MovieChat Forums > The Secret Garden (1993) Discussion > Question about the book...

Question about the book...

posted 16 years ago by moonlightsiren18
4 replies | jump to latest

Well, I've watched the movie ten million times and when I was in sixth grade we were reading an excerpt from the book or I think more like a 10 page summary of it, I don't know exactly. Anyway, in the end it said that Mary and Colin get married (even though their cousins) and that Dickon dies in the war (don't know if the first or second). One of the characters then says that he at least dies in the wilderness surrounded by the nature that he loved so much. Anyway, that ending bothered and disturbed me so much that I didn't read the novel until last month (almost nine years later) and the ending didn't mention anything about them growing up or who ended with who it ended with everybody walking back to the house with Colin walking. So, does anybody know what it was that I read? Is it actually from an older movie adaptation or something?

Thanks!

[–] kel_andry 16 years ago

What you remember is from an older adaptation movie made by Hallmark. The book never goes further than Archibald Craven finding Mary and Colin in the garden and then walking back to the house with them. The Hallmark version took some liberty with the end of the story to make it more interesting. Perhaps your school summary was a short novelization of the Hallmark movie. I know they make little books out of their films sometimes. HOpe that helps!

[–] moonlightsiren18 16 years ago

Thank you so much! That definitely must be it. What a horrible ending to make up for a movie when it wasn't even part of the book. Thanks again!

[–] ksjksjdkjs 16 years ago

I completely agree. What a dreadful thing to do. Almost as bad as that American sequel with Camilla Belle which makes me just want to die.

[–] chilliwack_1956 16 years ago

It was obviously not from the book but rather some "writers" attempt to add something to a great novel. Like so many of these type of changes, the writer does not grasp the spirit of the novel nor do they honour the original writer.