The Giving Tree

[prog]

Via jadelennox, I learn that The Giving Tree, one of my beloved books from childhood, has a great deal of controversy around it and is actually reviled by some children's literature scholars, herself included.

I find the controversy both surprising and interesting, but I think this is the first time I've seen a book I hold so dear (there are very few) get attacked like this. I put up a little defense for it in that thread, but seeing all the other commenters pour righteous scorn on it makes me feel queasy, as if all these people were rushing in to talk about how my Aunt Jan was actually a pirate who molested them as children or something. Bad news.

Comments

[kahuna-burger.livejournal.com]

"giving my baloney meter stretch marks."

"If you squint just right you can..."

I'm honestly curious.... Do you expect anyone to give your opinions weight with this sort of dismissiveness? I can't say that being essentially accused of "creating" a view rather than coming to it naturally and insulted for thinking about what I read gives me any interest in your advice. And the idea that people do not talk to their children just because they also talk to other adults is a little... odd, I would say.

[popecrunch.livejournal.com]

Not particularly. I gave up expecting peoople to actually listen to my opinions on the internet ages ago in general. And specific to this instance, it would be rather hypocritical of me to do so when I couldn't wrap my head around the conflicting opinion in this scenario, so.

To answer your second point, it's been my experience (and I fully admit that this has a chance of being a statistical aberration) that the people shrieking 'So and so media is HORRIBLE FOR THE KIIIIIDS' the loudest seem to have some sort of allergy to screening things for their children and discussing concepts with them that they feel bear it. Again, I'm not saying you do or do not discuss things with your hypothetical or actual kid and/or kids, just that's what my experience has led me to expect.

I'm also casually interested in mapping the 'Good book or book that should be discussed' vs 'Bad book don't let them read it' against people who have children vs. people who don't. Maybe there's a correlation, maybe there isn't. Hmm.