Book 18 The Secret Garden



The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett fulfills the “Read a Book During the Season It Is Set In” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. I finished the novel in March just as the spring kinda arrived here in upstate NY. I wish I had blogged it earlier.
Another kid’s classic that I missed as a child. I saw the musical when I was in college and loved it to death. I bought the soundtrack and was thrilled Mandy Patinkin sang Uncle Archie. I never knew Inigo Montoya could sing like that. Sigh…
I was already familiar with the lovely story of a lost girl who finds a real home with her uncle and saves her cousin from a bed-ridden life. A sweet and wonderful tale to enjoy while I waited and waited for spring to arrive. Mary’s anxiety and anticipation for spring were palpable as I waited too. Gardening is not my thing. In fact, I have a black thumb. Even my cactus is dead. But listening to the joy and love Mary and Dickon poured into that garden filled my heart with happiness. Seriously, I got sniffly. It almost made me want to take care of my lawn.
Almost.
The play and the book seemed to follow exact lines, except for the doctor outwardly saying he loved Lilly too. OMG, The song where he confesses—Lilly’s Eyes—tears me up every time. If fact after reading the story, I tried to find my old soundtrack (yes, I have the CD from the 90s.) But had to go to You Tube to get the Lilly’s Eyes song. And there was Cheyenne Jackson singing the doctor’s part like a boss. Squee!
On another note, when we went to see the play, it was a tiny theater in Connecticut near the NY border. The acting and singing were amazing, but sadly the theater was only about half full for the show. The cast sang their hearts out for little old us. We totally gave them a standing ovation.
Anyway, back to the book…
Again, the story was sweet and cute, perfect for third or fourth-grade kids. But I wonder if the novel would be published as is nowadays. If you pay attention, the protagonist of the story changes from Mary to Colin. By the end of the story, we are cheering on Colin and his trials, his reunion with this father, and the happy ending. But Mary doesn’t quite get the happy ending she deserves in the book. (In the play, she totally did.) There doesn’t seem to be a reconciliation or a welcoming into the fold for her. Mary is still kinda on the outside. Forgotten (maybe by the author too).
The story is cute, lovely, but I feel for Mary. She’s alone in the world then meets Dickon. Uncle Archie cannot love her at the start because he’s so blocked. By the end, his arms are open, but kinda just to Colin. Mary is never welcomed as a sister, a daughter. Maybe I’m off here, but it felt kinda sad to see her pushed to the side for the more exciting ending of Colin’s tale.
      Anyway, sweet book, much fun, better musical—go watch Cheyenne Jackson. I give The Secret Garden four roses.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book 49 Lost in Austen

Image
Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emily Campbell Webster fulfilled the “ Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Book ” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. As a child of the 80s, I read Choose-Your-Own-Adventure stories voraciously. In fact, I can remember with the first five writing all the page numbers and rereading until I hit every page. I’m not obsessive. Why do you ask? When I saw the category, I was thrilled. Tons of the new versions have come out in the last thirty years. (Man, I ’m old.) I recently found The Oregon Trail Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. There are two old obsessions rolled into one, right there. I joked that every ending but one had to be “Your party dies of dysentery.” But for this super serious blog, I wanted a grown-up novel. But not too adult that it wasn ’t super fun. Because I’m six. I was thrilled to see the huge list of books in this genre for adults. In fact, I found one very adult story the other day. Choose-Your...
Read more

Book 46 The Kiss Quotient

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang fulfilled the “Debut Book” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. Ms. Hoang's book debut to great acclaim in 2018. It is a steamy romance with a happy ending. The book is perfect. I’ve studied romance writing for about ten years. The natural arc of a romance has been tattooed on my brain by many workshops, professional books, and colleagues. If you read Romancing the Beats by Gwen Hayes, it sounds so easy, so formulaic. But trust me, a good romance has that arc well buried under layers of great story, interesting characters, and conflict. Ms. Hoang perfected the model on her first go. The story depicts a wealthy Asian woman with autism. She wants to find a soul mate or at least a date and settle down, fulfilling the expectations of her parents. Her intellectual mind says “hire an escort and practice” to get versed in sex and relationships. Thank goodness she finds the right guy on the first try. The Kiss Quotient ...
Read more

Book 36 The Life of Pi

Image
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel fulfilled the “Book Seen Read on TV or in a Movie” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. This novel was not originally on my List Challenge for the category. I decided to use it over Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court or Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time . Time is running out for the blog. I still have many novels to finish and some are very long. House of Leaves , I’m looking at you.  I opted to add a novel I’d already read in 2019. I’ve made three oops while doing this project. I read two for the category “A Book Written by Someone from Asia, Africa, or South America.” And I read two for the “Book Revolving around a Puzzle or Game” category. And I read The Life of Pi . I don’t know where I felt it fit, but the story works here.  My research shows novel was on Gilmore Girls . Checking a couple lists, I found it was at least mentioned. Footage of Rory or someone else actually reading th...
Read more