protecting attitude. I personally felt enraged when Francie's mother put Francie to work and sent the younger brother to high school -- while she herself popped out another baby by her loser, alcoholic non-father of a husband, who, incidentally, had just died. I get tired of narrators or authors who side too much with awful parents.
4) The author had a sort of proto-feminist attitude that too often (to tie it in with my last criticism) equated to siding with women who displayed awful or very disappointing behavior.
And one final point, not exactly a criticism: I was surprised the book never mentioned that the hardy "tree of heaven," upon which this book was based, and to which the main character was compared, actually has a horrible odor. If you crush one of its leaves in your hand you'll find this out quickly. The fact that this was never mentioned suggested to me that the author didn't know this tree as well as she might have let on. I used to love these trees for all the reasons the author did mention, until I actually smelled one. Hard to idealize them then.
But all this said, overall still a powerful book -- brought to life an important time and place in such a special way.
Book Review: A Tree Grows in Your Heart
Summary: 5 Stars
"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith is a story about the average American Dream. Critics have called in a "coming-of-age novel" but when it is looked into further, this novel is really a story about pride. It is about family pride and personal pride. It is also about instilling pride in the younger generations. Too often children are spoiled and told the beautiful parts of life, but Katie Nolan knew better. As the mother of two children Francie and Neeley, she made a point to show them the hardships in life while still giving them happiness in the little things. For instance, coffee was given to the entire household as a supper drink. When Francie decided she didn't want her coffee during supper she was allowed to pour the remains into the sink. For the Nolan family, this seemed to be the exact worst thing to do. The Nolans were extremely poor and barely had enough to keep everyone in warm clothes during the winter. Johnny Nolan, the head of the household and Francie's father often drank his tips as a singing-waiter away leaving only his meager pay to bring home. However, allowing Francie to throw away her coffee gave her the feeling of being rich and proud and Katie knew well enough that if Francie wasn't proud of herself, then no one else would be proud of her.
Katie wasn't the only person who wanted to instill pride in her family. Katie's mother, Mary Rommely, gave Katie the secret to raising children. She said first Katie must own land. Katie was to make a tin can bank and every day add a little bit of money to the bank until she had enough to buy a plot of land. Then she must read to her children, one page of the Bible and one page of Shakespeare and as her children grew and learned to read on their own, they would take the role of reading one page each every night. Lastly, Katie was told to instill a sense of imagination in her children by reading them stories of fairies and elves etc. At first, Katie was skeptical of her mother's advice but soon realized that Mary's advice was only to help the children remain proud of where they are from and where they are going.
While the fairy tales did not last long for the Nolan family, the mystery surrounding Santa Claus and elves gave Francie the love of stories and books. She went to the library every day and checked out every book she could. Her goal was to read every book in the library. The land ownership gave pride to the entire family. Unfortunately, the land that the Nolan family would finally own was the burial plot of Johnny Nolan who died of alcoholism. Johnny's death affected young Francie the greatest because of their close relationship. Francie was "daddy's little girl". The reading of Shakespeare and the Bible was the beginning of Francie's love affair for books and her yearning for an education. Education was what would give her pride in herself. Especially after Johnny's death, it was difficult for both Francie and Neeley to stay in school past the eighth grade but because Francie pushed herself and wanted to get a good education, she made it to college ending the novel with the new young woman proud of where she was from but even more excited about where she was going.
Betty Smith used the hardships of early 1900's Brooklyn to tell a story of pride and youth. It is probably one of the most influential novels in America today and will continue to influence future generations.
Book Review: much more than a coming-of-age novel
Summary: 4 Stars
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn captures the life of the Nolan family, who live in the slums of Brooklyn, not by choice, but because they are poor. The book follows them from the opening of the 20th century through the 1920s. The central character here is Francie, the daughter of Katie and Johnny, opening when she is 11, and follows her through her teenage years.
The book is a coming-of-age novel, but at the same time, it's a look at many issues prevalent at the time which one could argue are still prevalent now. For example, beyond the immediate effects of poverty on Francie's family's life, the author has also reflected on how people both on the inside and outside of the Nolan's community viewed poverty. There is a great scene where Francie and her brother went to a "celebration for the poor of all faiths" (211) -- where the kids received little gifts, watched a play, etc., and then there was a give away of a doll. The woman gives a speech about the child giving away the doll, saying that "Little Mary is a very rich little girl," who had received a lot of dolls for Christmas, and wanted to give the doll to "some poor little Mary." All of the "poor" little girls refused to own up to being named Mary, because no one wanted to be a "symbol of all the poor little girls in the audience" (212). There's also a part where Francie, who wants to become a writer and is good at it, turns in compositions about "poverty, starvation and drunkenness" which her teacher tells her are "ugly subjects to choose.." and while Francie argues that they are true, the teacher says something along the lines of well, sure, but these are not subjects to be written about. (321).
