The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
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Book Reviews of The Giving Tree
Book Review: Simply A Great Book!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was a childhood favorite of mine (so call me a chauvanist, non-giver, whatever) but it was part of my childhood and always left me feeling happy.
Some reviewers don't like it. I won't cite why, you can read their reviews for yourself, but I will defend this book by saying that I always enjoyed it, whether it was the way in which it was written, presented or illustrated. As a parent, I have no problems reading it to my girls now. I don't see it as a book that fosters selfishness or greed. I never saw it that way as a child either. But I would like to point out that it has new meaning for me now...and here's why:
The tree gives and gives. The boy takes and takes. I fail to see any selfishness in his actions because I see the tree as a symbol of parenthood. Our children, without any malice, take from us from the moment they're conceived. We give to them without any thought as to whether or not they're being selfish. The tree gave to the boy without any reservation. I give to my girls without any reservation. The tree was happy to give as long as it made the boy happy. Do you see the similarities now?
I love this book because it's a part of my childhood and because it has given parenthood a new meaning for me, so forgive me if I'm a bit miffed at the "PC" reviews from folks who have posted negative comments about this classic. It sounds like some folks are trying to start arguments out of nothing.
Book Review: Beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
The book is undeniably beautiful and poetic; the simplistic illustrations and narrative underscore it's power. No matter how readers directly interpret the tree- Mother, God, Environment, etc etc- most all interpretations directly branch inward to our own important symbols of life. This story challenges us to reflect over how we "affect" life in our own unending quest for happiness; how do we affect life and how does it affect us? How do we frame life? And alternatively how are we framed by life? Most importantly, this book shows that it is completely in our hands to regulate and respect this symbiotic balance in life. We push, and we shall receive, but not without consequences. The boy's quest for satisfaction arcs from innocent wonder and respect to contempt and back again. As this book gives persona to the tree, it amplifies what is otherwise silent to most of us most of the time- mothernature, spirituality, life. After reading the book, it is not hard to conceive that the indeed the world speaks back to us constantly. Of course the untold finality to this story is that this tree is forever changed and cannot be a source of happiness for this old man's kin in the same way it was throughout his life. I find parallel lessons in the story about the traps of materialism, which I think is a very powerful in our singularly commercialistic society. Many great lessons for readers of all ages- timelessly conceived and executed by Shel Silverstein.Book Review: A lot more to this one than meets the eye. . .
Summary: 5 Stars
. . .I've read through many of the reviews here, and find that this book is one you either love or hate. It's also interesting how many different interpretations there are of what Shel Sileverstein put together here. Some see it as an environmental cautionary tale, others an allegory of female oppression at the hands of a selfish male, and still others see it as a beautiful parable of unconditional love. I see it as a simple-yet-profound combination of all those things. But to be honest, I find it a tough book to classify, review, or pigeonhole. Nothing I say can really capture its essence. You have to read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. In our house, I read this to my daughter probably once a month. (She got it as a present from one of my friends, who says it's one of HER favorite books) She hasn't asked "what does this mean?" just yet. But at age 5, she is just now discovering that boys and girls are really different, and that sometimes those differences are not easy to work through. And I have the feeling that as she goes through the stages of her own growing up and growing away, she will interpret the story differently if she reads it at different points in her life journey. And I probably will, too. Don't let the simplicity of the drawings or the words fool you. This is probably one of the most thought-provoking books a child--or even a midlife adult--could grow up with. It will no doubt be a classic of our time.
Book Review: A cautionary tale?
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the same symposium that someone else mentioned hereIt set me to thinking about this book (which I still love) in ways Ihadn't before. If you look at this story as the boy's story and not the tree's, it's possible to see it as a cautionary tale. Remember, the Tree keeps saying, "Take this or that, and then you will be happy." But after chidhood, does the boy ever seem happy? Even after he's attained the wife and family he's looked for, he wants to build a boat to sail away, being "too old and sad to play". (Although, in all fairness, maybe tragedy took his spouse from him.) At the end, he looks dejected and worn. Could Shel have been issuing a warning that anyone who does nothing but take will never be truly content? Perhaps if the boy had learned to give in return, he would have had a more contented life.Although I do see the boy as finally learning his lesson toward the end. When he returns to the stump at the end, he has to know that the tree has nothing left to give. But he is finally ready to give the tree the only thing she ever asked of him...companionship. I kinda see in the old man's face a realization of what he's done and a repentance.There's another metaphor for this as well...the metaphor of parent to child. How many children never see or appreciate the sacrifices their parents have made for them till it is too late, or almost too late? This could have been another warning Shel was issuing. ENDBook Review: What can be read into it
Summary: 5 Stars
Few books are as simple to read and open to interpretation as this children's classic by one of the greats of 20th century children's literature. The story is simple, a boy takes different things from a tree his entire life, the tree gives without question, and at the end, both are together crippled with only each other for company. Out of such a simple story can be drawn many lessons that are appropriate not just for children, but for human beings of all ages. First, total self-sacrifice only leads to happiness as long as those you give to are happy. If the last condition does not hold, then the giver can never truly be happy. Second, always taking will never make you happy, for you will always find something more that you need or want to have. Third, and probably most controversial, this book provides a fitting commentary to the behavior of mankind towards nature. Written in the 1960s at the ascendancy of the modern environmental movement in the USA, the story is a perfect corollary of how man takes from nature for various uses his entire life, without ever thinking of the long term consequences for both him and nature. The tree of course represents nature, as few objects are such a symbol of nature within the American psyche.
Overall, a great book for people of all ages. It is one of those few books that provides morals and lessons for all readers, and each time you reread it, you learn something different.