Week 11: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Book Club, Ending Wrap-up!

We made it to the end of our reading of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn! Yay! Good for us! We made it to the end! Boo! No more weekly Cool Bloggers Book Club!

Source: Katie B Cartoons

*****************

Week 1 discussion
Week 2 discussion
Week 3 discussion
Week 4 discussion

Week 5 discussion

Week 6 discussion

Week 7 discussion

Week 8 discussion

Week 9 discussion

Week 10 discussion

*****************

I have a hard copy of the book with a foreword written by Anna Quindlen, who, as it turns out, is an author I've read exactly nothing from. However, as I was reading this foreword before I even started reading chapter one, I was so excited to read this essay from someone who clearly loves the book as much as I do. 

Consider the first paragraph:

As much as any other beloved book in the canon, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn illustrates the limitations of plot description. In its nearly five hundred pages, nothing much happens. Of course that's not really accurate: Everything that can happen in life happens, from birth and death to marriage and bigamy. But those things happen in the slow, sure, meandering way that they happen in the slow, sure, meandering river of real existence, not as the clanking "and then" that lends itself easily to event synopsis. (vii)

Or consider the first paragraph of the very next page:

When it first appeared, in 1943, it was called, by those critics who liked it, an honest book, and that is accurate as far as it goes. But it is more than that: It is deeply, indelibly true. Honesty is casting bright light on your own experience; truth is casting it on the experiences of all...(viii)

If you don't a copy with the Quindlen foreword, it's worth seeking out.

*****************

ATGIB questions:

1) What makes this book so indelible and powerful? It's not the writing, which can be a bit lazy. It's not the plot, which is wavering and slow. There have been criticisms that this book is sentimental or trite. What makes this book a classic that has lasted the test of time? 

2) Last week, Lisa asked about the title. What is the tree a symbol of? Francie? The entire Nolan family? All the residents of Brooklyn?

3) What do you think your take-home messages will be from this book? Will it be a particular scene or moment? A theme? Green hats?

4) What genre do you classify this? I have a "genre" label on my spreadsheet and labeled it "historical fiction," but it wasn't written as historical fiction, was it? 

*****************

Cool Bloggers Book Club questions:

1) How do you think the format of the book you read (audiobook, paper, ebook) changed or impacted your reading experience?

2) If you read this book before, how was your experience reading it this way (only 50 pages a week with a critical lens) different than your usual reading? 

3) What did you gain from reading this book in community?

4) If we did another Cool Bloggers Book Club (maybe next summer), what book would you be interested in reading? Another Betty Smith book?  Maybe another classic young adult book like A Secret Garden or Black Beauty? 

*****************

Movie versus Book:

Beckett wrote up a nice review of the 1945 Elia Kazan directed film based on A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Apparently James Dunn won an Oscar for his portrayal of Johnny. As far as I can tell, this movie isn't streaming anywhere, so I got a DVD from the library and made my husband unearth our DVD player.  As many of you may know, I don't watch movies very often (we were trying to remember the last movie I watched in its entirety and came up with a rewatch of Serenity (the movie post-Firefly, the Joss Whedon series), early in 2020?). Anyway, not to leave you in suspense, but I have basically the opposite opinion of Beckett. 

1) The actress who played Sissy was so over-the-top and loud that I closed my eyes as a defense whenever she came on screen. 

2) The book is so character-driven that the lack of plot in the movie would have been absolutely bonkers to me if I hadn't just read the book. You just can't get the internal thoughts in a movie.

3) I liked that the librarian was a lot nicer to Francie in the movie than in the book.

4) The hats were wonderful. I was obsessed with the hats.

5) My husband was very disappointed that the scene where Katie shoots Francie's attacker in the hallway wasn't in the movie, so take that for what it's worth.

*****************

Thank you!

And that's a wrap. Please feel free to discuss anything you'd like about ATGIB and its associated media offshoots in the comments. Definitely feel free to keep emailing me ATGIB ephemera and a sincere thank you to everyone who peppered my inbox with awesome photos of your first edition books and newspaper clippings.  

And the biggest thank you to everyone who kept coming back week after week to participate in this book club. It was a highlight of my summer and I love that this blogging community has so many people with varied backgrounds and smart, thoughtful things to say.  You're the best and I had so much fun reading this book along with all of you.

Week 10: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Book Club, Chapters 52-56

Welcome to our book club for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Today we'll be discussing Chapters 52-56. The end of the book! SOB!! We have next week to do a deep dive into the entire book and then we'll be done with the Cool Bloggers Bookclub (TM Birchie).  

*****************

Week 1 discussion
Week 2 discussion
Week 3 discussion
Week 4 discussion

Week 5 discussion

Week 6 discussion

Week 7 discussion

Week 8 discussion

Week 9 discussion

*****************

Synopsis: Francie gets her heart broken by a no-good soldier boy. McShane asks Katie to marry him and for him to be allowed to adopt Laurie. Granma Rommely dies, Francie accepts a promise ring from Ben (*yuck* - editorializing from me), and Francie does a nostalgia tour of the neighborhood before she goes off to college at the University of Michigan. Fin. 

*****************

Things I looked up:

The ordering of Army ranks: I was confused by Lee's rank (corporal or general based on two different references in Chapter 52).  I think Lee was probably a corporal and someone called him a general as a joke/sort of compliment to someone about to ship off to war. Most of the following came straight from the Army website. Here there are from lowest to highest ranks. Feel free skip all of this nonsense, or if you want to read it super carefullly, to correct any errors you might find.

Enlisted ranks:

Private - Lowest rank, generally given during basic combat training to a soldier without a four-year degree
Private First Class

Private Second Class
Specialist - can manage enlisted soldiers of lower rank
Corporal - team leader of the smallest Army units
Sergeant - oversees soldiers' daily tasks and often lead a team or section of soldiers that are slightly bigger than a corporal's team, but usually only up to four soldiers
Staff Sergeant - oversees a squad of 8-16 soldiers
Sergeant First Class - generally has 10-15 years of Army experience

Master Sergeant - principal non-commissioned officer at the battalion level and often higher
First Sergeant 
Seargeant Major 
Command Sergeant Major
Sergeant Major of the Army

Officer ranks:

Second lieutenant - first officer title one can achieve - second lieutenants lead platoons which typically consist of 16-44 soldiers

First lieutenant - leads more specialized platoons than second lieutenants and companies, which are smallest body of troops, consisting of a headquarters and two or three platoons
Captain - leads a company, 60-200 soldiers
Major - often lead brigades and task forces
Lieutenant Colonel - leads a battalion, 300-1000 soldiers
Colonel - leads a brigade, 1500-3200 soldiers
Brigadier General
Major General - leads a division, 10,000 - 16,000 soldiers
Lieutenant General - leads a corps, 20,000-40,000 soldiers
General
General of the Army

In Chapter 56, McShane puts $1000 in Katie's checking account. This is roughly $20,000 according to the inflation calculator I used with the year 1918 (if Francie's 17 now).  That's more money than I have EVER had in my checking account!

jabot (page 488) - Ornamental frill or ruffle on the front of a shirt or a blouse (which brings up an interesting point about the difference between those two words, but I don't think anyone here needs me to go on another tangent), typically made of lace. 

