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: The Essence of Hope
Summary: 5 Stars
I know it's horrible, but I JUST read this and I can't believe it took me this long. Lately I've been laying off the real reads and sticking to mags, blogs, and thrillers...with a few nonfiction pieces thrown in for good measure. I picked this up because it's the only mass market I own (someone gave it to me) and I was headed on a trip.
I couldn't figure out why, but I couldn't put this book down. There's no big suspense, no mysteries to figure out, no major plot twists (or big plot, for that matter), but I couldn't stop reading it.
This book reminded me what reading used to mean to me before I let myself get so caught up in reading current events and career-related stuff. This book is about hope. The characters are amazing and you grow to love them all. Then you keep the turning the pages because you can't bear to give up hope that everything will come out all right. This book is a lesson to all, without offering up any blatant fable-type morals. Please read it...and just enjoy.
Book Review: We dare you not to fall in love with Francie Nolan!
Summary: 4 Stars
Like us, you'll find it very difficult not to fall in love with little Francie Nolan.
While you may not pull an all nighter to finish this one, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a must read. The plot is delightfully complex, though, primarily surrounds the childhood of a lonely girl who loves books (now you know why we're so fond of her). Her family is stricken with many hardships including poverty and alcoholism, although her dad possesses one of the most underappreciated singing voices in all of literature. Symbolism is prevalent throughout and even Francie herself represents the American dream.
For us it was so much fun to watch Francie bloom, ironically enough, much like a tree. We found it very easy (almost too easy...) to get caught up in each one of her successes and failures. There's also a whole cast of great characters that evolve and mature throughout the story. In the spirit of the holiday season, we double-dog dare you not to crack a smile at some of Aunt Sissy's antics.
Book Review: Engrossing but disappointing.
Summary: 4 Stars
Engrossing and timeless, if you want to time travel for a few days into Brooklyn a hundred years ago, read this book. My only caveat is that, like most coming-of-age novels, the character goes through a period where she is struggling to decide what she believes about God. She decides that she doesn't believe, and the scene where she decides is compelling... In fact, it's as if the entire book, her entire life, leads up to the point where she decides that there really is no God, but "life" and "beauty" and "education" and "love" are all good enough for her. It's anti-climactic when you know that those things really AREN'T worth it. Those things disappoint. Those things fail. Those things vanish away... Too sad, really to know that there are plenty of people who also have come to that same conclusion in life, and the beautiful stories that could have been told end in darkness and as much hopelessness as they began.
Sorry for completely ruining the novel for you. I enjoyed it while I was reading it. ;-)
Book Review: This Book Changed My Life
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book when I was 12 years old, and it changed my life. I realized that I was not alone in the world when I read about Francie who loved her alcoholic father and had to cope with her mother, who had been so hurt by her father's alcoholism that she was unable to be the mother Francie needed, hard as she tried. Instead, her mother had to figure out how to keep her family together, always a tough job for the non-alcoholic parent.
I admired Francie so much, and she inspired me to be strong, courageous, kind, creative, and loving.
I am 62 years old now, 50 years after reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the first time, which I re-read every couple of years, and I still remember the thrill I felt as I learned that there were other girls who faced the same challenges that I had to face when I was 12. Oh, and I was born in Brooklyn too!St. James Place
Book Review: A 'Rites of passage novel, that transcends time.
Summary: 5 Stars
I am seventy three. I remember reading this book in my early teens. I gave a copy to my daughter, then to my granddaughters, who enjoyed it as much as I did. Fashions and lifestyles may change, but the human condition does not. 'A Tree grows in Brooklyn'is a perennial delight and as fresh as the day it was written. The bitter-sweet tale of Francie, a young girl of Irish immigrant stock, approaching womanhood in downtown Brooklyn, speaks to the heart. On the face of it, this is a somewhat bleak tale of poverty, disappointment and sorrow, but above all, it tells of great love and youthful hope springing up among the weeds. My only fear is that in today's society, where instant satisfaction has become the norm, this book, with its' 500 pages, might seem too long - I hope not, for it is one of literature's truly great stories and a very good read!
Rita Southgate - Cyprus