The Secret Garden as Symbol and Refuge (WARNING: Spoilers ok)

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Back to our B&N Classics edition.

The Introduction, written by Prof. Jill Muller, concludes:

"As Colin and Mary come running out of the garden, we know they are leaving childhood behind....The garden has completed its work of healing and renewal, and the children are now ready to grow up.  Yet, as we have known all along, the secret garden is as much a symbolic as a physical space.  Though Colin and Mary no longer play there, it remains for them, as for Burnett herself, and for generations of readers, a lasting imaginative refuge, a garden of the heart" (xxxi).

Then our edition asks:

"Professor Muller...describes the garden as a symbol and as an imaginative refuge.  But a symbol of what, would you say?  A refuge from what?" (235).

Do you agree or disagree with Muller?  Could it be that the garden represents childhood, or a stage of life when we are closer to the ground, so to speak?  What about the idea of an imaginative refuge?

[Laurel]

For one, thing, it is a refuge from fears, a chance to grow and change and flourish and lay aside the fears of the past.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

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Laurel wrote:
For one, thing, it is a refuge from fears, a chance to grow and change and flourish and lay aside the fears of the past.

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Thanks, Laurel.  Do you think it might represent childhood, in any way?

~ConnieK

[Laurel]

Perhaps more life in general and its needs at specific stages rather than childhood only.

That brings up an interesting aside. Here is a book that has been called the Secret Garden for adults:

Enchanted April

It is one of a very few books that I think have been improved upon by a film version.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Thanks for the tip, Laurel.  "The Secret Garden for adults" might entice some readers from here to give it a look.  Interesting that you think the film may be better than the book.

I just realized that books may be the secret garden for many of us.

~ConnieK

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Laurel wrote:

Perhaps more life in general and its needs at specific stages rather than childhood only.

That brings up an interesting aside. Here is a book that has been called the Secret Garden for adults:

Enchanted April

It is one of a very few books that I think have been improved upon by a film version.

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[Peppermill]

I encountered Enchanted April for the first time a few months ago (April, actually). It is enchanting and such a lovely break from so much of the "heavy" literature that pervades today's reading. Yet, it is not w/o its serious side. A good book club selection. I have not seen the film. Pepper

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ConnieK wrote:

Thanks for the tip, Laurel. "The Secret Garden for adults" might entice some readers from here to give it a look. Interesting that you think the film may be better than the book.

I just realized that books may be the secret garden for many of us.

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Laurel wrote:

Perhaps more life in general and its needs at specific stages rather than childhood only.

That brings up an interesting aside. Here is a book that has been called the Secret Garden for adults:

Enchanted April

It is one of a very few books that I think have been improved upon by a film version.

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[Laurel]

The film doesn't seem to be available right now, as far as I can tell, but it's sure to come out on DVD. I guess what charmed me most about it was Michael Kitchen's portrayal of the villa owner. It also stars Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, Josie Lawrence, and Polly Walker.

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Peppermill wrote:

I encountered Enchanted April for the first time a few months ago (April, actually). It is enchanting and such a lovely break from so much of the "heavy" literature that pervades today's reading. Yet, it is not w/o its serious side. A good book club selection. I have not seen the film. Pepper

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ConnieK wrote:

Thanks for the tip, Laurel. "The Secret Garden for adults" might entice some readers from here to give it a look. Interesting that you think the film may be better than the book.

I just realized that books may be the secret garden for many of us.

---

Laurel wrote:

Perhaps more life in general and its needs at specific stages rather than childhood only.

That brings up an interesting aside. Here is a book that has been called the Secret Garden for adults:

Enchanted April

It is one of a very few books that I think have been improved upon by a film version.

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