RBG is the most famous jabot wearer I could think of.

Van and Schenck (page 489) - Vaudeville comedy performers in the 1910s and 1920s. Gus Van, baritone, and Joe Schenck, tenor. 

The Man Who Came Back (page 492) - In 1916, Henry Hull and his wife Juliet Fremont appeared in The Man Who Came Back at the Playhouse Theatre, a Broadway theater in midtown Manhattan. The play was very successful and ran for more than a year. Unfortunately, I can't find a summary of this play. Anyone else know it? Diane?

*****************

Select quotes (I'm limiting myself to no more than one a chapter!):

Chapter 52: 

And she promised away her whole life as simply as she'd offered a hand in greeting or farewell. (page 460)

Oh, Francie. Young and dumb. 

Chapter 53:

"It's come at last," she thought, "the time when you can no longer stand between your children and heartache. When there wasn't enough food in the house you pretended that you weren't hungry so they could have more. In the cold of a winter's night you got up and put your blanket on their bed so they wouldn't be cold. You'd kill anyone who tried to harm them - I tried my best to kill that man in the hallway. Then one sunny day, they walk out in all innocence and they walk right into the grief that you'd give your life to spare them." (page 463)

The next few chapters make me remember why I was so pro-Katie at the start of the book. Think of all she sacrificed for her children and all she's going to continue to sacrifice for Laurie. 

Chapter 54:

"I will marry you because you are a good man and I'd like to have you for my husband."

It was true. Katie had made up her mind to marry him - if he asked her - simply because life was incomplete without a man to love her. It had nothing to do with her love for Johnny. She'd always love him. Her feeling for McShane was quieter. She admired and respected him and she knew she'd be a good wife to him. (page 470)

More on this quote in the question section.

Chapter 55:

Even Neely said it would be a good thing for her to go far off to college - she might get rid of her Brooklyn accent that way. But Francie didn't want to get rid of it any more than she wanted to get rid of her name. It meant that she belonged to some place. She was a Brooklyn girl with a Brooklyn name and a Brooklyn accent. She didn't want to change into a bit of this and a bit of that. (page 478)

I was at a party over Labor Day weekend with a linguist and we spent a lot of time analyzing our accents because the Northern Cities vowel shift is alive and well in many of the Midwesterners present. There are some divides (I say milk and not melk, for example, and was laughed at for my pronunciation of "mom" which I guess sounds like "mahm," but I don't hear it), but the linguist just laughed at all of us and said that vowels in English are quite mobile, which became the motto of the night. (Also from the linguist: You all just sound like educated Americans. As long as your meaning is clear, your communication is okay. I like his approach.) It's interesting to think about how you speak identifies your background so clearly.

Vowels are mobile! (Just imagine six adults repeatedly saying this over and over again and you get an idea of what a good time with us is like.)

It's also interesting to wonder if Francie will feel like she belongs to Brooklyn when her family moves on to a new home. Since my mother doesn't live in the place where I grew up anymore, I don't really feel like I belong in my hometown anymore. ATGIB says that Francie's old neighborhood will be greatly changed in the years to come (tenements torn down, etc.) and I do wonder if someday Francie will feel like she belongs to someplace that no longer exists. 

Chapter 56:

In the two years since she had last looked on the school, Francie had changed from a child to a woman.

She went home past the house whose address she had claimed. It looked little and shabby to her now, but she still loved it. (page 485)

SOB!

*****************

Mentions of the word hat (I can't help myself):

She snatched her gray hat and her new gray purse and gloves from her locker. (page 480) - At least it isn't a green hat. 

*****************

Questions for you:

1) Francie can do better than Ben Blake, right? Pompous know-it-all. Grumble, grumble.

2) Katie's explanation for marrying McShane is that he can support her family and her life isn't complete without a man to love her. No mention of her loving him. (See the above quote from Chapter 54). I'm so sad for Katie AND McShane here. Do you think this is enough to build a solid relationship? Do you think this marriage will last? 

3) Were you satisfied with the ending here? Did you feel like you got enough closure on our main characters? What about our secondary and tertiary characters? Anyone you want to know more about?

*****************

My head canon for post-book:

1) Francie is Betty Smith, so she becomes a famous playwright and novelist. 

2) Katie and McShane have a tolerable marriage. Katie resents his children from his first marriage and Laurie is absolutely spoiled and insufferable.

3) Neely is a very successful salesman. He suffers in the Great Depression, but rebounds. He never marries.

4) Sissy and Evy basically mooch off of Katie, but the three sisters are tight for the rest of their lives.

5) Flossie - I don't know. I want to know more about how she turned out.  

*****************

Were there any quotations or lines that particularly stood out to you? Did you have to look anything up?

*****************

Upcoming schedule:

September 18 (entire book wrap up)

Week 9: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Book Club, Chapters 46-51

Welcome to our book club for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Today we'll be discussing Chapters 46-51. Let's dive in! Next week we'll finish the book! 

*****************

Week 1 discussion
Week 2 discussion
Week 3 discussion
Week 4 discussion

Week 5 discussion

Week 6 discussion

Week 7 discussion

Week 8 discussion

*****************

Synopsis: Another year, but it's different for the Nolans. Lots of their daily routines are different, like they aren't taking piano lessons or reading The Bible or Shakespeare every day. Francie's lonely. Sissy's being Sissy (I KNEW she was pregnant). World War I begins, but I suppose they called it the Great War back then. The clipping bureau closes, but Francie gets a new job. Francie skips high school and signs up for college classes. Sissy has the baby at a hospital and he lives!

*****************

Things I looked up:

Sarah Bernhardt (page 409) - French stage actress who starred in some of the more popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In a 1906 performance in Rio de Janeiro, she leaped as part of her role and the mattress on which she was supposed to land had been positioned incorrectly and she landed on her right knee, which had already been damaged in earlier tours. Despite the injury to her leg, she continued to go on tour every summer. In 1915 (almost 10 years later!!), a physician discovered gangrene had developed on her leg and amputated her leg almost to the hip. She died in 1923. 

Bernhardt in 1880
Napoleon Sarony, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Wisconsin divorce (page 414) - At first I chuckled when Sissy's first husband said he obtained a Wisconsin divorce, but then I realized there was probably something more to it than just picking a random state. Sometimes I forget, in the current political climate of this state, that Wisconsin was once a progressive place. When Wisconsin became a state in 1848, its divorce laws were liberal for the times (much stricter than they are today, but...). In 1866, Wisconsin passed a law that allowed divorce after a voluntary separation of five years, which basically created one of the first no-fault divorce laws in the nation.

Poet who lived in Brooklyn (page 420) - You GUYS. I knew this poet was Walt Whitman because I just read Leaves of Grass. What are the odds?

A.B. degree (page 432) - This is the equivalent of a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) degree. It comes from the Latin baccalaureus artium or artium baccalaureus.  

