1939, 1992 Bantam edition
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of Ingleside
Original price $2.95, purchase price $1.99
Worn paperback
B
This is the last "Anne" book Montgomery published before her death three years later, although it's #6 in the saga, going from just before Rilla's birth to just before Rainbow Valley. It focuses on Anne and her family, although my favorite parts were the gossipy quilting bee and Anne's memory of someone telling off the corpse at his funeral. The parts with the kids aren't too cutesy, although it bothers me how there are so many instances of "bad families" put in to contrast with the happy Blythes. I like that Anne visits Diana early in the story, and the two women, now in their mid 30s, remember their youth 20 years ago.
This edition has the pull-quote of how happy Anne is to return from being Anne of Green Gables to being Anne of Ingleside. Then on the back it tells of "insufferable Aunt Mary Maria visiting," and indeed Anne and her family are unhappy for close to a year because of Gilbert's aunt that he's too polite to tell to leave. The back cover also mentions Anne's fear that Gilbert no longer loves her, which doesn't come up until very late in the book, when she becomes jealous of his old college girlfriend.
In this story written on the eve of World War II, there's a sense that outsiders are bad. And yet, some of the worst problems Anne and the children face are due to what's inside. The Blythes, even sensible Gilbert when he's worrying over patients, let their imaginations run away with them and cause themselves and sometimes others misery.
An odd book to end the series with, full of a disquieting undertone. But overall, it's been a good journey, full of flowers and drama, good home-cooking and silliness, sewing and matchmaking.
Showing posts with label Montgomery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montgomery. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Anne of Windy Poplars
1936, 1992 Bantam edition
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of Windy Poplars
Original and/or purchase price unknown
Worn paperback with corners torn off
B-
Although written so much later than most of the rest of the series, this is #4 in the chronology, filling in Anne's three years of running a small school and waiting for Gilbert to finish his medical training. As such, it feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the series, with a very different cast. Even when Anne goes to visit Green Gables, we don't hear much about Marilla and the other locals. Diana, once Anne's dearest chum, has "other interests," so we don't even hear from her, and not much of her.
Most of the book is Anne matchmaking and otherwise playing Mary Worth to the residents of Summerside. Some of the problems are more interesting than others. Anne herself has some problems as principal but, not surprisingly for Montgomery, we don't actually hear much about the school.
After reading so many Thompson books, I'd forgotten that while RPT is mistress of the unfortunate names and accidentally suggestive phrasing, Montgomery is the go-to early-20th-century children's writer for "Even in context, that's pretty weird," such as the "shameless orgies of love-making and ecstasies of adoration" in Anne's House of Dreams. In this story, Anne babysits eight-year-old boy & girl twins, and has to punish them separately. When they're reunited, they call each other darling and "embrace and kiss passionately." There is one deliberately suggestive joke, about a man kissing his wife in an "improper place," meaning the church steps.
The book contains anachronisms, the most obvious being a reference to the 1906 earthquake, when this would have to be the late 1880s.
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of Windy Poplars
Original and/or purchase price unknown
Worn paperback with corners torn off
B-
Although written so much later than most of the rest of the series, this is #4 in the chronology, filling in Anne's three years of running a small school and waiting for Gilbert to finish his medical training. As such, it feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the series, with a very different cast. Even when Anne goes to visit Green Gables, we don't hear much about Marilla and the other locals. Diana, once Anne's dearest chum, has "other interests," so we don't even hear from her, and not much of her.
Most of the book is Anne matchmaking and otherwise playing Mary Worth to the residents of Summerside. Some of the problems are more interesting than others. Anne herself has some problems as principal but, not surprisingly for Montgomery, we don't actually hear much about the school.
After reading so many Thompson books, I'd forgotten that while RPT is mistress of the unfortunate names and accidentally suggestive phrasing, Montgomery is the go-to early-20th-century children's writer for "Even in context, that's pretty weird," such as the "shameless orgies of love-making and ecstasies of adoration" in Anne's House of Dreams. In this story, Anne babysits eight-year-old boy & girl twins, and has to punish them separately. When they're reunited, they call each other darling and "embrace and kiss passionately." There is one deliberately suggestive joke, about a man kissing his wife in an "improper place," meaning the church steps.
