Tuck Everlasting - Lost in Adaptation

It might not work on plants.

Lee Hawkridge

Much as I love this book and review, am I the only person who noticed or was bothered by the plot hole that the tree was able to be carved into, burned, and bulldozed down when the spring is supposed to make you not only immortal but invincible? Not to mention, was the spring or tree older? If the spring came first and the tree grew up from it later, shouldn't it be forever a sapling? If the tree came first and the spring came after and the tree became frozen in time that makes more sense... but the T they carved remaining contradicts the "all who drink from this instantly heal all wounds." It'd be like if Jessie forever walked around with a freshly broken neck, or the horse saddled with eternal fresh, bleeding bullet wounds. I love this book and review... but I'm just saying is all.

Okay... I don't know what I thought this book was about... but this was not it. Wow.

FizzPlease

This was such a great review!! I think it's one of the best reviews you ever made. Very informative, insightful, FUNNY, and brings up a lot of interesting, thought-provoking, and philosophical observations about the book and movie that even I never considered (and you KNOW I tend to overthink things by a wide margin). I especially love your observation about one not-so-obvious theme of the book being how age can be defined by life experiences rather than just how many years you've lived. That is, how Miles was leagues more mature than Jessie despite being numerically only five years older, because he'd been a husband and father, and so did that “you have to grow emotionally” stuff that Jessie never did, so Jessie was trapped in a state of perpetual immaturity that Miles wasn’t. I never thought of that and I love the spark your comment ignited in my brain. As to the toad, don’t feel bad harping on it. I completely agree that the movie did wrong by leaving it out. I felt like the toad was a really important symbol that highlighted aspects of Winnie’s personality, the themes of immortality (that it’s a curse for intelligent and social animals like humans, but a blessing for simple and solitary animals; Tuck compared their life to being like “rocks on the side of the road,” but the toad sat proudly in the center of the road). And Winnie giving it Jessie’s spring water foreshadowed her eventual decision not to drink (she wasn’t afraid to part with her one always-on-hand immortality ticket and risk dying before she could find the spring again). Also, I think the toad was kind of… a symbolic immortality for Winnie? Yes, Winnie opted not to drink and physically died an old lady, but in a fit of childish impulsive selfishness (giving the curse of immortality to “her” toad just because she loved him and didn’t want him to die) she ensured a toad she bonded with the means to live forever. So, while she physically died an old lady, a toad that somewhat embodied how she felt when she was ten will live forever… If that makes sense? Anyway, great review! You should include more jokes and impromptu examinations and observations in your reviews from now on. This was such a treat to watch!

Time for the most bullshit "Well actually" you can get this video, all in good fun: "Well Actually the spring would work just fine that way, it is on a hill, and a tree as big as that COULD bridge the gap between a spring's water source and the surface with its roots because of an increase in capillary potential 'pulling' the water up. Similar to the principle that a rope will get wet far above the waterline if you hang its tip in water." Though of course it's clear the producers poured half a bucket into the gap in the trunk. See! You're not the only one with an unusual education in a not entirely practical field that tries to apply his knowledge where possible before reality kicks in and makes you work at a bank! Hmm, think there's a future in a youtube channel explaining geological processes?

I'm glad you remarked on THAT FREAKING AGE DIFFERENCE in the book. This was gross for me even as a kid.

OMG! I just realize I've read this! I just didn't make the connection because I read the French translation so the title was different.

Your review makes me glad I've never read the book. I hate with a burning passion the "immortality is BAD!" trope. SO many writers use it. Immortality doesn't have to be bad. It can be awesome. And - um - don't hate me - but I've seen springs come out of tree stumps. If there's a rotten spot in the tree that make path for a spring to come out of, it will come out of a tree.

I can't be certain about this, but I think part of the reason for why writers and what have you use the "romance that starts with dislike and hostility between the two participants" trope (or Beligerant Sexual Tension, if you want the TV Tropes name) is because they might feel that there's an arc the two need to go through before they get together. Namely, a "you must learn to look past the surface and learn to appreciate who the other is" kind of arc. Like I said, I can't be certain that that's the case, but it's a possibility, and believe me, I'm not trying to justify it, just suggesting a possible contributing factor.