Winesap, Baldwin, North Spy apples (page 433) - Winesaps are sweet with a tangy finish. It's hardiness zones are 5 through 8. Baldwins are aromatic with a spicy, sweet-tart flavor and it holds its shape when cooked. For many years it was the Northeast's most popular apple, more widely grown in the US than any other variety. North Spy apples have a strong, sweet flavor and are crisp. (I feel like apple people need to do better at describing them. Are there non-crisp apples?) North Spy apples originated at a farm in New York (or Connecticut - the literal first two Google results say different things - lol - I'm unwilling to research this more) and their hardiness zones are 4 through 9. 

Winesap apples. They look like apples to me!

Liberty cabbage (page 444) - I guess I thought this was made up, but no, during World War I, American sauerkraut makers relabeled their product as "liberty cabbage" for the duration of the war. Oh, boy. Remember freedom fries? I tried to find an example of one of these labels on the old Google, but I couldn't find one. I'm wondering if this was a situation where people said they were going to do something, but they didn't. Hm. Still a bit of a question mark for me. 

*****************

Select quotes (I'm limiting myself to no more than one a chapter!):

Chapter 46: 

Oof. I don't often do this, but I'm going to point out some bad, lazy writing from Smith.

It was a frosty night without a wind. All was still. (page 400)

THREE PAGES LATER.

The night was heady and frosty. There was no wind and the air was cold and still. (page 403)

I did not care for this. 

Chapter 47:

Each night at supper Katie asked Francie, "Has the war started yet?"
"Not yet. But any day now."
"Well, I wish it would hurry up and start."
"Do you want war?"
"No, I don't. But if it has to be, the sooner the better. The sooner it starts, the quicker it will end."  (page 410)

I sort of feel this way about anything I'm not looking forward to. It's the reason I always volunteered to give presentations first in school. 

Chapter 48:

"Well...good-bye college. Good-bye everything for that matter." (page 425)

This made me laugh so hard. Francie has historically been stoic, but she's such a whiner in these chapters. Save me from teenage angst. 

(I'm breaking my own rule and adding another quote from this chapter.)

She pressed the bell button three times before she entered the hallway so that Mama could be on the alert and make sure that Francie wouldn't be attacked by someone lurking in the hallways. (page 426)

Oh, an unpleasant reminder of Francie getting accosted in the hall.  

Chapter 49:

She was puzzled as to why learned people didn't adopt chemistry as a religion. (page 431)

LOL.

Chapter 50:

For the first time she heard the cry of a child she had borne. (page 440)

Good for Sissy. It really was a triumphant moment for her. 

*****************

Mentions of the word hat (I can't help myself):

He took his hat from a nail behind the door and jammed it on his head. (page 413)

*****************

Questions for you:

1) I found the back and forth between the Irish and the Germans on New Year's Eve sort of disturbing. In light of the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans during COVID, I feel like the Nolans laughing about it hit me the wrong way. Did you have this reaction or am I overreacting?

2) When Francie learns that war has been declared, she does a whole ritual of trying to remember everything about where she is and what's she doing when she learns the news. Has there ever been an event in your life where you did this? Do you remember everything?

3) There's a very confusing scene in the clipping bureau where two guys come in and then there's an envelope and then Francie says they caught a German spy. What? What is happening in this scene? Someone explain it to me like I'm ten. (Chapter 48)

4) Francie thinks she can just go to college because she doesn't need high school. What do you think about that?

Betty Smith actually kind of did do that, to be honest. She only completed two years of high school and she enrolled at the University of Michigan as a "special student" without matriculating from high school. She took classes at Michigan and Yale, although she never earned a degree despite having enough credits because she never graduated from high school. 

*****************

Were there any quotations or lines that particularly stood out to you? Did you have to look anything up?

*****************

Upcoming schedule:

September 11 (Chapters 52 – 56)
September 18 (entire book wrap up) 

Week 8: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Book Club, Chapters 42-45

Welcome to our book club for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Today we'll be discussing Chapters 42-45. Let's dive in!

*****************

Week 1 discussion
Week 2 discussion
Week 3 discussion
Week 4 discussion

Week 5 discussion

Week 6 discussion

Week 7 discussion

*****************

Synopsis:

Francie and Neely graduate and Johnny had arranged with Sissy for Francie to get flowers. Francie gets a factory job and Neely gets work as an errand boy and they are proud to give Katie money from their first paychecks. Francie gets laid off from the factory and starts working at a job where she clips newspaper articles. She wants to go back to school, but Katie wants Francie to keep working and Neely to go to school "Because if I don't make him, he'll never go back, where you, Francie, will fight and manage to get back somehow." (page 385) This is a rift that will never heal between Katie and Francie, I fear.  But since Francie and Katie are both working, they have a lovely Christmas with presents for everyone and they go to church where they say a mass in Johnny's honor. 

*****************

Things I looked up:

Gethsemane (page 350): I always miss religious references. Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of the Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the New Testament, Jesus Christ underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. Feel free to correct me, but I guess Jesus  knew he would be betrayed and was filled with anguish over the coming torture he was going to experience, but he prays and accepts God's will. (As a non-Christian, this is DARK.) 

Automat (page 368): Look, I knew what the automat was already, but I wanted to use this time to point you to the very delightful 99% Invisible podcast episode called "The Automat" for more details on it. 

More cool photos here. 

spats (page 392): Spats, a shortening of spatterdashes, or spatter guards, are a type of footwear accessory for outdoor wear, covering the instep and the ankle. Spats are distinct from gaiters, which are garments worn over the lower trouser leg as well as the shoe. 

All you ever wanted to know about spats here. 

chasuble (page 397): a sleeveless outer vestment worn by a Catholic or High Anglican priest when celebrating Mass, typically ornate and having a simple hole for the head

*****************

Select quotes (I'm limiting myself to no more than one a chapter!):

Chapter 42: 

"They're nice," Francie thought. "I could have been friends with them all the time. I thought they didn't want to be friends. It must have been me that was wrong." (page 352-353)

Oh, Francie. You're missing out if female friendships aren't part of your life. 

Chapter 43:

"Remember, Neeley, when we used to go out selling junk?"
"That was a long time ago."
"Yeah," agreed Francie. It was, in fact, two weeks since they had dragged their last haul to Carney's. (page 370)

So reminiscent of the "olden days" conversation. They seem to be aware that they're in the middle of big transitions. I don't think I was that aware of anything when I was their age. 

Chapter 44:

"What's the matter with me, anyhow? Here I stand criticizing Sissy - Sissy who's been so darn good to me. I'm dissatisfied with my job when I should feel lucky having such interesting work. Imagine getting paid to read when I like to read so much anyhow. And everyone thinks New York is the most wonderful city in the world and I can't even get to like New York. Seems like I'm the most dissatisfied person in the whole world. Oh, I wish I was young again when everything seemed so wonderful!" (page 381)

To come to Francie's defense here, NYC is pretty gross. LOL. (Sorry, sorry, New Yorkers. Your fine city is wonderful for many things. It also smells like trash.)