The book contains anachronisms, the most obvious being a reference to the 1906 earthquake, when this would have to be the late 1880s.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Rilla of Ingleside
1921, 1992 Bantam edition
L. M. Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside
Bought new for $3.99
Worn paperback
B-
This book has too much of Susan the cook, and that you may tie to. There is more Anne than in Rainbow Valley, but she's still a background character. We're told what "mother" is going through but not really shown it. Anne has three sons, the youngest named Shirley (after her maiden name), so apparently it was still a boys' name to some degree, even if Miss Temple would be born seven years after this novel was published, and even if Miss Bronte's book was over seventy years old. All three sons go to war, although the middle one, Walter, is a sensitive poet who hates ugliness. He of course is the one who dies, but his sacrifice, and the sacrifice of all the Canadian "boys" is worth it for the possibility of a better world.
To put it mildly, this book is pro-war. War is a terrible thing, but if the Kaiser is running amok, then we must stop him. Walter writes a beautiful, inspirational poem called "The Piper," which all of Canada quotes, except for the author who doesn't share even a line of it. (And she gave us highlights of Anne's infamous baking-powder story.) The one "pacifist" in town is actually a pro-German, ugly, pretentious git. In the most implausible turn of events, he proposes marriage to sexagenarian Susan because she's hard-working, even though she's made clear to everyone that she loathes him.
So what's for me to like in this book? Well, I do enjoy the development of the title character. Amusingly, she's named Bertha Marilla Blythe (first name after Anne's mother, middle name after Anne's foster mother of course), and hates her nickname. If only everyone would call her by her beautiful first name! Uh, yeah. More dated than a boy named Shirley.
Anyway, Bertha goes from a shallow, vain flibbertigibbet to a compassionate, brave teen mother. It's OK, she's just raising a "war baby," until his soldier father returns home, a mere four-and-a-half years later. She also deals with grief and romance, in a believable fashion. She's in love with another soldier boy, Ken Ford, son of her mom's beloved Leslie. (Poor Diana has been almost forgotten, but she does get a mention or two, since her son is also off at war.)
The other character and thread I like is surprisingly Dog Monday and his loyal vigil at the train station, waiting for Jem to come home. Jem is hardly in this series so far-- a baby in House of Dreams, usually off studying in Rainbow Valley-- but it is touching when he comes home and finds his dog waiting for him. And I don't even like dogs! It's a corny subplot, but darn me if it doesn't work.
Oh, yeah, Susan says "darn" a lot, the wartime stress getting to her. She can be stubbornly old-fashioned, refusing to ride in the doctor's new automobile, although she considers going to the movies after the war. I'm genuinely puzzled why Rilla's nickname for the baby, Jims, is considered unChristian by Susan, while she's still calling the other James in the family "little Jem."
The book also gets points for what is now a history lesson but was then raw and recent, all the battles and negotiations of the war, as seen from the homefront. Plus, this "collector's edition" has a nice biography of Montgomery, and a handy map of Prince Edward Island.
L. M. Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside
Bought new for $3.99
Worn paperback
B-
This book has too much of Susan the cook, and that you may tie to. There is more Anne than in Rainbow Valley, but she's still a background character. We're told what "mother" is going through but not really shown it. Anne has three sons, the youngest named Shirley (after her maiden name), so apparently it was still a boys' name to some degree, even if Miss Temple would be born seven years after this novel was published, and even if Miss Bronte's book was over seventy years old. All three sons go to war, although the middle one, Walter, is a sensitive poet who hates ugliness. He of course is the one who dies, but his sacrifice, and the sacrifice of all the Canadian "boys" is worth it for the possibility of a better world.
