There’s one book on earth that I absolutely can not read without crying. Kinda.
This is the book.
Many of you know it. You grew up with it. You breathed it in and ingested it, just as I did. And like me, you still cry every time you read it.
Many of you might not have heard of it.
I won’t give too much away. But the book is about a tree. And a boy.
I always loved the tree’s sturdy, fat roots.
And the story…it’s haunting. Evocative. Emotional. Spiritual. Sad.
It’s about life. And death. And loss and selfishness and generosity and aging and, most of all, unconditional love.
Unconditional, unbridled, pure, unadulterated love.
Not everyone feels this way about The Giving Tree. Since the book was published in 1964, there’ve been many opposing viewpoints regarding whether the portrayed relationship between the tree and the boy was a healthy or realistic one, or whether the boy was selfish, or whether the tree was naive, etc. Years ago I was discussing the book with an acquaintance. “I love ‘The Giving Tree’,” I sighed, much as I’m doing now.
The person replied that she hated The Giving Tree—absolutely hated it. “The tree just gives and gives and gives, and that guy is SO UNGRATEFUL! I can’t stand him. It’s the worst story ever!”
Uh…okay. I’d never really considered that angle, but okay! I’m not about to judge another person’s individual reaction to a book.
But I will offer my opinion. The Giving Tree is one of the most beautiful stories ever written, and one of the most painfully symbolic. It can mean many things, depending on your age and stage in life. But the overarching theme is, in fact, unconditional love. The 100% kind of love—the kind that requires or demands nothing in return. The spiritual kind of love that transcends circumstances or behavior. The kind of love that never, ever goes away. The relationship between the tree and the boy can be considered a parallel for the love of God for man, the love of a parent for a child (a wayward child at that), between a husband and wife…or between friends. And sure, a nature/environmental theme can also be brought into it…though I tend to look at the story as more of a human one.
Either way, you can’t lose.
The Giving Tree – Amazon.com (A quick scan of the 650-plus reviews of the book will give you just a glimpse into the emotional reaction—good and bad—the book generates.)
Excuse me while I go blow my nose.