I re-read THE SECRET GARDEN for the first time in many years, and I’m left with the question: Why on earth did I love this book so much? Because this time around, while its slightly charming, its also kind of boring. I don’t really like or care much about any of the characters. The way the dialect is written in a lot of the dialogue is, as Elizabeth points out, difficult to read, enough so that it jarred me out of the story. And the sort of moralistic-sarcastic omnicient narrator is kind of grating. It really was a favorite when I was a kid, and for most books that I loved growing up, even if I don’t have the same reaction now that I’m older, I see why I loved them then. This one, though, I can’t figure it out.
I know its a classic and a common favorite - can anyone discuss what they loved or still love about this book? I genuinely want to know, I’d like to reclaim my happy warm nostalgic feelings on it.
Posted in Burnett, Frances Hodgson, Friday "Why?"/Random Book Questions, Nostalgic affection or genuine book ardor?, Secret Garden, The
I can’t answer you, because I never loved this book, especially not nearly as much as I loved the title and the cover–I did THAT for years before I read it. I think my cover illustration was the one above, in a different edition, and I just loved the mystery of it and of the idea of a secret garden. I had the whole book worked out in my head–the plot, the characters, the atmosphere–but when I did read it, eventually, I wasn’t excited. I’m much more attached to MOVIE SHOES by Noel Streatfeild (in which, if you haven’t read it, a girl stars in a movie version of the book). I don’t think I’ve reread it as an adult, so maybe I shouldn’t judge too harshly, but I’ve never really cared to.
On the other hand, I loved and continue to love–have reread countless times–A LITTLE PRINCESS. Don’t ask me why. I mean, you can, but I wouldn’t have a coherent answer. Maybe if I reread THE SECRET GARDEN I would.
This was my book discussion title for my March homeschool book club meeting. The fifteen children were aged 9 to 12 and all but one loved it! Several parents commented on their love of the book as well (oddly, many of them were less enthusiastic about Coraline). Here are some of the things they enjoyed, including some of the aspects I loved as a child and still appreciate as an adult:
(1) Having a secret – a large, walled-in beautiful secret. It’s titillating.
(2) Dickon. He had this preternatural ability to interact with animals as if they understand him. I was in love him then and find him adorable now.
(3) Misselthwaite Manor – no significant supervision, a large house with many locked places, and a mysterious owner. Not to mention a boy’s cries echoing through the halls.
(4) The adults in this world as shamefully neglectful and selfish. The children, however, break the cycle. They are adventurous, playful and they believe in magic.
The mystery for sure! Its very spooky and gothic for a kid. And a girl fixes everything. That’s why I liked it.
Also, obviously you loved the musical adaptation that ran on Broadway in the early 90s, which oh so wisely shifted the focus to the adults. Obviously.
I felt the same way, Emily. I’ve reread it (not recently, but as an older person) and I’m definitely struck by a lot of things. For one thing, the racism (not surprisingly)–like when the maid (forget her name) is all, “I thought you’d be dark because you came here from India” and Mary flips out and is all, “YOU THOUGHT I WAS AN INDIAN?! HOW DARE YOU!”
It’s schmaltzy but hey, it is what it is. Gotta love it for what it is. I thought Little Princess was over the top even at the time. She was way too much of a martyr…Sarah or whatever.
I must confess that I have no recollection of reading The Little Princess, although I probably did. I know that I never read The Little Prince. Which I gather is not so much the same thing, though.
Anyway, Dog Ear’s list is very convincing to me. And I thought I didn’t remember anything about this book (even though I read it I don’t know how many times; I was even quoted in a NY Times article about its enduring popularity when a reporter interviewed me in a Barnes and Noble children’s section), as soon as you said the name Dickon, a wave of ill-defined nostalgia came back to me.
Yes, those are compelling reasons - I can see how the very secretness of the garden, and the mysterious, creepy Manor would have drawn me in as a kid, whereas somehow they didn’t grab me so much now. I also realized, as I took a detour through the Brooklyn Botanical Garden yesterday on my way to the library, that when I was younger I might have been much more enthralled with the whole gardening aspect. I used to love helping my mom pick out flowers and plant the little flower garden each spring, whereas now gardening is in no way a part of my life and hasn’t been for many years.
Excellent, sense of nostalgia restored, although I probably won’t put this one into the frequent re-reading rotation.
Well I still really like The Secret Garden, but Ive always hated A Little Princess.
I haven’t reread it as an adult, but I remember really loving the IDEA of a secret garden (throw in a huge, mysterious house and I’m set). Even before reading it, I remember finding odd keys and wishing they would let me into secret, hidden rooms and that kind of thing. I also liked that Mary wasn’t a goody-two-shoes like Sara.
I had the movie as a kid - the old movie with the prologue and epilogue, and loved it so much I probably wore out at least one VHS - but I never read the novel. I attempted to read the book in high school, and I was disappointed. I don’t think I finished it.