Author: Betty Smith
Genre: Classic
Pages (words): 528 (155,559)
Readability: 5.9
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****1/2
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: Francie Nolan is the daughter of a singing waiter father and a severely practical mother, and is growing up in Brooklyn around the turn of the 20th century. Living in severe poverty, Francie struggles to reconcile her dreams with reality, to learn truth without giving up on her dreams.
Thoughts: Another spectacular book. I recently read both Angela's Ashes and The Book Thief, and I would put A Tree Grows in Brooklyn right up there with those two. What makes A Tree Grows in Brooklyn so impressive is that its writing style feels very modern, even though it was written over 60 years ago. Smith is very open about the difficulties of life, and the issues facing the poor, which is rare for a book written in the 1940s. Anyway, the story was really captivating, and even better than that, it brought out an issue that I think we all have to address as we come to face reality: How does one keep their hope alive when they realize that things might not turn out according to their dreams? I really like how the book personified both romance and reality through Francie's parents. I found myself comparing my parenting style to each parent and realizing that I have a bit of both the practical and whimsical in me. Hopefully I can keep walking that line!
Disclaimer: There are a few swear words in the book, and a few of the characters are quite open about their sex lives. Still, overall this is a pretty clean book.
No comments:
Post a Comment