“Look at everything always as though you were seeing it
either for the first or last time:
Thus is your time on earth filled with glory.”
-Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
“Sometimes I think it’s better to suffer bitter unhappiness
and to fight and to scream out, and even to suffer that terrible pain,
than to just be… safe. At least she knows she’s living.”
-Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
I read the book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, a long time ago… probably at least a decade ago. I remembered really loving the book at the time, but I didn’t quite remember it per se. Time erases a lot of books from my memory, even the ones I dearly loved. The slight familiarity makes the book that much better when you re-read it in the future.
Recently, I decided I wanted to re-read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I found it in a local used bookstore a few weeks ago and have sporadically been reading it at bedtime. My younger self was definitely right in loving the book. I think I love and appreciate it for different reasons now, but neither are bad. The writing is poetic and having now been (and lived) in New York City, I understand a lot more.
Classics are classics for a reason. No, I don’t like to be like everyone else or like what everyone else likes, but if something is good, how can you deny it?
I’m Wearing…
Navy Espadrilles: Tory Burch (
Similar)
Red Scarf: Handmade by Yours Truly (
This DIY)