Chapter 45:

Several times that day, the name or thought of Papa had come up. And each time, Francie had felt a flash of tenderness instead of the old stab of pain. (page 393)

I do like how this book deals with grief. It's not a linear process.

*****************

Mentions of the word hat (I can't help myself):

"I'm putting my hat on," Katie said. (page 355)

Chockful in Chapter 45 because they buy Katie a new hat for Christmas. 

First they want to buy Mama a new hat. (page 389) - Did everyone notice that Katie gets a new green hat? So many green hats for Katie!

*****************

Questions for you:

1) When Francie sees Johnny's handwriting on the card with the flowers, she thinks for a second that it was all a dream and Johnny was alive. We have a couple of recipes my late MIL wrote out and those recipes bring us great joy. This is a two part question. In this day and age when we type things on computers, I see less and less handwriting. Do you think they'll come a day when we stop teaching children to handwrite, like how some kids don't learn cursive?  As always, feel free to not answer, but do you have anything handwritten that is super special to you?

2) Go with me on a journey of imagination. What was Francie's date with Albie like? What did they do? How did it go?

3) Katie! She has Neely go to school instead of Francie. What do you think of her reasoning? What would have done in her shoes? (Also, why so many green hats, Katie? Why?)

4) Neely asks for spats and Francie for fancy lingerie. Discuss. 

*****************

More book-related ephemera:

Friends, we have a stealth book club participant. D in Texas wrote to me the following email:

My mother recently passed way (at 96!) and as my siblings and I started clearing the house, I came across this yellowed, torn, and ancient clipping. Apparently ATGIB was printed in the paper as a serial, in this case, the Chicago Herald-American. The second photo has the date, February 28, 1944. 

I had no idea it was printed as a serial! And there are pictures!

That is so cool, D in Texas! Thanks for sharing this wonderful find with us. 

*****************

Were there any quotations or lines that particularly stood out to you? Did you have to look anything up?

*****************

Upcoming schedule:

September 4 (Chapters 46 – 51)
September 11 (Chapters 52 – 56)
September 18 (entire book wrap up)

Week 7: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Book Club, Chapters 38-41

Welcome to our book club for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Today we'll be discussing Chapters 38-41. Let's dive in!

*****************

Week 1 discussion
Week 2 discussion
Week 3 discussion
Week 4 discussion

Week 5 discussion

Week 6 discussion

*****************

Synopsis:

Now that Johnny isn't bringing in his sporadic income, there are money woes in the Nolan household. McGarrity the saloon keeper gives Francie and Neely jobs. Francie and Neely are confirmed, a teacher tells Francie that writing about Johnny is sordid, Katie has a baby girl they call Laurie. Katie's still working hard and Francie overhears people at the saloon talking about the news when she's working in the saloon.

*****************

Things I looked up:

rummy (page 305) - Hmmm...McGarrity says Johnny wasn't a rummy, but every definition I can find of this term make it seem like a synonym for a drunk or boozehound. Do you suppose McGarrity means Johnny wasn't a sloppy drunk? This seems wrong, too, based on some of Francie's diary entries.

bands in the baby's layette (page 339) - Hilariously, my husband didn't even know what a layette was. I don't know what these "bands" are and when I google it, it just gives me Nirvana and Metallica onesies.  Hey, moms, what does this mean? Laurie's got four of them. 

Surely this is not what Katie was having Laurie wear. Note to self: buy this for the next baby you meet.

*****************

Select quotes (I'm limiting myself to no more than one a chapter!):

Chapter 38: 

McGarrity was a man with a great sin on his soul. He hated his children. His daughter, Irene, was Francie's age. Irene was a pink-eyed girl and her hair was of such a pale red that it, too, could be called pink. She was mean and stupid. She had been left back so many times that at fourteen she was still in the sixth grade. His son, Jim, ten years old, had no outstanding characteristics excepting that his buttocks were always too fat for his breeches. (page 306)

I have been defensive of people who have criticized Smith's writing because I generally think it's sparkling, but this paragraph has just not aged well. Focusing on how children LOOK as a way to summarize their character is just not okay with me. Ugh. Hey, not all of us are born beautiful, you know?

Chapter 39:

Francie began to understand that her life might seem revolting to some educated people. She wondered, when she got educated, whether she'd be ashamed of her background. Would she be ashamed of her people; ashamed of her handsome papa who had been so lighthearted, kind and understanding; ashamed of brave and truthful Mama was so proud of her own mother, even though Granma couldn't read or write; ashamed of Neely who was such a good honest boy? No! No! If being educated would make her ashamed of what she was, then she wanted none of it. (page 325)

The scene with the teacher criticizing Francie's work absolutely infuriated my husband. 

(In grad school, before we were dating, Dr. BB and I went to be trained to do scoring for standardized tests for K-12 students. There was a real great response about "where do you want to live when you grow up?" that was all about how the student wanted to be someplace safe, where his mom would not be hurt, they would not have to worry about money or drug dealers, and there wouldn't be bars on the windows. It was very evocative and when asked what it should be scored from 0-6, Dr. BB and I gave it 4s or 5s or something like that. We were told it was a 2. It focused too much on what wouldn't be in the house and not what would be. Meanwhile, the essay about the ski chalet in Vale Vail was a 6. I have rarely  thought Dr. BB was going to punch someone as I did that day. If anyone asks what it means that standardized tests are classist, here's your example.)

Chapter 40:

They worked a while in silence before Floss spoke again. "I wonder are they worth it? The children, I mean."
Mrs. Gaddis thought of her dead son and her daughter's withered arm. She said nothing. She bent her head over her kitting. She had come around to the place where she dropped a stitch. She concentrated on picking it up. (page 341)

Oh. Mrs. Gaddis is over here breaking my heart. 

Chapter 41:

Yes, the world was changing rapidly and this time she knew it was the world and not herself. She heard the world changing as she listened to the voices. (page 346)

Have you ever felt this way? Like you know that history is happening right this second? 

*****************

Things I noticed, but don't have anywhere else to put them:

Johnny died on Christmas Day!  I don't know why this seems so significant to me, but I'm going to keep an eye out for how Christmas is treated throughout the rest of the book.

*****************

Mentions of the word hat (I can't help myself):

NONE!

*****************

Questions for you:

1) There are pages devoted to McGarrity, the saloon keeper. Why?  (Also, is anyone else vaguely worried about what's going to happen him when Prohibition is passed in just a few short years?)

Saloon, 1910, Ridgewood (Queens, not Brooklyn, but I did my best)

2) In the beginning of Chapter 39, Smith introduces three wishes that children being confirmed would make on their confirmation day - one is an impossible wish, another a wish that you could make come true for yourself, and the third to be a wish for when you grew up. What are your three wishes? 

3) What's going on with Sissy? Is she pregnant?  I find this character very perplexing and feel like "what's going on with Sissy?" could/should be a question every week.

