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A review by dullshimmer
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
5.0
The Secret Garden was one of those books I've heard about, but never read. To be honest I didn't really think it would be a book that I found very enjoyable, so I never really sought it out to read. However, my daughter picked it as the book for me to read to her at bedtime, so I went into it and found it quite enjoyable to read.
The plot follows a little girl named Mary Lennox, who had two rather negligent parents. Her parents were more interested in the seeking of pleasure and society than taking care of a daughter, so became a rather selfish, miserable little girl. Her parents die of cholera and she is sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven. She's never met her uncle, but this change, despite being horrible winds up being a turning point for Mary as she learns to grow and develop as a person with the help of the titular Secret Garden and a handful of people she meets in her new home.
Despite the book starting out rather rough with the death of Mary's parents and Mary not being a rather likable character, that is the book's low point. Due to this some may consider that the book lacks a sufficient conflict, but I'm not sure it is completely true or that it matters too much if it is.
In part I would say the conflicts are more internal than external with the occasional external mystery to unravel. Is Mary going to be able to grow as a human being, or stay a rather miserable sour little girl forever? Can Mary find the Secret Garden? Will it stay a secret? Who is making the cries that Mary hears sometimes at night?
It is the answering of these simple questions that move along the story of The Secret Garden. Often once these questions are answered more are revealed. Plus there is always the question of whether this story will have a happy ending or not. There is always the worry that perhaps things won't quite work out like they seem when reading books like these.
That said I could see why some wouldn't like the book. A lot of the characters talk in Yorkshire dialect and can be hard to read (I was trying to read it aloud so I know it's not easy to read), but I felt it gave a authenticity to the book.
I also must admit I never really took a great liking to Colin for some reason. I guess it just felt like he went from bossy spoiled brat to nicer know-it-all and while an improvement, it just didn't really leave me feeling positive compared to Mary's transformation over the book. He was okay, but he wasn't my favorite character. Maybe it also has to do with his whole fixation on Magic, which oddly took a little away from the magic of the book than it did to add to it in my opinion.
None of these things really detracted too much though, and I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. It quite surprised me to enjoy it as much as I did. I guess you never know what book you might like unless you actually read it. I for one am glad I read The Secret Garden and I very much recommend it.
The plot follows a little girl named Mary Lennox, who had two rather negligent parents. Her parents were more interested in the seeking of pleasure and society than taking care of a daughter, so became a rather selfish, miserable little girl. Her parents die of cholera and she is sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven. She's never met her uncle, but this change, despite being horrible winds up being a turning point for Mary as she learns to grow and develop as a person with the help of the titular Secret Garden and a handful of people she meets in her new home.
Despite the book starting out rather rough with the death of Mary's parents and Mary not being a rather likable character, that is the book's low point. Due to this some may consider that the book lacks a sufficient conflict, but I'm not sure it is completely true or that it matters too much if it is.
In part I would say the conflicts are more internal than external with the occasional external mystery to unravel. Is Mary going to be able to grow as a human being, or stay a rather miserable sour little girl forever? Can Mary find the Secret Garden? Will it stay a secret? Who is making the cries that Mary hears sometimes at night?
It is the answering of these simple questions that move along the story of The Secret Garden. Often once these questions are answered more are revealed. Plus there is always the question of whether this story will have a happy ending or not. There is always the worry that perhaps things won't quite work out like they seem when reading books like these.
That said I could see why some wouldn't like the book. A lot of the characters talk in Yorkshire dialect and can be hard to read (I was trying to read it aloud so I know it's not easy to read), but I felt it gave a authenticity to the book.
I also must admit I never really took a great liking to Colin for some reason. I guess it just felt like he went from bossy spoiled brat to nicer know-it-all and while an improvement, it just didn't really leave me feeling positive compared to Mary's transformation over the book. He was okay, but he wasn't my favorite character. Maybe it also has to do with his whole fixation on Magic, which oddly took a little away from the magic of the book than it did to add to it in my opinion.
None of these things really detracted too much though, and I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. It quite surprised me to enjoy it as much as I did. I guess you never know what book you might like unless you actually read it. I for one am glad I read The Secret Garden and I very much recommend it.