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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Discussion
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Dlmrose, Moderator Emeritus
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Sep 01, 2012 04:02AM
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I've just started reading this and I love it right from the beginning. I think it will take me a while to finish because the writing is so beautiful it makes me want to read slowly! I think I'll have a word with the librarian about it - I have the only copy from all of the libraries in our county!
I think this is the one that I'm going to pick. I've read all the selections, so any one of them would be a re-read. This is the one I remember the least and the one where I know exactly where my copy is!
I grabbed this one in audiobook because the narrator (Anna Fields) is one of my favorites - i'm looking forward to reading/listening to it
I read this for the first time within the last year. I enjoyed it, but I think if I had read it as a child/young woman, I would have loved it. As an adult, I identified more with the adult characters.
I enjoyed the book very much, but I agree with Jennifer W that I would have got more out of it as a young girl. The story and characters are really just a vehicle for a series of observations about life and the world, as expressed through Francie's thoughts as she grows up.
Although the characters are sympathetic I felt that they come across more as types than real complex people - Johnny Nolan who can't shoulder his family responsibilities; Katie, who "never fumbles" but always " speaks truly with the plain right words"; Lee, who breaks Francie's heart because in her naivety she believes everything he tells her; Sissy with her unconventional morals but a heart of gold - people seen through a child's eyes.
Her ideas are expressed in some lovely descriptive passages - I particularly liked the piece where Francie is repulsed by the old man with his filthy feet and realises that he was once a sweet baby whose mother kissed his little pink toes, and she experiences the fear of growing old.
As an older reader I didn't find new ideas in this book, but it reminded me of things which are relevant to people of any time and place, not just to a girl growing up in poverty in early 20th century Brooklyn.
I totally agree, Wendy UK, about the characters being "types". I also agree with Jennifer that I would have liked this book more when I was younger, either a teenager or even as young as Francie's age in the beginning of the book. Now, I'm too jaded to be romanced by the slight glorification of poverty here, though I really enjoyed books with similar themes when I was younger. I liked it, didn't love it.
Yes - it is a simple story with familiar themes. But it is very well written, especially the many descriptive passages, and I enjoyed it for that reason. I really relaxed into it, and it's nice to read a good 'girls story' once in a while!( a bit like Little Women, which I still come back to now and again)I imagine some of the views expressed would have been more challenging when it was written than it is to us in the 21st century.
That's true. I did really enjoy the writing style, especially her little asides -- in some ways, it seemed as though the author was really "telling a story" (orally), rather than writing a narrative as in most novels. I know that's a kind of vague distinction to make, but I can't think of a better way to put how it felt to me. Anyone else get that?
The Nolan Family demonstrates the courage, determination and resilience that was necessary for immigrants to be able to rise above their circumstances.The book was well written in a style that was clear and fluid. Reading it was an enjoyable walk back through history.
I agree with you ladies, this book probably would have been a 10 star read if I were a teenager... wish I would have read it then. I really liked the characters and even though they seemed "simple", I grew to love them. I very much identified with Katie. As a mother, I can relate to doing anything for your children and wanting them to have a better life than you had. Did anyone else find it confusing that their thoughts were always in quotation marks?? It drove me crazy, but maybe that was how they wrote back then and I'm just not used to it.
I had tried to read this book about 2 years ago and only got to page 120 something before I gave up. I think I just wasn't in the mood, but I'm very glad that I decided to give it another go (although I had to start over completely because I had no clue what was going on.)
I don't want to lecture here, but when reading an older book, look closely at the publication date. There are things in this book that weren't even mentioned in polite company at that time. The fact that we are still reading it and discussing it says something about the quality of the writing. That said, I found this book to be a joy. I read it for the first time in my late 50s for a group read and wasn't put off by the narrator's age or innocence.
We perceive the characters as "types" because there have been so many books that have followed this one. An obvious comparison is Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt – drunken father, children who rose above their circumstances...
It was a very interesting book because the descriptions of life in that time period are illuminating. It does not try to gloss over unappealing aspects and makes the characters well-rounded. I am a little surprised it has taken me until now to read this book. It is one I would have enjoyed as a younger girl as well and I am a voracious reader.
I noticed that the author made both the mother and daughter, autobiographical characters of herself. She was writing this book as a young mother who had 3 children and was cleaning apartment buildings. I wish I could say that I loved this book, but I can't. There were definitely passages that were excellently written. However, I think I read this book years ago--and I mean years ago....but I really didn't remember it--I kept thinking that I would. (Although this may be more about my senality, then the author's writing.) I will probably give this book 3 stars and will be glad that I read another obvious classic.
I read this book for the first time over 30 years ago and loved it as a young girl. It was my favorite book back then, so I was excited to read it again. I was not disappointed as I found it well written. When I read it this time, I had a different perspective. I empathized more with Katie then I did in my first reading.
