THE DEEP ONES: "The Neglected Garden" by Kathe Koja

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THE DEEP ONES: "The Neglected Garden" by Kathe Koja

2semdetenebre
Mar 15, 2019, 2:18 pm

Think I'll dig out Extremities.

3elenchus
Mar 15, 2019, 2:20 pm

My usual online access.

4RandyStafford
Mar 15, 2019, 4:27 pm

Extremities for me. I'll immodestly link to my essay on that collection.

5semdetenebre
Edited: Mar 20, 2019, 11:27 am

Koja is always tops at nailing conflicting emotions that collide and erupt simultaneously in troubled relationships. She's also tops at taking body horror over the edge. I got the idea that the "garden" here might not have been so neglected once she was attached to the fence.

>4 RandyStafford:

Really good take on the stories in Extremities. Z This all reminds me that I've been meaning to re-read The Cipher for a while now...

6elenchus
Mar 20, 2019, 10:20 am

I'm always tempted to think in terms of allegory, and yet seldom confident it's warranted (let alone intended by the author). In any case, though here it's fairly easy to find an allegory in "The Neglected Garden", I was most pleased when I compelled myself to read it literally.

In an interview at Weird Fiction Review, Koje remarks, "there is a real difference to me between 'weird' and 'ugly.' Cruelty to the helpless is irredeemably ugly and I can’t stomach it." There were points during this story I had to look away from the screen because of the thoughts that were amassing there, based on where I thought the story was going. By and large, though, I think Koja met her own stipulation. Ironically, for me this was accomplished by having one character kill off another.

7elenchus
Edited: Mar 20, 2019, 11:26 am

Touchstones in >4 RandyStafford: and >5 semdetenebre: are amiss, though it's correct in >2 semdetenebre:.

RandyStafford 's link to his review is fine (it directs to a blog, not to LT). It's a fine review, by the way, not just this story but the full thing.

8AndreasJ
Mar 20, 2019, 12:08 pm

I found myself wondering whether Koja wants the reader to sympathize with Anne. We're given no insight at all in what their relationship prior to the start of the story, so we don't know how justified the man is in wanting to throw her out, nor do we know if she has anywhere else to go.

Also, what's wrong with Richard the doctor? If he, very understandably, thinks that the protagonist put her on the fence, why on earth doesn't he call the police on him?

Does, BTW, the Richard's "It is a her, isn’t it?" suggest that the protagonist have a history of troubled relationships with women?

9semdetenebre
Edited: Mar 20, 2019, 12:50 pm

Koja's main characters, at least back in her 90's work, are often psychologically damaged and extremely difficult to like. At the same time, you want them to persevere and somehow cut through the murk of their thought processes. Not a very comfortable read, but I think that's the author's intent.

Besides Richard and the police, a simple call for an ambulance might have also done the trick. So why doesn't help come from one of these obvious routes is a very good question.

10elenchus
Mar 20, 2019, 1:02 pm

>9 semdetenebre: So why doesn't help come from one of these obvious routes is a very good question.

That angle is a big contributor to my urge to interpret the story allegorically. If it's an allegory, then it's less "troubling" that neighbours know a woman is tangled on the back fence for days, and yet don't intervene except to complain of the nuisance it is. They behave as though they're overhearing an audible quarrel, and not witnessing bodily torture. Same with Richard and the police on the phone.

And from this perspective, too, Anne can be seen as becoming empowered within the context of her relationship. Still doesn't provide any more insight into the relationship, but suggests that one thing lacking was her lack of agency, and now that has changed.

11semdetenebre
Mar 20, 2019, 2:16 pm

>10 elenchus:

Reading it more literally, then, it becomes something of a modified Kitty Genovese scenario, with all involved additionally sensing that something even worse is about to happen, but if they prevent it, then they won't know. I'm glad that Koja isn't letting us off the hook, one way or the other.

Spare thought - maybe there is an actual neglected garden out back and it's protesting, using Anne as a vector... Maybe the unnamed narrator's relationship with her doesn't really matter that much in the end and those neighbors had better see to their own gardens!

12elenchus
Mar 20, 2019, 2:31 pm

Took the opportunity to review the wikipedia article on the Kitty Genovese murder: I recalled that the main argument was disproven (not as many witnesses as reported actually understood what was going on, and no evidence that any of those "did nothing"), but was surprised to learn that Harlan Ellison wrote an article on it and perhaps exaggerated further the already mistaken reporting of The New York Times.

Koja's garden symbolism is certainly an effective choice for her Weird style.

13semdetenebre
Mar 20, 2019, 2:45 pm

A fairly recent book, Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America goes into great detail about what might have really happened. Harlan was actually beating the drum for it for a while, if I remember correctly. Still, the name remains synonymous with the legend, for better or worse.

14frahealee
Edited: Jul 19, 2022, 11:31 am

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