Smith also writes about the perception among many of the poor that education would lift their children out of the slums and give them a chance to have a better life than the previous generation, but at the age where they can go on to high school, many families were so poor that the kids had to get working papers to help support the family, sounding the death knell of many parents' dreams to get their children out of the slums and into a better situation, further perpetuating the cycle. I could go on. Gender, geography, the role of women, these are all important themes, but I can't write forever here.
What this book is really about is hope and perseverance. At the end of my edition is a little bio of the author, and in it, the author's daughter notes "She often said about 'Tree' that she didn't write it the way it was, but the way it should have been." I think the reason this book resonates with so many people is reflected in that statement. Would we have liked it as much if she had written A Tree Grows in Brooklyn "the way it was?" Contrast this book with Ann Petry's The Street, where it was definitely written the way it was and see which you like better.
I vaguely remember reading this book as a teen, but I think my recommendation would be to older readers who are a bit more life savvy. There's a lot in this book to contemplate.
Book Review: A Wowing Historical Fiction Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
I am in total awe after reading this book. In the beginning I thought it was going to be a boring and long novel. But throughout my reading I became to grow more attached to the story. The main character Francie was an intriguing and delightful creation that anyone would want as their best friend, should she not be a fictional person. I enjoyed reading how the poor family made ends meet and continued surviving when it seemed they couldn't hang on much longer. It seems that you shouldn't find it entertaining to read of suffering, but the author writes it in such a ingenious way as to that you're really reading about the magnificence of life, living, and death. As the family encounters dilemma after dilemma you find yourself encased in the wonder of how they do it. Throughout all the sadness and suffering the Nolans are still kind and considerate, loving and caring, fair and just; overall good people! Don't get me wrong, this is not a sad story, although some parts are on the sadder side. This is a marvelous writing about why people live and how. It shows a young girl growing up and changing into a woman. I was so in tune with the story I found myself laughing, crying, cheering, and feeling scared! The Nolans are resourceful and caring people, although they do have their faults. You learn about them from birth to middle aged and curiously watch them change, grow, and develop their ways. You see where each person gets their character traits from and why they do certain things. The setting is early twentieth century Brooklyn, NY. The Nolans live in a neighborhood of old flats. Electricity has not yet been invented and the value of the dollar is way higher than the present. Its interesting reading about how their insurance was twenty-five cents and that four people could eat on ten cents a day! The author provides you with outstanding descriptions of looks, feelings, and mood as to that you feel you are really there. You feel as if you have known the characters forever and are close friends with all of them. This is because you learn more about them throughout the story as if you really were their friends, and they were alive and you got to know them better as time goes on. While you read this book, you will discover how lucky we are, and what some people went through to cope with the daily mandatory needs of humans. I am completely convinced anyone who reads this book will fall in love with the gentle rhythym of the flowing sentences. When I finished I didn't want it to end, the author could've kept writing until Francie died and you would've ever get bored. Yet all books have to end. With a touch of history, I am positive anyone who reads this will be more than satisfied. This novel definitely deserves more than five stars!Book Review: Anne Frank Meets Frank McCourt [58]
Summary: 5 Stars
Betty Smith deftly depicts a young literate woman's perspective of Irish life in Brooklyn during the turn of the last century - impressively in a manner similar to great American authors Theodore Dreiser or Saul Bellow. She shows us the great American story where simple roots can bring rise to good and sometimes great triumphs.
Protagonist Francie Nolan is the main party throughout the book whose literary verve and gift make her the seemingly natural person to author this or a similar book. She writes about the happy and sad times of poverty in Brooklyn when impoverished lives delivered grueling challenges. But, to deliver such stories to the teacher in grade school can be straining.
All great writers probably stretch the truth - that is what makes their stories surpass what we read or hear about on a daily basis. When Francie writes true stories about her poverty, her teacher says, "You know, Francie, a lot of people would think that these stories that you're making up all the time were terrible lies because they are not the truth as people see the truth. In the future, when something comes up, you tell exactly how it happened but write down for yourself the way you think it should have happened. Tell the truth and write the story." She learns ". . . poverty, starvation and drunkenness are ugly subjects to choose. We all admit these things exist. But one doesn't write about them."
But, Betty Smith did write about such difficult topics, and succeeded. So have numerous others since. Recently, Angela's Ashes: A Memoir revolved exclusively about such Irish poverty forty years later. And how many post-war novels (WW I or WW II) have caught the public's attention with doom and despair as the almost exclusive focus of the fictional or nonfictional account?
Reading books like this also allows modern readers to learn about the times and events. People walked outside late at night with little wonder about physical assault. Meals were "stretched out" from crumbs, day old bread, soups and parts of animals most of us would ignore. Education was very expensive, and horses ruled the roads in New York. As the subway and car were still not fine-tooled enterprises, trips from Brooklyn to Manhattan were journeys. And, "When you get a Democrat president, you got a war president." Times have changed.
This book proudly has been selling for decades, and could continue its selling feats beyond a century, because of the simplistic delivery and acute perception tied with great story and dialogue. Books like this are fun.