4) Francie overhears people talking about so many things in the saloon - Prohibition (1920), women's suffrage (1920), World War I (the US gets involved in April 1917 and Laurie was born in May 1916!), automobiles (Ford's assembly line started rolling at the end of 1913), moving pitchers (!) - I like the alternate spelling. Do you feel like it WAS an unusual time of change? Do you think we're in one of those times now?  

*****************

Were there any quotations or lines that particularly stood out to you? Did you have to look anything up?

*****************

Upcoming schedule:

August 28 (Chapters 42 – 45)
September 4 (Chapters 46 – 51)
September 11 (Chapters 52 – 56)
September 18 (entire book wrap up)

Week 6: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Book Club, Chapters 33-37

Welcome to our book club for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Today we'll be discussing Chapters 33-37. Let's dive in!

*****************

Week 1 discussion
Week 2 discussion
Week 3 discussion
Week 4 discussion

Week 5 discussion

*****************

Synopsis:

Wow! For people who say nothing happens in this book, these 50 pages were chockful of activity. Katie shoots a murdering sex fiend who tries to attack Francie, Sissy adopts a baby and lies and says she gave birth, Johnny dies, and Katie's pregnant!  So much going on!

*****************

Things I looked up:

Sullivan Law (pages 253, 263): A gun control law in New York state that took effect in 1911. It requires licenses for New Yorkers to possess firearms small enough to be concealed. Private possession of such firearms without a license was a misdemeanor, carrying in public is a felony. The law was the subject of controversy both in its selective enforcement and the licensing bribery schemes it enabled. In 2022 (last year!), the US Supreme Court struck down the law as unconstitutional because "the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding people to carry a gun outside the home for self-defense and that the Sullivan Law, which makes that virtually impossible for most New Yorkers, is unconstitutional" (Samuel Alito), although the registration requirements of the law still stand.

*****************

Select quotes (I'm limiting myself to no more than one a chapter!):

Chapter 33: 

"She's okay. He never got near here." He took her swollen wrist in hand. "How did this happen?"
"I had to hit her with the gun to make her let go of the banister," Katie explained. He noticed her bruised knee.
"What's this?"
"That's where I had to drag her along the hall." Then he got to the angry burn just above her ankle. "And what in the name of God is this?"
"That's where her father washed her leg with carbolic acid where that man touched her."
"My God!" exploded the intern. "You trying to give her third-degree burns?" He opened the bag again, put cooling salve on the burn and bandaged it neatly. "My God!" he said again, "between the two of you, you did more damage than the criminal." (Page 259)

Such a serious chapter, but between this little snippet and the phrase "prowling sex fiend," I chuckled audibly a fair amount. I wonder what that says about my inner life?

(Also, at one point Zelda the Cat puked on a blanket on the couch. I did not notice until I sat down and felt it on my leg. I pseudo-screamed "it touched by leg!" and Dr. BB, without missing a beat, called from the other room "do you want me to get the carbolic acid?" at which point I collapsed into a million giggles before cleaning up my leg and throwing the blanket in the washer.)

Chapter 34:

After they had gone, Katie pulled Johnny's head down and whispered something to him.
"No!" he said in a surprised voice.
"Yes, Johnny," she said quietly. (page 272)

This is our first clue that Katie's pregnant! Then "her body was fuller" in Chapter 35 and it's fully confirmed by Sissy in the last sentence of Chapter 36. When did you get clued in?

Chapter 35:

He came and went without speaking. He stayed out late nights and came home sober and nobody knew where he spent the time. His hands were trembling badly. He could hardly hold the fork when he ate. And suddenly, he looked very old. (page 274)

So sad. He's only 34. 

Chapter 36:

Johnny had been on the earth for thirty-four years. Less than a week ago, he had walked on those streets. And now the cup, the ring and two unironed waiter's aprons at home were the only concrete objects left to connote that a man had once lived. There were no other physical reminders of Johnny, as he had been buried in all the clothes he owned with his studs and his fourteen-carat gold collar button. (page 292)

I think this is what the shaving cup would have looked like?

Chapter 37:

When the children were ready to go to bed, Katie did something very unusual. It was unusual because she was not a demonstrative woman. She held the children close to her and kissed them good night.
"From now on," she said, "I am your mother and your father." (page 299)

Oh, Katie. I can't even imagine what she's thinking about right now. She's got these two children and another on the way. How is she even going to keep it all together on her own? 

*****************

Mentions of the word hat (I can't help myself):

He [McShane] took off his hat while he spoke to her [Katie]. (page 263)

"And to show their appreciation, what did the boys do but pass the hat for you!" He extended an envelope. (page 263)

Katie got a new black hat and a three-foot widow's veil according to the custom of Brooklyn. (page 286)

*****************

Questions for you:

1) In previous week's discussions, The Comedian's Children has talked about the occasions when Smith deviates from Francie's POV and switches to others.  In the scene where Katie shoots the murderer, we switch from Katie's perspective about how she can swing by to check on Francie and get soap to Francie's perspective about getting home on time and seeing this guy back to Katie who sees this going down and runs back upstairs to get the gun, and then back to Francie. It was a rare bit of quick cuts in this book and it really made the scene feel like a propulsive action scene. Did you notice these perspective switches? What did they add to your reading experience? 

2) There's a paragraph in Chapter 33 where the newspaper story about the shooting where the story ends up being that Mrs. O'Leary of Williamsburg had been shot by a prowler in the hallway of her home, which is so far removed from the truth that it's laughable. It seems plausible, though, right? But we use newspapers as primary sources frequently for archival research. Is anyone else very troubled by this passage?  

3) Sissy! Was her handling of this baby situation ethical?

4) You don't have to answer this question if you don't want to or it makes you uncomfortable, but I'm going to ask it in case you'd like to share. Francie gets Johnny's shaving cup and Neely gets his ring. Do you have any artifacts from your loved ones that you'd like to share? I stand by my dining room table and cardinal picture as lovely pieces that make me think of my late MIL and the curio cabinet from my husband's grandmother. 

*****************

Were there any quotations or lines that particularly stood out to you? Did you have to look anything up?

*****************

Upcoming schedule:

August 21 (Chapters 38 – 41)
August 28 (Chapters 42 – 45)
September 4 (Chapters 46 – 51)
September 11 (Chapters 52 – 56)
September 18 (entire book wrap up)

Week 5: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Chapters 27-32

Welcome to our book club for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Today we'll be discussing Chapters 27-32. Let's dive in!

Week 1 discussion
Week 2 discussion
Week 3 discussion
Week 4 discussion

*****************

Synopsis:

Christmas! Francie and Neely get to keep a tree that was chucked at them (!) and Katie is noticeably more excited about her gift from Neely than her gift from Francie. Katie has an epiphany about the importance of education for her kids to get out of their neighborhood. Francie lies and says her name is Mary to get a doll, but it turns out her name IS Mary. 

Francie is growing up. Growing up ruins everything. She's really puzzled as to what lesson she is supposed to learn from Joanna, a young single mother. In the end, Francie sees women throwing stones and manure (!) at Joanna and the lesson she really learns is that she hates women.

