THE LEARNING TREE

by Gordon Parks ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 11, 1963

This first novel, about a young Negro boy growing up in Kansas, is well-intentioned and full of good scenes and observations; but it also relies too heavily arbitrary and violent incidents. Next is first met during a cyclone, in which he is rescued and seduced by an older Negro girl (she is later killed in an automobile accident); and the major story, which involves a group of delinquents in own and the crimes they perpetrate, including the murder of a white man, is also somewhat improbable. The murder and the courtroom scene echo Tom Sawyer, and many of the other stark (or interest-sustaining) episodes seem borrowed and imposed. ewt, however, is part of a large and wholly believable family and their relations with each other and with the whites are convincing. Where the novel observes these aily, less dramatic events, it is warm and well-written and very much alive. All all, a first novel where the promise is stronger than the achievement.

Pub Date: Sept. 11, 1963

ISBN: 081241604X

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1963

Categories: FICTION