Ditchdigger's Daughter

Rating:
Summary: A dad you love to hate and hate to love....
Review: As a book reviewer I get several books to read, review, and sometimes return. Some of these books are so good I do not want to return them. Ditchdigger's Daughters is one of those books. When I first picked this book up, I was feeling a little defeated and exasperated about my job. This book gave me Donald Thornton wisdom to be the best, never mind that my colleagues are faster and younger. As Donald Thornton would say find the brightest rabbit, catch up to him/her, and pass him.

Donald Thornton passed away in 1993. What he left behind for his daughters to peruse is his wit and wisdom. Still today, I bet his daughters have every lesson stored so they can pass it on to their children. He had no education but somehow he raised six girls to become accomplished black women. He used resources within himself that some people would never think of. To finance his children's education they each paid for the other, with the proceeds from their band. The band was called the Thornettes and later changed to the Thornton Sisters, they played for students at Princeton and various other Colleges.

Donald Thornton's six splits as family and friends affectionately called him and his girls went on to become more than what anyone expected of them. Betty became a nurse, Linda a dentist, Rita is the head of the science department in a private school, the author of The Ditchdigger's Daughters Yvonne, is an OB/GYN, Donna is a court stenographer and Jeanette has a doctorate in counseling psychology. Their story is not so much about what they have become but how they got there. The Ditchdigger's Daughters will astound and amaze you. You will think twice before you express what you cannot do in your personal life. The history in this book was wonderful and it was a quick read. Thornton Ladies, I am sure your mother is happy that her wish has come true, to have her family's story told in a book that is in the library. What a hidden treasure, The Ditchdigger's Daughter is a must read.

Missy

Rating:
Summary: Education is KING!
Review: I read this book a very long time ago. I do remember that the basic story was good, but it was unfortunately spoilt by the continuous display of ignorance by the author. A couple of things that stand out in my memory are things like her reference to her PHD holding sister as not a real doctor. How dumb can you be-the PHD is the highest possible degree that can be bestowed on a person, yet it seemed like she was demeaning her sister's credentials. I remember her also talking about moving into a house that had been destroyed by the "third world" people that had been the previous inhabitants. At that point and also at the point where she voiced being embarassed by her sister's african getup, I realized that this was an incredibly narrow minded and ignorant person. Ditto when she talked about the other graduates being jealous of the medical graduates saying the hippocratic oath. This was so blatantly ignorant-Dr. Thornton, lawyers take an oath as well, just not at graduation, but on swearing in. The looks you mistook for jealousy were probably looks of hurry up. Generally speaking this woman spoiled what could have been a delightful and inspirational piece, with nonsensical rambling. Sadly it just serves to show that no matter what you achieve in life, your background always shines right through. I guess mom was right, money can't buy you class.

Rating:
Summary: Garbage
Review: I'll readily admit that every book has its place and that nothing should be censored no matter what the content may be, but the pity-me story that Ms. Thornton decided to tell the world should have been censored. The world does not need one more tragic story with a nice pretty ending. To quote a review from above, "This is basically an "Oh, poor me. I was born with nothing except for God's grace and good parents" story." To say that this book was original or even worthwhile would be a gross overstatement, possibly even leaning towards a humorous hyperbole.

From an early and the first page, it is quickly revealed that this whining is not new. The line, ""Daddy, don't you love us?" we wailed," is a prime example. The question is not formed to allow the asked to answer how he would like, but begs a yes answer. Frequently used by children to get what they want, this explains the tone that this book takes despite it being written by an outside source. Even the word `wailed' is highly dramatic. It has a way of seeming like someone is being abused and to demonstrate the inequity of it all. Had the word `wailed' been changed to `said' the entire scene would have changed considerably. It would have lessened the seeming pain that these girls experienced. But dramatic was what was wanted.

Donald Thornton doesn't yell. He roars. Or at least that's what the narrator would have you believe. There is no decibel level given for how loud he spoke or an audio recording of their lives to make sure that the wording was exact. How else can you demonstrate two extremes of the same man? Scenes are set up to disarm the reader. Take the sick child incident for example. If Donald arrived at home to find a sick child, he would `gently suggest, "You want Daddy to fix you some nice fruit salad and maybe a nice piece of cake?". He wouldn't demand, persuade, or order. He would `gently suggest.' Of course, when he found that the child was able to eat such treats, "then he'd roar, "Okay, you're well! Get outa that bed!"" The contrast from the beginning of that scene to the end was sharp and was designed to knock the reader off kilter.