I'm still working on this one, but I just ran across the quote, "In teaching your child, do not forget that suffering is good, too. It makes a person rich in character." I want to send it to all those parents who complain about how much homework kids get, or that playgrounds are "too dangerous" and things like that. If a kid never gets hurt, s/he'll never learn enough responsibility to keep her- or himself from getting hurt again (like the hot stove thing--once you touch one, you know not to do it again because it hurts). And with homework, if the kid is in so many outside activities than s/he can't finish schoolwork, then it's entirely likely that the kid's IN TOO MANY ACTIVITIES. That's a major problem around here--kids complain that they're out until 9 doing sports and music lessons and all that kind of stuff, so they have no time for homework, and then parents complain when teachers assign a page of math problems and readings and other, similar assignments. Not to say those outside activities aren't important, too, but schoolwork should trump the other stuff.
Okay, going back to reading >_>
I've been telling myself for years that I really should get around to reading this book, so was glad of this 'push' to do it now. This could have been a depressing story if you focused only on the hard life and difficulties of living in the tenements, but you see the strength in Katie's determination to provide opportunities for a better life for her children even while she struggles for their survival, and you can't help feeling optimistic about the futures of Francie & Neely.
I had tears in my eyes twice while reading - when Katie explained why she named the baby Annie Laurie, I could almost hear Johnny singing it. And when Francie was surprised with the bouquet of roses on her desk at her graduation, and read the congratulatory note written by her father, and then hearing Aunt Sissy explain how it came about.
I just finished this, and while it was slow going for awhile, I think it was good. It's roughly the era I always loved studying as a kid (well, one of them--I loved turn-of-the-century America, the "Oregon Trail" years, and Ancient Rome), so I'm wondering how I missed this in my quest to read anything and everything related to those topics. I definitely got bogged down in the middle, but I liked it overall.
My daughter enjoyed this book recently and was surprised that I had not read it. I loved this book!I especially loved an early scene in Francie's "little old shabby" public library. I have a fondness for old-time libraries, and I, too, once thought I would read all the books in the children's department of my own little public library, in order, A-Z. (This project was abandoned before I got too far into it, as I recall.)
So, I've been thinking about why I did not read this book in my growing-up years: It may not have been available in my school library, and it may have been a "behind-the-desk" book at the public library due to the "adult" themes. It was considered, if not actually banned, kind of a naughty book at the time (late 50s/early 60s). Though it now seems fairly tame, the gritty themes of alcoholism, poverty, illegitimacy, plus some rough language, weren't common fare for young readers at the time.
I found it to be a very compelling story, which I think has generally held up well over time and is as good a read today as it would have been when it was first published. Good selection for Group Read.
Ms Anderson wrote: "I'm still working on this one, but I just ran across the quote, "In teaching your child, do not forget that suffering is good, too. It makes a person rich in character." I want to send it to all th..."Ms Anderson, I agree with you about the Too Many Activites thing. As a former public library employee, it used to drive me nuts to have the parent come in with the kid's assignment sheet sans child and proceed to do the work on it. I once asked one of the mothers if the teacher gave her (the mother) the grade. She just laughed and said that at least the grade was higher than when she was actually in high school.
This book was special. I bought an old copy at an estate sale, and now I know why it was so well worn.My favorite conversation between Francie and Neeley sums it up:
"Annie Laurie McShane! She'll never have the hard times we had, will she?"
"No. And she'll never have the fun we had, either."
I love the book so much! I read it a while ago and loved it! I am reading it again, and loving it! I love Francie, because she is such a reader!
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I wondered the same thing - why I had never read this before, since it was just the sort of book I would have loved as a young reader. But, I'm glad I finally did read it, and I enjoyed it tremendously.
I think one of the other differences (beyond identifying more with the adult characters) in reading it now as opposed to when I was a kid is that I'm not so romantic. When she was going on about how she'd never love anyone as much as the guy she knew for 2 days, during which time he was totally playing her, I kept thinking, "oh, come on." Had to keep reminding myself that she was only 16, despite having had to grow up so quickly!
It's hard not to think about Angela's Ashes while reading this. They both have the same "feel" to them, but I do have to say I enjoyed Angela's Ashes more as far as anecdotal stories go, but I think A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is more deeply written with more emotion. I listened to the audio versions of both and both are excellently narrated with spot-on accents (Frank McCourt narrates his own book though, so....).
This is interesting - unlike many other folks who are re-reading this book as adults, I do not identify more with the adult characters. It's probably been twenty years since the last time I picked up A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but this time I still found myself identifying with Francie. I usually think of myself as the least romantic human on the planet, but perhaps that's not entirely true...I could make a list a mile long of the things I love about this book, but I'll just mention one area that has always stuck with me: the fascinating working world of that time and all the different jobs that people had - so many of which are lost due to advances in technology and consolidation. Such a contrast with today...
