I'm going to throw in my two cents just because I'm so irritated with all the reviews that call this book "bad" because it is sad. They are not the same thing. If you don't like sad books, try to avoid them. But if sad books were automatically "bad," then that would make most of the world's great literature "bad." Literature is about the human condition, which is not always rainbows and lollipops.
Now, to this book: it is not great literature. Not because it's sad, but because it's so implausible. This is the story of a family hit hard by the Great Depression. Mom walks out on Dad; Dad loses the house; family lives in a tent until winter, when the children are taken in and kicked out by various family members. Finally, the wealthy family behind all of Dad's troubles wants to adopt the adorable little sister -- but that goes south too.
SPOILER ALERT: Finally, the children run off to find their mother -- who hands them off first to an orphanage, then to the hideous wealthy family. And who comes running in at the last possible second to save the day? Dad!!! THAT's the not-so-great part about this novel.
END OF SPOILER.
So, if you would like a watered-down version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn with a lot less historical color, feel free to read this highly sentimental novel. But please don't call it bad just because most of it is "sad."
Now, to this book: it is not great literature. Not because it's sad, but because it's so implausible. This is the story of a family hit hard by the Great Depression. Mom walks out on Dad; Dad loses the house; family lives in a tent until winter, when the children are taken in and kicked out by various family members. Finally, the wealthy family behind all of Dad's troubles wants to adopt the adorable little sister -- but that goes south too.
SPOILER ALERT: Finally, the children run off to find their mother -- who hands them off first to an orphanage, then to the hideous wealthy family. And who comes running in at the last possible second to save the day? Dad!!! THAT's the not-so-great part about this novel.
END OF SPOILER.
So, if you would like a watered-down version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn with a lot less historical color, feel free to read this highly sentimental novel. But please don't call it bad just because most of it is "sad."
