In the midst of an upscale middle-class neighborhood with immaculately manicured lawns and perfectly designed landscaping is a wild display of flowers and trees reminiscent of The Secret Garden.
Such beautiful words and pictures, Sue - a lovely post. A secret garden indeed - I loved that book when I was younger. Thank you for putting it back on my radar - it's worth another read, for sure!
Thank you for your kind words, Rebecca. I had fun with this piece. Also I wanted to share this spectacular garden without identifying the woman who made it. Privacy obviously is a thing here. Also I loved reading Secret Garden as well as watching the movie. My daughter and I used to do that while homeschooling. We'd read the books, then watch the movies. HA! I loved listening to her talking to her friend about The Little Mermaid, which also came out that year. We had read the H.C. Anderson story as well and Val told her naive young friend how the story REALLY ended. Beyond that, Secret Garden was taken to the storytelling stage by a friend of mine in Santa Cruz, who told the story of it to audiences all over central CA. It's a marvelous tale of renewal and care for the environment.
That's really wonderful - I think you explored the garden with a really lovely touch, and with such thoughtfulness and respect for the owner of the garden.
Books can be so very different to their film adaptations, can't they? Mum used to tell a story of a family she knew who didn't (yet) have a television, and so when the class was told to 'watch such-and-such a film when it's on at the weekend, and then we'll talk about it' the child of that family knew that that wouldn't be possible, but didn't want their school friends to know that they didn't have a telly. 'Fine!' said their mother, 'we'll get the book out of the library and read it together'. Beautifully - but problematically - the book of course was rather different to the film...
Because film is such a different medium that writing, there are automatically differences in how the information in the book can be portrayed. And then there's the slant of the producers, directors, actors, etc. There's always a slant. Comparing book to film interpretations are a great teaching aid in how to appreciate both media and why. It's also a good segue into discussions about era politics, social norms and taboos, the purposes of the film vs. that of the book. I saw a quote from Grapes of Wrath today on FB that inspired me to reread the book as I couldn't remember that. And of course, it was way different from the film. Then again, it seems every time I read Travels with Charlie, it's a different book. He goes different places that I don't remember and has different conversations. Maybe it's just the depth of Steinbeck's work vs. my very narrow bandwidth of understanding, but it's time to revisit him. I'm currently reading The Log from the Sea of Cortez where Steinbeck goes on a scientific expedition to Mexico with Ed Ricketts, the basis of Doc from Cannery Row. It's fascinating and, as usual, fathoms deep.
Such beautiful words and pictures, Sue - a lovely post. A secret garden indeed - I loved that book when I was younger. Thank you for putting it back on my radar - it's worth another read, for sure!
Thank you for your kind words, Rebecca. I had fun with this piece. Also I wanted to share this spectacular garden without identifying the woman who made it. Privacy obviously is a thing here. Also I loved reading Secret Garden as well as watching the movie. My daughter and I used to do that while homeschooling. We'd read the books, then watch the movies. HA! I loved listening to her talking to her friend about The Little Mermaid, which also came out that year. We had read the H.C. Anderson story as well and Val told her naive young friend how the story REALLY ended. Beyond that, Secret Garden was taken to the storytelling stage by a friend of mine in Santa Cruz, who told the story of it to audiences all over central CA. It's a marvelous tale of renewal and care for the environment.
That's really wonderful - I think you explored the garden with a really lovely touch, and with such thoughtfulness and respect for the owner of the garden.
Books can be so very different to their film adaptations, can't they? Mum used to tell a story of a family she knew who didn't (yet) have a television, and so when the class was told to 'watch such-and-such a film when it's on at the weekend, and then we'll talk about it' the child of that family knew that that wouldn't be possible, but didn't want their school friends to know that they didn't have a telly. 'Fine!' said their mother, 'we'll get the book out of the library and read it together'. Beautifully - but problematically - the book of course was rather different to the film...
Because film is such a different medium that writing, there are automatically differences in how the information in the book can be portrayed. And then there's the slant of the producers, directors, actors, etc. There's always a slant. Comparing book to film interpretations are a great teaching aid in how to appreciate both media and why. It's also a good segue into discussions about era politics, social norms and taboos, the purposes of the film vs. that of the book. I saw a quote from Grapes of Wrath today on FB that inspired me to reread the book as I couldn't remember that. And of course, it was way different from the film. Then again, it seems every time I read Travels with Charlie, it's a different book. He goes different places that I don't remember and has different conversations. Maybe it's just the depth of Steinbeck's work vs. my very narrow bandwidth of understanding, but it's time to revisit him. I'm currently reading The Log from the Sea of Cortez where Steinbeck goes on a scientific expedition to Mexico with Ed Ricketts, the basis of Doc from Cannery Row. It's fascinating and, as usual, fathoms deep.