As an avid fan of classic novels, I have heard of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden multiple times throughout my life.
To my pleasant surprise, Burnett was also the author of another classic, A Little Princess. While I have not read these two classics, I have heard of them and know the basic plot of each. As I have not read the novel word for word, I decided to venture into it after rereading Jane Eyre.
It was a mistake to do so.
Because I got stuck in The Secret Garden.
I have read halfway into it, to the part where Mary Lennox meets her long-lost cousin Colin (as well as Dickon) and they spend time together in his bedchamber to the surprise of Martha, Mrs. Medlock and Dr. Craven. And I can’t continue further into the story because I don’t care about the characters.
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House
Maybe it’s because I have just finished the works written by two of the most famous geniuses of English literature, Charlotte and Emily Bronte. Or perhaps it is because in order to fully enjoy the novel, I should have read it when I was much younger. Whatever the reason, I find reading Frances Burnett’s novel a task rather than an enjoyment. When reading the works of the Bronte sisters, I could not put the novels down. But I stop so often while reading The Secret Garden.
The novel definitely has lovely themes and concepts.
I conjecture that it narrates how Mary Lennox, a lonely young girl, finds comfort and happiness in an abandoned garden that blooms under her care. And I assume that Colin will also blossom, though I don’t know how. The concepts are lovely, but I find the writing bland. (And it’s interesting how, according to online sources, the public did not like The Secret Garden as much as they do today. Instead, more people liked and celebrated Burnett’s other works like Little Lord Fauntleroy. The Secret Garden steadily rose in popularity only after the author’s passing.)
(Left: Designed By SONA DESIGN) (Right: Published by Willbooks & Designed By OIMU)
I haven’t enjoyed C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe either (though I respect the author). The most likely reason why I’m stuck in The Secret Garden is because the writing style of the author isn’t the style I personally enjoy, like that of C.S. Lewis. I prefer the styles of authors like the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and Elizabeth George Speare.
I cannot continue reading. 🙁
