Shel Silverstein narrates The Giving Tree

ht AZ

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6 responses to “Shel Silverstein narrates The Giving Tree”

1. StampDawg says:

   12/01/2009 at 5:21 pm

   Thanks so much to AZ for finding this!

   I absolutely love THE GIVING TREE and was wanting someone at MB to post about it.

   This rendition was fascinating to watch. Personally I think it's more powerful to tell the story with a series of still images, the ones SS chose for the book; rather than this movie adaptation. If anyone wants to see renditions like these, you can find some of them on YouTube as well. (They have the original text of the books as well — this one was changed in some important respects.)

   Again, many MANY thanks for finding this!

   Reply
2. Aaron M. G. Zimmerman says:

   12/01/2009 at 5:36 pm

   Hi StampDawg. Interesting background info on this clip. I found this video on the personal blog of a South Korean supermodel Daul Kim who recently committed suicide. I found it significant that she was thinking of this book a few weeks before her death.

   Reply
3. Jeff Hual says:

   12/02/2009 at 10:06 am

   Aaron,

   This was one of my favorites as a child. The elementary school used to show this film from time to time.

   Incidentally, the latest version of the book comes with CD audio of Silverstein's narration. My son loves that, and I can't wait to show him this movie tonight!

   Thanks for posting this,

   Jeff

   Reply
4. Bonnie says:

   12/02/2009 at 6:04 pm

   I never really fully understood this, would love to hear people's thoughts on it. It's a bit dark, no? I understand the one-way love aspect, but what about the fact that the boy/man isn't ever happy, isn't ever satisfied, isn't grateful? One-way love doesn't *expect* goodness/love in return, but it usually does engender goodness. So I think the tree is really great, but I don't know what to make of the boy/man. Maybe someone could enlighten me 🙂

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5. andrea.zimmerman says:

   12/02/2009 at 6:48 pm

   Bonnie- I always understood the man as continually seeking love in other places, but always coming back to the tree. He sort of can't help himself. In the end he is completely broken and has almost ruined the life of the tree, but the tree still welcomes him. I guess what I take away from it is that God can give us everything we ever need, yet we are stupid idiots and look for love, money, whatever, everywhere else because we are slaves to our sin. Sort of checking in on God and taking what we can get from time to time. Yet in the end He is still there with open arms.

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6. Bonnie says:

   12/03/2009 at 7:03 am

   Hey Andrea, thanks. Yeah I can see that. I suppose what I keep expecting is some kind of second use of the Law — some kind of conviction in the man, but I don't really see it since it's only because the tree can't give him anything else that he stays there with it, and I can't tell whether the man sits with the tree out of love or out of sheer exhaustion! 😛

   Reply