Random goings on: Henny Gaddis dies. Johnny takes the kids and a tagalong named Tilly to ride a boat in the sea and everyone gets sick, falls in, and/or gets sunburned. Drummer the Horse kicks Willie because Willie is a jerk to him and Evy takes over the milk route while Willie recovers. We get a sneak peek into Francie's diary. 

*****************

Things I looked up:

zitful cap (page 206, 208) - Ah, my close reading failed me here. This phrase was actually introduced in Chapter 26 with the line "Mama made her wear her zitful cap (Katie's own name for a wool stocking cap)..." (page 196), so the term was already defined for me. The internetz suggest the term is possibly derived from the German word "zipfelkappe" which is a pointed cap. Any German speakers want to weigh in on this?

scapular (page 209) - By "look up," I mean I asked my husband. This is a religious artifact that typically consists of two small (usually rectangular) pieces of cloth, wood, or laminated paper, a few inches in size, which bears religious images or texts. These are joined by two bands of cloth and the wearer places one square on the chest, rests the bands one each on each shoulder and lets the second square drop down the back. 

You can buy this Sacred Heart scapular for only $10.95 from The Catholic Company.

isinglass (page 210) - a kind of gelatin obtained from fish, especially sturgeon, and used in making jellies, glue, etc. and in clarifying ale (I feel like the "etc." is doing a lot in this definition)

Creepy Swinborne isinglass trade card available through eBay for the low price of $7.50. 

WWI begins in 1914, so from this we can date that Francie was born around 1901, which aligns with my guess from Week 1's discussion. (Chapter 31)

Castle Clip (page 247) - Named after famous ballroom dancer Irene Castel who popularized the cut in the 1920s, the castle bob is a short-to-medium style hair length with some fringe at the front. 

Irene Castle, the Castle Bob haircut

*****************

Select quotes (I'm limiting myself to no more than one a chapter!):

Chapter 27: 

"And now get the hell out of here with your tree, you lousy bastards."
Francie had heard swearing since she had heard words. Obscenity and profanity had no meaning as such among those people. They were emotional expressions of inarticulate people with small vocabularies, they made a kind of dialect. The phrases could mean many things according to the expression and tone used in saying them. So now, when Francie heard themselves called lousy bastards, she smiled tremulously at the kind man. She knew that he was really saying, "Good-bye -- God bless you." (page 204)

I think this shows real emotional maturity on Francie's part to figure out what the man selling trees really meant. After all, we know from last week that Francie and Neely are certainly not lousy because Katie's making them smell foul just to avoid this and they may be many things, but their parents were married when they were born, so they are decidedly not bastards.  (The phrase "those people" made me a bit uncomfortable in this passage, too.)

Chapter 28:

She wasn't satisfied with the play she saw the following Saturday, either. All right. The long-lost lover came home just in time to pay the mortgage. What if he had been held up and couldn't make it? The landlord would have to give them thirty days to get out - at least that's how it was in Brooklyn. In that month something might turn up. If it didn't and they had to get out, well, they'd have to make the best of it. The pretty heroine would have to get on piece work in the factory; her sensitive brother would have to go out peddling papers. The other would have to do cleaning by the day. But they'd live. You betcha they'd live, thought Francie grimly. It takes a lot of doing to die. (page 220)

My husband actually read this out to me. There's something deeply sad about a tween/young teen thinking about death so frankly.

Chapter 30:

"She has skin like a magnolia petal." (Johnny had never seen a magnolia.) "Her hair is as black as a raven's wing." (He had never seen such a bird.) "And her eyes are deep and dark like forest pools." (He had never been in a forest and the only pool he knew was where each man put in a dime and guessed what the Dodgers score would be and whoever guessed right got all the dimes.) (page 231)

This made me laugh. On one hand, it's desperately sad that Johnny hasn't experienced so many things that I take for granted, but the only pool he knows is a betting pool. I laughed for days.

Chapter 32:

May 28. Carney did not pinch my cheek today. He pinched something else. I guess I'm getting too big to sell junk. (page 244)

Oh, no. What do you think he pinched?  Her butt? Boobs?  This is Not. Good.

*****************

Mentions of the word hat (I can't help myself):

Taking in the situation, he threw his wide minister's hat clear across the stage in a dramatic but unseemly gesture...(page 219)

*****************

Questions for you:

1) This is the second week in a row we've read about Francie lying to get material goods. Last week, she said she was going to give a pie to a poor family and this week she lied about her name (I mean, she thought she lied about her name) to get a doll. In both of these cases, it's understandable why Francie would lie, but I keep thinking about how Suzanne talked about how important the theme of shame was in this book. Francie knows she should be ashamed to admit she's poor (so she lies that she's going to give the pie to a poor family) and the book even specifically says "That was not all of Francie's shame" (page 213) as she walked down the aisle the aisle and the girls whispered beggar at her. Why is being poor so shameful in an environment in which everyone else is also poor? Do you think this shame will have long-lasting effects for Francie?

2) Ugh. The amount of misogyny in this book is definitely something I missed when I read it when I was younger. It comes from both men and women. Johnny saying women don't know anything about politics. Women throwing rocks at a single woman. Francie coming out and saying she hated women. Why are women so easily made scapegoats in this community?

3) It seems like these chapters spend a lot of time talking about how growing up is ruining so many things for Francie. Theater isn't the same, Carney pinches something that isn't her cheek, she starts menstruating so she can now get pregnant, and so on. Do you notice any of the text getting less fanciful/childlike as Francie gets older?

4) Katie, oh Katie. I was such a defender early on, but there's so much here that is hard to defend. Her blatant favoritism of Neely (the reaction to the Christmas present, for example), not preparing Francie for starting her period (unforgiveable!), reading Francie's diary and making her cross out drunk and write sick (what even?).  I really do think Katie is doing everything she can to hold their family together and that she's a complicated person (imagine how exhausted she must be!), but what do you think is the most egregious parenting failure on her part?

*****************

Were there any quotations or lines that particularly stood out to you? Did you have to look anything up?

*****************

Upcoming schedule:

August 14 (Chapters 33 - 37)
August 21 (Chapters 38 – 41)
August 28 (Chapters 42 – 45)
September 4 (Chapters 46 – 51)
September 11 (Chapters 52 – 56)
September 18 (entire book wrap up)

Week 4: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Book Club, Chapters 19-26

Welcome to our book club for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn!  Today we'll be discussing Chapters 19-26. Let's dive in!

Week 1 discussion
Week 2 discussion
Week 3 discussion

*****************

Let's all agree to stop apologizing in the comments, okay? Your comment isn't too long (although sometimes Blogger does eat super long comments, so feel free to break your posts up into smaller chunks if you're worried about that)! It's okay if you don't post immediately on Monday - it's actually encouraged that people come back later in the week to add to the conversation!  Feel free to go back to previous weeks, too, if you're falling behind.  It's okay if you don't want to answer the stupid questions I ask, but you want to talk about something else - this is also encouraged! Anything is okay and appreciated and no more apologies are necessary!

