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  When my Mom got the kids a Shel Silverstein book (Where the Sidewalk Ends), I was a little dubious. Somehow I just thought he'd be a little too cutesy, but it turned out to be pretty good and the kids liked it a lot. I like the way he often riffs off of classic styles and themes, as in the nearly Mother Gooseian:
  that seems like a small price to pay, and one you come to expect in the increasingly politically correct world of children's literature. It's kind of like how you have to wade through the Star-Bellied Sneeches to get to The Grinch.
  What I did not realize at the time was that Silverstein had also written two of the great Country novelty tunes of all time--Johnny Cash's:
  So I realized I was already, albeit unwittingly, at least a mild fan of his work. Then recently to my pleasant surprise I found a copy of The Giving Tree for a quarter at the local library book sale. I brought it home & showed my wife and she said: "I can't believe you got that book, it's so sad". I'll admit I may have scoffed a little. Then I read it and darn near found my eyes growing moist. I just felt so sorry for the tree that I wanted to pistol whip that selfish, acquisitive kid/man. Which brings us to the question: Is it possible that this slender children's book is one of the most insightful comments ever written on the "Me" generation?
  This may strike you as absurd, but take a look at the First Things Symopsium about the book that I found online. For my own part, I read the book as a tragedy, and despite my initial reaction, the boy/man strikes me as the tragic figure. He is completely consumed by selfish concerns and what he can get from the tree. The story could equally well be called The Taking Boy. And in the twilight of his life, what does he have left after taking and taking and taking? Nothing. In fact, he has to return to the tree and ask for more. The final scene seems less of a "reconciliation" than one more desperate act of selfish consumption on his part. It reminded me of Citizen Kane, with Charles Foster Kane looking back at his life from his death bed and realizing how unfulfilled he is.
  Silverstein was just a tad older than the Baby Boomers, but his status as a pop icon rested on their enthusiasm. So it's ironic that they made him a best-selling author by blindly reading this truly devastating critique of their cohort and their lifestyle to their kids. Ironic, but delicious.
  Like many "children's" picture books, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein can be read at a variety of levels. For the younger child, it is an interesting story in which a boy has a relationship with a tree. It appeals to the child for its basic langauge, its repetitive pattern, and its line drawings. An older child may see the story as sad, even poignant. For the adult, it can be an allegory of aging.
  In the beginning, the boy enjoys the simple pleasures of life the tree provides. Then the boy begins to seek material goods, and each time the tree obliges, driving the human and the tree farther and farther apart. When the tree ostensibily has nothing left to give, both the tree and the now old man enjoy quiet reflection and companionship.
  Depending upon the reader's inclination, the tree can represent a parent, the universe itself, a Higher Spirit. Stretched to the limit, one can compare the Giving Tree to the Tree of Life which can satisfy while one is still in a state of innocence (the Garden of Eden) which one abandons as one becomes more and more enamored of the material world. Finally, though, Silverstein portrays a reconciliation.
  -AUDIO: Cory Larson-Thomas reading poems by Shel Silverstein--Recorded July 6, 1999 during OpenMike Poetry night
  -ESSAY: A boy named Shel: A member of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show recalls Shel Silverstein's wicked ways with songs and women (RIK ELSWIT, Salon)
  -ARTICLE: Bobby bares his soul: Son of music star has a hit with cheatin', hurtin' and rockin' style (MIKE ROSS, Express)
  I forgot to say, I've felt that way since I was eight or so, although I wouldn't have expressed it the same way thirty years ago.
  Maybe I'm being overly critical, or absurdly deconstructive, but the Giving Tree seems to represent Nature, and Boy represents Humanity.
  However, in reality, Nature would just as soon kill ya as look at ya, and Humans often thank God for nature's bounty - which is the same as thanking Nature.
  Thus, The Giving Tree is mostly about a dysfunctional and codependent relationship, and who needs that ?
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