Comments on: Why I Hate "The Giving Tree"–But How This Story Makes Us Better Writers

By: morgenbailey

morgenbailey — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 13:03:36 +0000

Reblogged this on MorgEn Bailey - Creative Writing Guru and commented: More great tips from Kristen... another fan of Shel Silverstein's poetry.

By: lynnkelleyauthor

lynnkelleyauthor — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 21:17:43 +0000

My kids and I loved Shel Silverstein’s poems. I hadn’t read The Giving Tree until about a year ago when I read it to my grandson. It made me sad. Grandson was too young to comment on it. You’ve covered so much in this post, lots of great points for us to digest.

That pic of Spawn and your hubby is a tear jerker in itself. I’m so glad your hubby is home safe and sound, back to being a husband and father. Whew!

By: Go Jules Go

Go Jules Go — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 20:40:42 +0000

What a fascinating way to look at the stories we loved as children! I’ve been thinking of this book a lot lately – and I had the same reaction to reading it as a child as you, but I still consider it a favorite.

I love everything you said about allowing the reader to fill in some of the gaps, too!

By: Not Just For Writers | Stephanie Beavers

Not Just For Writers | Stephanie Beavers — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 01:51:30 +0000

[…] every so often, some of her posts reach far beyond just writing and author advice. Her latest post, Why I Hate “The Giving Tree”–But How This Story Makes Us Better Writers, is one of […]

By: jrcreaden

jrcreaden — Sat, 24 Sep 2016 00:33:13 +0000

What an eye-opening article! Thank you for this!
I LOVED this story as a child, and I must have read it to my children a thousand times, but I always felt terrible for the tree and angry with the boy. Growing up in a family that idolized martyrs, this book was how “love” was represented–how a parent should love, how forgiveness should work.
Now that I think about it, it’s no coincidence that I ended up married to a narcissist for a decade. Giving and giving till my heart was empty. Your words hit every point of this conundrum with a laser.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 18:28:30 +0000

I don’t think I’ve even heard of The Giving tree until I read your blog. However it does remind me of Oscar Wilde’s “The Nightingale and the Rose” which marked me quite profoundly when I was a child.

A work of genius in it’s simplicity but even now as an adult I still find it a little upsetting and unsettling. I honestly don’t know whether I love it or loathe it. A bit of both I guess, which is very confusing in itself. Great blog.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 16:12:23 +0000

I read it when I was very young and then never again because it disturbed me in ways I couldn’t really define at that age. Coming from a dysfunctional home full of emotional vampires, I suppose I related the story to issues in the family dynamic that I wasn’t able or ready to face. To this day I can’t see the boy as anything but narcissistic and the tree as anything but enabling. Real unconditional love means loving people despite the boundaries you must set for them. It doesn’t mean giving them everything they demand.

Something else clicked in my head when I read your article, though – the point about HEAs not being necessary and how it sets up a child to wonder what was wrong with them to steal their HEA. I devoured category romances when I was a preteen and teen – and I felt that exact thing: why don’t I get my HEA? Where’s my millionaire and mansion and church wedding with 2,000 in attendance? The writer in me absolutely rebels at the thought of every story having an HEA, because I felt cheated out of the one those category romances promised me, and felt betrayed at their portrayal that this is the blueprint of real love and anything deviating from said blueprint is substandard, lacking. Now I find myself gravitating toward Happily Enough or even Happily Going Their Own Ways.

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 15:34:41 +0000

Yeah. The Giving Tree did disturb me. It made me feel like crying for the tree. Then it made me feel defiant. But I squelched that. Now, I feel affirmed by your perspective. It’s good to know Silverstein didn’t expect us to feel all happy the ending.

By: R.C. Thompson

R.C. Thompson — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 12:52:44 +0000

I read Lassie Come Home, a middle grade novel, when I was 4 and found it wishy-washy. I read many books after that before finding Kurt Vonnegut in 3rd grade. He and his works along with J.R.R. Tolkien were formative. Vonnegut is why I write and why I read sci-fi as social commentary, he is why I love comedy and the study of human nature. A bit of Vonnegut is in most of my short stories while Tolkien still informs my long stuff.Childhood books do stay with me, but not Green Eggs and Ham.

By: T.K. Thorne

T.K. Thorne — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 01:51:38 +0000

Kristen, I posted my comment on this great post (thank you!) on your blog, but I also wanted to ask you if you would give me a critique of the first two chapters (about 15 pages) of a novel, a paranormal thriller—A rookie detective discovers she’s a witch and that an ancient rival hunts her.

I can’t remember what you charge for this, but please let me know. This is a new genre for me and I need an objective set of eyes!

My Best,

T.K. Thorne http://www.TKThorne.com

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