*****************

Synopsis: Francie is so excited to start school! But when she gets there, it's terrible. It's crowded, the teachers are mean, the students are mean, and Francie's looked down on because she's poor. There's corporal punishment and teachers sleeping with the janitor during school hours and poor Francie and Neely go to school smelling like kerosene and garlic to avoid communicable diseases and poor Francie can't use the restroom all day long. But Sissy saves the day! Katie hears that Sissy had another miscarriage and welcomes Sissy back into the fold.

While Francie's school is terrible, there are some bright lights, especially the music and art teachers. Francie does love learning and she learns to read and tell stories with numbers in math. But she sees another school in a nearby neighborhood and convinces Johnny to lie about their address so she can go to school there and it's so much better. Yay for Francie!

We learn how the neighborhood handles the Fourth of July, Election Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. There's a boating excursion where everyone's wearing hats and (FORESHADOWING) Sergeant Michael McShane asks about Katie. Francie tells a teacher a lie about pies and the teacher gives her a pep talk about the difference between lying and storytelling.

*****************

Things I looked up:

Tammany Hall (page 179 and elsewhere) - Look, I'm going to come off like a bad political scientist over here, but all I knew about Tammany Hall was that it was a powerful political machine that ran NYC for decades. I went way into the weeds on this Wikipedia article, but I think the only thing I was really missing of importance to this reading was that it really focused on encouraging immigrants, particularly the Irish, to rise up in the local Democratic Party.  If you're interested in the lyrics to the full song that Francie was singing in Chapter 24, you can find it here. 

I don't think Mattie Mahony was a real person. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

*****************

Select quotes (I'm limiting myself to no more than one a chapter!):

Chapter 20: Francie attended school stinking of garlic and kerosene oil. Everyone avoided her. In the crowded yard, there was always a cleared space around her. In crowded trolley cars, people huddled away from those Nolan children. (page 161)

Here's a story from my life. We were poor in a rural area and we had a giant leaky farmhouse without central heat. We had a wood-burning pellet stove. Three times when I was in school that MFing stove started a housefire and I would have to go to school smelling like smoke because you can NEVER get that smell out of your clothes and backpack and coat and textbooks.  I was shunned. But there was this nice popular guy who had a locker next to mine (his named started with Vi, mine started with Wa) and he was so kind and he shoved the bullies away and I can't find Gabe these days, but I hope he knows that I appreciated how he made a difficult time for me a lot easier.

Chapter 21: The two visiting teachers were the gold and silver sun-splash in the great muddy river of the school days, days made up of dreary hours in which Teacher made her pupils sit rigid with their hands folded behind their back while she read a novel hidden in her lap. If all the teachers had been like Miss Bernstone and Mr. Morton, Francie would have known plain what heaven was. (page 165)

I love that this book has a huge focus on how important good teachers are. 

Chapter 22: Oh, magic hour when a child first knows it can read printed words! (page 166)

Yes! Learning to read is life altering.

Chapter 23: "You know that what we are going to do is wrong?"
"Is it, Papa?"
"But it's a wrong to gain a bigger good."
"Like a white lie?"
"Like a lie that helps someone out. So you must make up for the wrong by being twice as good. You must never be bad or absent or late. You must never do anything to make them send a letter home through the mails." (page 173)

Occasionally Johnny does have these moments of good parenting, doesn't he?

Chapter 24: "For what Tammany gives to the people, it takes from them double. You wait until us women vote." Johnny's laugh interrupted her. (page 181)

And then Johnny's a real jerk.

Chapter 25: He felt that they needed lessons in - for what passed in his mind - geography, civics and sociology.. So he took them over to Bushwick Avenue. (page 191)

A field trip is never wrong. Damn it. Johnny's back to being a good parent. It's a roller coaster with this guy.  Did you also immediately Google images of Bushwick Avenue?

Chapter 26: Francie always remembered what that kind teacher told her. "You know, Francie, a lot of people would think that these you're making up all the time were terrible lies because they are not the truth as people see the truth. In the future, when something comes up, you tell exactly how it happened but write down for yourself the way you think it should have happened. Tell the truth and write the story. Then you won't get mixed up." (page 199) 

Back to good teaching again.

*****************

Mentions of the word hat (I can't help myself):

...tipped his hat gallantly and sauntered off down his beat...(page 157)

He was wearing his only suit, the tuxedo and his derby hat and he looked very grand. (page 170)

Mama sat on deck looking very pretty in her jade-green straw hat and a yellow dotted-swiss dress...(page 182)

"Would that be your mother sittin' over there in the green hat?" (page 183)

She put on her brushed and pressed gray suit with all the braid on it and tilted her jade-green velvet hat over her right eye. (page 188)

Oh, to wear such a great coat with large buttons and a velvet collar and a squashed-down high hat with a ribbon cockade in the band! (page 192)

*****************

Questions for you:

1) Lice. What's my question? I don't know. Just. Lice. I'm scratching my head just thinking about it. 

2) Do you remember learning to read? I was a late learner, but I have a similar memory to Francie of seeing the word "cat" and suddenly understanding that it meant a CAT.  And then I never stopped reading.

3) I think I've mentioned before that Election Day is one of my top five holidays. I think it's because of this book. Election Day should be a federal holiday.  Have you ever read about a holiday tradition and started incorporating it into your life?

4) There's a lot about politics in these chapters and I'll admit that Johnny being a jerk about women voting took me by surprise a little bit because sometimes I forget that 1920, when white women got suffrage in the US, was much more recent than it should be! It's been just over one hundred years. Women now generally vote in greater numbers than men in the United States. How do you think you would have handled Johnny's scoffing at the idea of women voting? 

5) How many hats does Katie have? She has at least TWO jade-green hats (a velvet one and a straw one) and that seems like a lot for what I imagine is a small wardrobe. (This is not a real question. It's just something I noticed and I tried to figure out if they were the same hat because jade-green is so specific, but I think they have to be different.)

*****************

Were there any quotations or lines that particularly stood out to you? Did you have to look anything up?

*****************

More book-related ephemera:

There are currently three copies of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in our house. There's the one I'm reading, the one my husband borrowed from the university library so he could read it, and the one I purchased from Barnes & Noble in the early 2000s. I'd like to talk about the last two.

The one my husband has from the university library looks like this:

But as I was flipping through it, I noticed this in the front matter:

Before the title page, there's a passage that is NOT found in either of the copies I have!

There's a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. It grows in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps. It grows up out of cellar gratings. It is the only tree that grows out of cement. It grows lushly...survives without sun, water, and seemingly without earth. It would be considered beautiful except that there are too many of it. 

Does your copy have this passage?

Meanwhile, my copy from the 2000s is just a regular HarperPerennial version. Allison and Stephany have what I assume are the same edition. 

(Tangent: Ever since I've known my husband I've been discussing a hypothetical tattoo that I will never get. That tattoo is of THIS copy of ATGIB in with Francie's leg hanging down and a two of hearts playing card being used as a bookmark. This tattoo will never happen, but I want you to know that I've had the same idea for going on two decades now.)

