MY SWEET ORANGE TREE (1968)

A book for summertime bounce, refresh your holiday with a glass of orange juice and “My Sweet Orange Tree”.

From its inception, this South American children’s classic novel, carrying a glimpse of the autobiographical genre, is a phenomenal success at its home – Brazil, and became the most renowned work of José Mauro de Vasconcelos. The book is meritoriousin many aspects, including the storyline and the flow of emotions.

The story follows Zezé – a five, almost six years old, highly precocious yet obstreperous boy. His small companion on the journey to “discover pain and love”, is a sweet orange tree in the backyard of his new house, and a fellow, a real person, who will have a big impact on his life later on. The first few chapters bring a humorous, innocent, and bright tone, through mischievous pranks pulled by Zezé and his tremendous capacity for kindness and compassion. Then, the latter half closes on a sorrowful theme, adding a bit of bitterness because of the unpredictable twist just before the ending.

With a medium length in addition to a simple, daily life penmanship andextraordinary narrative power, the classic book is legible and eventually, inspires great empathy from readers. Additionally, meaningful messages hidden behind each phrase are uncomplicated to realize and concur with. The book reminds us that beauty comes from simple things; and exposes unreservedly the iniquity of poverty, the human need for kindness, and the search for the purpose of life.

However, we will not discuss any further into the plot, as we believe every small phrase are incremental fragments that together create the impressive and memorable ending, which is another factor that contributes to the success of this novel. Nevertheless, from the reviewer’s perspective, this classical “children’s book” may be more appropriate for adults, who have experienced childhood, as for the painful scars and vicious visuals appearing among the story, and some of the messages may be cryptic for kids.

In closing, although the book may not live up to most readers’ expectations, we would say “My Sweet Orange Tree” is regardless a beautiful and emotional read after a hard-working day.

VOCABULARY:

1. Autobiographical (adj.)/ˌɔː.təˌbaɪ.əˈɡræf.ɪ.kəl/: based on or involving the writer’s own life.
2. Meritorious (adj.)  /ˌmer.ɪˈtɔː.ri.əs/: deserving great praise.
3. Precocious (adj.) /prɪˈkəʊ.ʃəs/: (especially of children) showing mental development or achievement much earlier than usual.
4. Obstreperous (adj.)  /əbˈstrep.ər.əs/: difficult to deal with and noisy.
5. Penmanship (n.)  /ˈpenmənʃɪp/: the act of writing by hand; skill in doing this.
6. Narrative (n.) /ˈnær.ə.tɪv/: telling a story or describing a series of events.
7. Readable (adj.) /ˈriːdəbl/: (of a book, an article, etc.) that is easy, interesting and enjoyable to read.
8. Unreservedly (adv.) /ˌʌnrɪˈzɜːvɪdli/: completely; without hesitating or having any doubts.
9. Incremental (adj.) /ˌɪŋkrəˈmentl/: increasing in regular amounts.
10.  Vicious (adj.) /ˈvɪʃəs/: violent and cruel.
11.  Cryptic (adj.) /ˈkrɪptɪk/: with a meaning that is hidden or not easily understood.