Then just to throw a bit metaphor in with the rest, Thornton describes a scene in which the news that must be presented to Donald was a grenade. "And then, as though her news was a grenade, she pulled the pin." No one would describe the delivering of news as similar to pulling a pin, unless they were doing so to purposefully demonstrate what was to come. But, again with the throwing the reader off, Donald doesn't explode. Thornton makes Jeanette out to be the bad guy, as if she had purposefully chosen to change majors just to harm Donald. He was "stunned and devastated," and when he did speak he said it weakly.

But Jeanette didn't stop there. No, of course not, she "was destroying the family joke, and it made us all ache with sadness...Our castles in the air were being dynamited."
Thornton assumes that the family was devastated over the loss of a tacky family joke. And there she goes again with the dynamite. Everything is just exploding around them. Even after tossing in a grenade and crushing the family dream, Jeanette is still not done being the bad guy. Or at least, Thornton is not done making her the bad guy. Donald then begins to react in the manner first expected, "He outlined...how cruelly she was letting him down." So much for the theme of, "It's all for the children." No, Jeanette wasn't doing herself a disservice, she was letting him down. Also, the word `outlined' lends a sense of preparation. Perhaps Donald was ready for this led-down, perhaps he knew that Jeanette would fail. Or maybe that's just what Thornton wants you to believe.

There is a certain amount of cruelty in this novel written by one of the two children out of five to actually succeed in obtaining Donald's goal for the girls. She has to lend at least a certain amount of loyalty to him because she wouldn't, in fact, be where she is without him. There would be no point to a book about a black woman who didn't succeed, about a woman who did exactly what her father wanted. This is precisely why Jeanette didn't write this book.

Rating:
Summary: Actually
Review: if I were ill, I would have my husband, mother, grandfather, or one of the numerous other doctors in the family take care of me. I have nothing against doctors, just against stupidity.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece on Childrearing
Review: It is unfortunate that the previous reviewer felt this book was "garbage". Perhaps, she is very young and has not put herself back in the 1950s when is wasn't so great for black people. Or she has not had enough life experiences. All I know is that I am 76 years old and I think the book is a marvelous template for parents and childrearing as well as a model for instilling a work ethic in children and others.

All I have to say to Jennifer from Medina, Ohio is to GROW UP!!

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece on Childrearing
Review: It is unfortunate that the previous reviewer felt this book was "garbage". Perhaps, she is very young and has not put herself back in the 1950s when is wasn't so great for black people. Or she has not had enough life experiences. All I know is that I am 76 years old and I think the book is a marvelous template for parents and childrearing as well as a model for instilling a work ethic in children and others.

All I have to say to Jennifer from Medina, Ohio is to GROW UP!!

Rating:
Summary: A hidden treasure!! A must read!!
Review: Judging by the fact I couldn't find any other reviews on this book, I'd have to say I'm the first. Here goes...This book was well written and gave a wonderful and equally inspiring account via a daughter of a black man whose dream/goal/fire and desire was to give his 5 daughters the things they needed to be successful black women in today's society. Gifts of love, attention, discipline, support,motivation, perseverance are things our black children need to today from their parents. Wonderful job!!! Truly inspirational!!

Rating:
Summary: Inspirational
Review: OK, that word has already been used in response to this book--but there's a reason. I couldn't put this down, read it all in 2 days. Mr. and Mrs. Thornton prove that some people just have a natural genius for parenting--I sure wish there were more parents like that in the world. To them and their daughters: congratulations on lives well lived!

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Summary: Donald Rocks!!!
Review: This book was one of the books on our mandatory reading listing for entering freshmen. At first I didn't know what I would have in common with this black family because my life was seemingly much different. Until I read the book. The Thornton family is like most any other family that wants what is best for their kids and will sacrifice to see that it happens. I was moved by this book. It made me cry and laugh. It also made me appreciate my parents a little more. Tough dad, tough kids.

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Summary: Great Story, that teaches you so much about life!!!
Review: This was the best book that I have ever read and I reccomend it to anyone who wants to read a really great book. during the reading of this book I laughed I cried and went up and down the emotional train along with them. Please read this book. It has ment so much to my life and would love others to get the oppertunity that I had while reading this book. I could go on for hours but I think I'll stop here.