I love this book so much! The descriptions of the time and the neighborhood are just so vivid! I can picture myself there. I was very pleasantly surprised that I loved it just as much as I loved it when I read it as a teenager. I do agree that it reminds me a lot of Angela's Ashes. The cool thing for me is that I actually know of all the places where it takes place, since I live close to NYC.
This was my first read on this book. I kind of have mixed feelings about it. I liked the story but found that I couldn't read but a few pages at a time because it was so slow going. It was a little too descriptive for my liking and at times I felt like the writing was just disjointed ramblings because the author had nothing else to write about. I would find my mind wandering and I would start losing interest....a sign of boredom....it doesn't take a whole page to tell me about someone buying a pickle. Like many of you have stated, maybe if I would have read it in my younger years I would have liked it more. This will be a 3 star read for me ☺
This was the first time I had even heard of the book, probably because I'm not from a native English speaking country so the English classics was a smaller category for me. I found it incredibly easy to read despite the long descriptions that I don't normally appreciate. Actually, the fact that they didn't seem so lengthy attests to the quality of the writing. I particularly liked the contrast between the poverty and ugliness Francie lived in and the optimistic recounting she gave of it. Also, the fact that the book doesn't introduce particularly new themes for our age (regardless of how they may have been viewed then) makes it more accessible and light. On this theme, the personification of the tree was a nice touch.
I was happy to see that this book is a group read, and, as a result it became higher on my to-read list.I just finished reading it and liked it a lot. I appreciated the frankness in some of the scenes and wished that I would have read it as a young adult (instead of some of the other books that I was required to read).
I agree that some of the adult figures fell into different stereotypes, but I did not feel that way about Francie and Neeley. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in a coming-of-age story.
I finished this up today, and have to say that to me it is a timeless classic - you could take francie and neeley from them, and put them in a similar scenario today - maybe making more money but still living below the poverty line and I don't think much of it would have changed for them. So much of the story to me was about perseverence in the face of a hard life, struggling to get a head and succeed when by all rights they shouldn't have.so glad I read this and its another book on my 50 classics in 5 years list that I can mark off
I'm in the minority here. I just finished this book, and I'm not sure that I liked it. I loved it at the start, but I felt the story rambled on, and lost steam by the middle of it. I flat out hated portions of it toward the end. I understand that it took the author (a woman too) a lot of courage to write what would have been perceived as ugly back then. And I do like that. The young Francie's plight moved me. But, I couldn't stay interested in her, especially after Johnny died. I'll start with the positives. The descriptions of Brooklyn in the 10s caught me the most. It made me nostalgic for my own childhood, and my home town, even though it has nothing in common with Brooklyn in the 10s. The poverty and the courage that little Francie shows in the face of it, like when they play north pole when they have nothing to eat, the scene where she's surprised vicariously with the prize bag at the candy store, the happy anticipation at the library and the brown bowl of seasons - my favorite scenes are all in the first 100 or so pages of the book. The love that Francie has for her father comes off the page, even though he's a no-account drunk and Francie knows it. Like I said, the first portion of the book is mostly beautiful.
But some of the things were just frustrating. Like the scene where the local ladies pelt the girl with an illegitimate baby and Francie declares that "she hates women" and that men are somehow better than women because one man was concerned about that girl. What is that if not perpetrating prejudice? It serves no purpose that you make every strong character in your book a woman and then have them say that they hate women. (Katie does too, in another scene. That's worse - she even says that she had a girl friend once she stole Johnny off of. So, you see, girl friends do serve a purpose - I wanted to smack this creature.)
I also got irritated about the Lee person. Not that there aren't toads like that, but the way these ladies went on and on about him. Which idiot of a mother is going to make a big deal out of what is essentially a school girl crush with an undeserving person? But no, Katie says, you'll never forget him. Whenever you fall for another man, it'll be because he reminds you of this idiot. I didn't mind if Francie hung on to this man, but I would have rather not had Katie say that, as a woman, she thought it would have been better if Francie had gone off and slept with him. Really Katie? How many more excuses would she make for men she didn't even know? It set my teeth on edge.
tl; dr; Review: I liked the first part of the book, I liked that it spoke in no nonsense terms with regards to poverty, sex and drunkenness. But I hated the pedestal that it put men on, no matter what they did. Also, I thought the book ran to a great long length, when it had run out of things to say at around 250 pages. 2 stars.
I have wanted to read this book for a long time so I was glad that it was chosen which got me to finally read it! I enjoyed this book overall but there were points while I was reading it that I felt that the book was too long for my level of interest. Overall, I thought it was an interesting glimpse into that time period and it made me really think about how much I take for granted.
I can't believe it took me so long to read this book. I loved it - found it heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (other topics)Angela’s Ashes (other topics)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (other topics)
