Mer's review
The Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein
I have to admit, I've read quite a few of your reviews, and I've enjoyed them more than many of the books you've reviewed (I'm speaking mainly of this one and the review of the DaVinci Code.
You've explored some interesting angles, that I hadn't considered. Frankly, I still hate the book but you have made me think. Thanks,
What's great about great literature is that people can read it and come away with different fitting messages for themselves. From your secular humanist environmentalist perspective, you took one message. From my Christian perspective, I originally took a very different one--a tale of Christ's all-givign, humiliating sacrifice for those who were yet in their sins, his willing suffering of abuse at the hands of those he loved.
Shel Silversteen himself said he meant this as merely a tragic tale of how badly some people use others, and yet it has worked for readers on so many more levels than that.
Mer's review
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Mer's review
rating:
bookshelves:
alltimefavorites,
childhood,
nostalgia,
seminal
recommended for: enviornmentalists, nurturers, parents and children who want to discuss empathy and reciprocity
Scrolling down, it seems several reviewers resent this book's apparently heavy-handed message about selfishness/selflessness. I can totally understand why they find it upsetting or sappy. Overbearing, even. But I don't agree.
Some fascinating theories have been put forth about The Giving Tree. It's deceptively simple on its surface, yes. But if this were truly just some hard and fast hippie dippy morality tale, would its two main characters (living natural tree, growing human boy) and their relationship have weathered such extensive interpretation over the years?
Professor Timothy Jackson from Stanford University (found on Wiki):
Is this a sad tale? Well, it is sad in the same way that life is sad. We are all needy, and, if we are lucky and any good, we grow old using others and getting used up... Our finitude is not something to be regretted or despised, however; it is what makes giving (and receiving) possible. The more you blame the boy, the more you have to fault human existence. The more you blame the tree, the more you have to fault the very idea of parenting. Should the tree's giving be contingent on the boy's gratitude? If it were, if fathers and mothers waited on reciprocity before caring for their young, then we would all be doomed. ...more
Some fascinating theories have been put forth about The Giving Tree. It's deceptively simple on its surface, yes. But if this were truly just some hard and fast hippie dippy morality tale, would its two main characters (living natural tree, growing human boy) and their relationship have weathered such extensive interpretation over the years?
Professor Timothy Jackson from Stanford University (found on Wiki):
Is this a sad tale? Well, it is sad in the same way that life is sad. We are all needy, and, if we are lucky and any good, we grow old using others and getting used up... Our finitude is not something to be regretted or despised, however; it is what makes giving (and receiving) possible. The more you blame the boy, the more you have to fault human existence. The more you blame the tree, the more you have to fault the very idea of parenting. Should the tree's giving be contingent on the boy's gratitude? If it were, if fathers and mothers waited on reciprocity before caring for their young, then we would all be doomed. ...more
I have to admit, I've read quite a few of your reviews, and I've enjoyed them more than many of the books you've reviewed (I'm speaking mainly of this one and the review of the DaVinci Code.
You've explored some interesting angles, that I hadn't considered. Frankly, I still hate the book but you have made me think. Thanks,
What's great about great literature is that people can read it and come away with different fitting messages for themselves. From your secular humanist environmentalist perspective, you took one message. From my Christian perspective, I originally took a very different one--a tale of Christ's all-givign, humiliating sacrifice for those who were yet in their sins, his willing suffering of abuse at the hands of those he loved.
Shel Silversteen himself said he meant this as merely a tragic tale of how badly some people use others, and yet it has worked for readers on so many more levels than that.