The reason I bought a new book for this reread instead of just reading the copy I already owned is that this HarperPerennial copy is mispaginated and it makes it SO UNPLEASANT to read.

Here are a couple of examples:

It goes from page 60 to page 63. 

From page 94 to page 97.

I'm super enjoying this "let's show pictures of our books" portion of book club. Does anyone else have anything interesting about their books they'd like to share?  

*****************

Upcoming schedule:

August 7 (Chapters 27 - 32)
August 14 (Chapters 33 - 37)
August 21 (Chapters 38 – 41)
August 28 (Chapters 42 – 45)
September 4 (Chapters 46 – 51)
September 11 (Chapters 52 – 56)
September 18 (entire book wrap up)

Week 3: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Book Club, Chapters 11-18

Welcome to our book club for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Today we'll be discussing Chapters 11-18. Let's dive in!

Week 1 discussion
Week 2 discussion

*****************

Thanks again to everyone who sent in a photo of their book!

Maya at PocoBrat
Jenny at Runners Fly

*****************

Synopsis: Katie's sister Sissy helps Johnny detox after a bout of alcohol poisoning, but the Nolans have to move because of Johnny's drunken idiocy. Francie's lonely, but there's some solace for her in the music of the neighborhood, including a traveling band and an organ grinder with a monkey. Eventually Katie and Johnny disavow Sissy after a couple of incidents where Sissy is an idiot and the Nolans have to move again. The new place has a terrifying sounding airshaft, but it also comes with a piano, so Katie, Neely, and Francie all learn to play with lessons from Miss Tynmore. Francie and Neely have to get vaccinations to go to school and Francie's injection site gets infected and Johnny is able to clean it. Look at Johnny being a decent father for once in his life. (That previous sentence was editorial, rather than a simple recitation of plot.)

*****************

Things I looked up:

Parlor suite (page 104) - Do you think this means furniture for a parlor?  It just seems like the Nolans have very little furniture, so what do you think the "green plush parlor suite" consists of?  

*****************

Select quotes (I'm limiting myself to no more than one a chapter!):

Chapter 12: While Katie was putting up lace curtains, Mary Rommely came over and sprinkled the rooms with holy water to drive out any devils that might be lurking in the corners. Who knows? Protestants might have been living there. A Catholic might have died in the rooms without the absolution of the church. The holy water would purify the home again so that God might come in if He chose. (page 105)

I don't know why the line about a Protestant living there made me laugh. Interesting delve into the religious divide of the neighborhood. 

Chapter 13: The fall came again, winter, spring, and summer. Francie and Neely kept getting bigger, Katie kept working harder and Johnny worked a little less and drank a little more with each season. (page 109)

Johnny's just no good. I liked how this passage describes time passing in terms of the children growing up. Clever writing, this. 

Chapter 14: While Katie was arguing with the movers, Johnny took Francie up on the roof. She saw a whole new world. Not far away was the lovely span of the Williamsburg Bridge. Across the East River, like a fairy city made of silver cardboard, the skyscrapers loomed cleanly. There was the Brooklyn Bridge further away like an echo of the nearer bridge. (page 122)

Katie's doing work and Johnny's on the roof. Shocker. I like Smith's use of simile here. The rest of the city is so mysterious to Francie. 

Chapter 15: The pole stood against a brick wall which was the windowless side of the neighborhood school. Francie found that no two bricks were alike when she looked real close. It was a soothing rhythm the way they were put together with crumbly thin lines of white mortar. They glowed when the sun shone on them. They smelled warm and porous when Francie pressed her cheek against them. They were the first to receive the rain and they gave off a wet clay odor that was like the smell of life itself. In the winter, when the first snow was too delicate to last on the sidewalks, it clung to the rough surface of the brick and was like fairy lace. (page 128)

Did I just read an entire riveting paragraph about BRICKS?  This paragraph should be taught in writing classes to show how you involve all the senses.  

Chapter 17: "Sometimes I see you sitting on the gutter curb for hours. What do you think of then?"

"Nothing. I just tell myself stories."
Miss Tynmore pointed at her sternly. "Little girl, you'll be a story writer when you grow up." It was a command rather than a statement. (page 141)

Isn't it crazy how an offhand comment made by someone can have a huge impact on your life later on?

Chapter 18: "My brother is next. His arm is just as dirty as mine so don't be surprised. And you don't have to tell him. You told me." They stared at this bit of humanity who had become so strangely articulate. Francie's voice went ragged with a sob. "You don't have to tell him. Besides it won't do no good. He's a boy and he don't care if he is dirty." She turned, stumbled a little and walked out of the room. As the door closed, she heard the doctor's surprised voice.

"I had no idea she'd understand what I was saying." (page 147)

The juxtaposition of what Miss Tynmore says in the previous chapter versus what the doctor says here is so interesting. Both sort of careless, offhand remarks, but with different outcomes and intentions. 

*****************

Mentions of the word hat (I can't help myself):

He comes to the door
With his hat in his hand. (page 111)

They wore ordinary suits but funny hats... (page 113)

...tip his hat...(this phrase appears on pages 114 & 115)

Francie stared at the cruel hat. (page 140)

The figure in its tuxedo and derby hat...(page 149)

*****************

Questions for you:

1) Let's talk about Sissy here. Do you think Katie and Evy were in the right to disavow her because of the tricycle and condoms from the cigar box incidents?  Or is she just misguided? Is this an unfair outcome for Sissy who does seem like she's just trying to be a good aunt?

2) The scene with Miss Tynmore asking for a cup of tea was very evocative to me. "The ladies knew what was polite and would come through with a cup of tea but they had no intention of supplying a meal and paying a quarter, too. So Miss Tynmore came to look forward to the house at the Nolans. The coffee was heartening and there was always a bun or a bologna sandwich to sustain her." (page 141-142) It reminded me of the conversation we had earlier about how Katie would let Francie dump out a cup of coffee every day. What do you think this has to say about charity and class? It seems that Katie is quite generous with the little that the Nolans have, but maybe that's not true for people with even a little more? 

3) I am so impressed that Francie stood up to the doctor who was talking smack about her dirty arm.  Do you think you could have stood up to an authority figure like that at age seven?

4) I think I've made it clear over the last few weeks that I feel like Katie is the heroine of the story here despite what might be her less than stellar parenting towards Francie, at least so far in the book. Who is the character that you are most resonating with on this read?

*****************

Were there any quotations or lines that particularly stood out to you? Did you have to look anything up?

*****************

Upcoming schedule:

July 31 (Chapters 19 - 26)
August 7 (Chapters 27 - 32)
August 14 (Chapters 33 - 37)
August 21 (Chapters 38 – 41)
August 28 (Chapters 42 – 45)
September 4 (Chapters 46 – 51)
September 11 (Chapters 52 – 56)
September 18 (entire book wrap up)

*****************

Interesting tidbits from last week's homework:

Anne sent along some photos from her 1992 HarperCollins edition, including a cool author's note that is not in my edition.

Okay, it starts with a story about a dog and ends with her talking about writing lots of letters. Oh, Betty Smith. I think we could have been good friends.