The Bookshelf discussion

I don't know about you guys, but it has been a long two weeks for me; I feel bad that it took me two weeks to finish five chapters. Ugh! Luckily, my school semester is wrapping this week and I will have a couple of weeks to do whatever I want until the Summer semester.
I honestly don't know what to feel about Colin. You can't really blame him for the way he acts because he's only ten years old and he's been emotionally neglected while being materially wealthy. I feel bad for him, really. Having met Mary and Dickon has/will be very good for Colin and Colin and Dickon are very good for Mary. The trio make a happy group. I am very curious about what Mr. Craven's reaction will be when he returns home and discovers that his son has become reanimated. I am also curious about Dr. Craven. It's obvious that he wants Colin to die so that he can inherit the estate, but I don't think he'd ever go so far as to murder a ten-year-old boy. He's an interesting person and he comes across as cowardly and greedy to me. Cowardly because that's the vibe I get and not because he's too afraid to murder.

Hey, sorry for being so late. My internet connection has been unreliable lately. I'm still on chapter 10, when Mary is meeting Dickon for the first time. Ever since she found the garden I've been excited to read on. I'd like to get to chapter 20 this week. I hope you're enjoying the time off school. I'm getting back into school now and actually taking something I'm truly interested in.
I wonder what the significance of Mary's age is. She is 10 years old, which is the same amount of time since Mrs. Craven's death so I wasn't sure whether the Bird or Mary Lennox were possible reincarnations Mrs. Craven. Now I think the bird is Mrs. Craven..and Mary was simply a little girl needing a place to heal herself and others..?

That's great! I hope you enjoy your classes. Don't worry about being behind; school is more important. The beauty of doing an online book club is I can post sections and people can respond at their leisure. I just finished the book this afternoon myself. My library actually decided to open today for the first time in a couple of months so I ran over and rented a copy of the movie I watched when I was a kid. So I'm pretty excited to watch it tonight.
In my opinion, I think the garden and the robin can be viewed as reincarnations of Mrs. Craven. I don't think Mary is a reincarnation of Mrs. Craven, but she definitely is a catalyst. As far as the ten years between Mrs. Craven's death, the beginning of the garden's neglect, and Mary's birth, I view more as change and growth and not so much reincarnation. Mary has been neglected by her parents and the garden was neglected and only through care does the garden and Mary begin to grow and flourish. I think the ten years show what neglect can do.

Your analysis of the parallels between Mary and the garden are spot on. I'm going to look for an audio version of the book to read along with the written version. I find that I'm getting through and picking up more details that way when reading other materials.

Finally got to chapter 20 today. I'm so relieved that Colin is finally outside. Dickon is like a Disney character. It's interesting to see the contrasts between all of the characters, especially Colin & Dickon.

Colin's experience stood out to me more than Mary's, in this section. I feel I can relate to Colin in that he has been very sick, but he discovers his health is under his control. He had been brainwashed to believe he was sick and dying. Mary has been amazing at challenging that belief, and Colin is finally realizing that he can heal. This stands out to me because I've been through a tough health situation for years, and I had been told that there were several things wrong with me when I was young, and I bought into the idea. I eventually couldn't work anymore and was pretty much bedridden. I'm at the point where I've gone into the garden for the first time, I've been realizing all my work to get better is actually paying off and that healing is actually possible. So it's pretty cool to read this section now. I can see why this book has been so popular. There is so much beautiful symbolism and the story can be applied to so many life situations.