Reviews for The Giving Tree 40th Anniversary Edition

The average rating for The Giving Tree 40th Anniversary Edition based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-12-03 00:00:00 Andreas Marschner HEY, KIDS AND SHEL SILVERSTEIN FANS! COME OVER HERE AND READ THIS! Okay, this some motherfuckin' fucked-up shit right here. The Giving Tree is the straight-up wack story of how this selfish little ass-faced prick kicks it with this full-on saintly tree. Ever'thin' fine for a while, y'all, with the lil' prick all gettin' up in there an' sayin' to the tree, "Yeah, you know you mah bitch," but then all of a sudden, this jumped-up prick go through puberty, get his chia on or some such shit, and so he's off screwin' the skank-ass bitches on the block all damn day and can't spare one motherfuckin' minute for this poor old tree who waitin' for him and lookin' all motherfuckin' sad an' droopy an' shit. So this little punk-ass bitch come up on the tree -- this is a motherfuckin' tree, hear? -- and ask her ['cuz she a sexy-ass lady-tree] fo' some g's. Well, the tree is all, like, "I ain't got no cash, bitch. What part o' me say ATM on it? Mmm-hmmm. I thought so..." And she shoulda held up there, but -- no -- this tree gets all fuckin' benevolent and be, like, "Well, I got mad apples you can go hustle on the streets." So this ass-faced prick just, like, boosts all these goddamn apples an' leaves this tree with, like, its weave all out an' shit. So next, after workin' the streets wit his crew, little bitch boy come back, lookin' all older an' jacked-up, and ask the motherfuckin' tree for a goddamn crib. So the tree like, "Hol' up. Do you even fuckin' see Coldwell Banker all up an' down in here? I think not." But then, being all kindly an' shit, the tree is, like, "But I got mad branches..." And what? She motherfuckin' takes it up back again fo' this fool. Later, another goddamn time, punk-ass bitch come back, lookin' all old an' saggy and wack now, and he like, "Bitch, what you got fo' me now?" "Awww, hell naw," tree says, but then she start gettin' all soft an' shit again an' say, "Why don' you cut down my trunk or some such shit and go 'head and whittle a pimped-out yacht, full-on Hamptons-style?" He, like, "Yeah, I thought so, bitch." And then -- guess the fuck what? -- little shriveled-up, played-out mack come on back wit his ass all hemorrhoided-up an' shit. He look straight-up nasty and old. Tree is, like, "I know you ain't come t'ask me. All's I got is a motherfuckin' stump, you ass-faced motherfucker. How you gon' come back at me like that?" This punk-ass bitch is all drooling and jacked-up and just wanna sit the hell down. What do the motherfuckin' tree do? She say, "Hell no! You motherfuckin' fucked-up fucker, get yo' motherfuckin' ass face out o' here fo' I cut you up good: give you some stank-ass mad tree fungus, motherfucker!" The motherfuckin' end, motherfuckers. Okay, so that's not really the way The Giving Tree ends, but maybe it's the way it should. Some time ago, my ex-girlfriend and, afterward, long-time co-dependent friend gave me The Giving Tree as part of my birthday gift. I loved it, but I hated it, too, because I felt so bad for the tree who is endlessly shat upon by this worthless "Boy"--as he is always known, regardless of age; I longed to console the tree and, maybe a little, to condemn this book as yet another emotionally-scarring "children's" entertainment in the manner of Old Yeller. Don't give me any shit about learning valuable lessons. The only lesson I learned was that human beings are nothing but steaming piles of corn-freckled feces, and that I wanted to found a not-for-profit shelter for unloved trees and rabid dogs and any other nonhuman thing, living or not, which was either unwanted or despised. Having said all this -- and although I don't approve of the treatment of the giving tree -- this book is very moving and very delicate. The delicacy is somewhat counteracted when the reader turns over the book and sees the author photograph of a thoroughly evil-looking Shel Silverstein. He looks like the sort of person who would burn down whole forests of rare giving trees just for kicks. Picture Othello just before he strangles Desdemona. If you -- and, yes, I'm talking to you personally -- are not moved by the plight of the tree after reading this book, then perhaps it's time to go an' check yo'self: are you the givin' tree or are you the motherfuckin' takin' tree? Or are you the sneak-out-in-the-middle-of-the-night-an'-steal-all-my-shit tree?

Review # 2 was written on 2014-09-28 00:00:00 Doug Leonardi I recently read this book to my little boy. It's not the first time I've read it. It's probably not even the tenth time. But it's the first time I've read the book in a decade, and given the fact that my memory is like a cheese grater, I like to think I got a pretty fresh experience. The result is this: I honestly don't know how I feel about this book. Even if you haven't read the story, you probably know the gist of it. A tree loves a young boy and gives away pieces of itself to the boy to make the boy happy. On one hand, this story can be taken as an open, honest exhortation toward selfless Agape-style love. Love which asks nothing. Love which gives everything. On the other hand, this story can be read as a horrifying condemnation of dysfunctional unrequited co-dependance. After reading the book, I honestly don't know which it is. On one hand, taking this book at face value is probably a fool's game. Silverstein was a twisted sarcastic bastard. He wrote lyrics for Dr. Hook. (Most notably "Freaking at the Freaker's Ball.") And back in my misspent youth, I discovered a poem of his in one of my Dad's Playboys. It was called "The Great Pot Smoke-Off." My point is, dude was part of the counterculture. He was full of mocking and meta. And as such, it seems odd that he would write something that seems like an obvious endorsement of Christ-like selflessness... and then that was it. But on the other hand, when Silverstein was having fun with you, he usually didn't pussyfoot around. One of his earliest publications was "Uncle Shelby's ABZ book." Which *looks* like a kid's book, but is clearly not: Here's a piece from the page on Potty Training: "See the potty The potty is deep The potty has water in the bottom. "Maybe someone will fall into the potty and drown. "Don't worry. As long as you keep wetting your pants, you will never drown in the potty." Not a lot of ambiguity here. His tongue is pretty clearly in his cheek. But when I read through The Giving Tree, I don't see the author winking at me from behind the scenes. The story *seems* to be straightforward. But here's the thing, even if the story *is* straightforward, I don't know how I feel about it. Is the boy selfish in the story? Absolutely. He's a little shit. Yet he doesn't get one bit of comeuppance. We kinda want him to, but that's not what happens. The boy doesn't seem to learn a lesson. And neither does the tree. That seems to imply there is no lesson to be learned here. Let's be clear. The tree is *happy* at the end of the book. There's no ambiguity about that. It's entirely possible that the tree has acted in its own best interest. It's entirely possible that the tree, if you'll forgive the expression, is acting according to the Lethani. Even after thinking it over for a couple days, still I don't know how I feel about it. That's a rarity for me. For that reason, I'm giving this five stars. If you write a book that leaves me asking questions. If you write a book that people can have legitimate disagreements about. If you write a book that people can still wrangle over after fifty years… that's pretty clearly a five-star book.