To put it mildly, this book is pro-war. War is a terrible thing, but if the Kaiser is running amok, then we must stop him. Walter writes a beautiful, inspirational poem called "The Piper," which all of Canada quotes, except for the author who doesn't share even a line of it. (And she gave us highlights of Anne's infamous baking-powder story.) The one "pacifist" in town is actually a pro-German, ugly, pretentious git. In the most implausible turn of events, he proposes marriage to sexagenarian Susan because she's hard-working, even though she's made clear to everyone that she loathes him.
So what's for me to like in this book? Well, I do enjoy the development of the title character. Amusingly, she's named Bertha Marilla Blythe (first name after Anne's mother, middle name after Anne's foster mother of course), and hates her nickname. If only everyone would call her by her beautiful first name! Uh, yeah. More dated than a boy named Shirley.
Anyway, Bertha goes from a shallow, vain flibbertigibbet to a compassionate, brave teen mother. It's OK, she's just raising a "war baby," until his soldier father returns home, a mere four-and-a-half years later. She also deals with grief and romance, in a believable fashion. She's in love with another soldier boy, Ken Ford, son of her mom's beloved Leslie. (Poor Diana has been almost forgotten, but she does get a mention or two, since her son is also off at war.)
The other character and thread I like is surprisingly Dog Monday and his loyal vigil at the train station, waiting for Jem to come home. Jem is hardly in this series so far-- a baby in House of Dreams, usually off studying in Rainbow Valley-- but it is touching when he comes home and finds his dog waiting for him. And I don't even like dogs! It's a corny subplot, but darn me if it doesn't work.
Oh, yeah, Susan says "darn" a lot, the wartime stress getting to her. She can be stubbornly old-fashioned, refusing to ride in the doctor's new automobile, although she considers going to the movies after the war. I'm genuinely puzzled why Rilla's nickname for the baby, Jims, is considered unChristian by Susan, while she's still calling the other James in the family "little Jem."
The book also gets points for what is now a history lesson but was then raw and recent, all the battles and negotiations of the war, as seen from the homefront. Plus, this "collector's edition" has a nice biography of Montgomery, and a handy map of Prince Edward Island.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Rainbow Valley
1919, 1987 Bantam edition
L. M. Montgomery
Rainbow Valley
Bought used for $1.98
Worn paperback
C+
Why is this my least favorite "Anne" book so far? To begin with, Anne is a minor character. The focus is on the Meredith family, four children and their widowed minister father. The Meredith kids befriend Anne's six, but other than Walter, most of the little Blythes aren't in the book much.
The child we get the most of is Mary Vance, who after about seventy-five pages I couldn't think of as anything other than "[expletive deleted] Mary Vance." It's all very well to have characters who are annoying to the other characters. Austen was a mistress of this, so it's awesome to read of, for instance, Miss Bates nattering on, even if you probably wouldn't want to hang out with her in real life. Montgomery herself manages this sometimes, as with the Pye sisters. But here Montgomery offers a character that even the friends are annoyed by, although they also love her for reasons they can't understand. (Hint, authorial intent.)
The third reason I'm not crazy about this book is that Montgomery has some very heavy-handed "foreshadowing" about the Great War, as in only two people realizing what a danger the Kaiser is, and in Walter's speeches about the Piper, who will call him and the other boys away, while the girls wait and cry at home.
I will admit I do like the plot of the two West sisters who've made a promise to never marry and abandon the other, but now both find chances to marry men they love. Rosemary West has a possible future with Rev. Meredith, and so of course she has to prove she'll be a good stepmother. There are moments when Montgomery teases the reader that one or more of the Merediths is going over to see Mrs. Blythe, but, nope, Anne isn't home, so they go talk to Rosemary. If this weren't supposed to be an "Anne of Green Gables" book but part of an unrelated series, this wouldn't bother me so much.
It was meant to be the fifth entry, but ended up as #7. The next "Anne" book, which does center on Anne's youngest daughter, was meant to be last, but it's now #8. And it will fulfill the foreshadowing of this one.
L. M. Montgomery
Rainbow Valley
Bought used for $1.98
Worn paperback
C+
Why is this my least favorite "Anne" book so far? To begin with, Anne is a minor character. The focus is on the Meredith family, four children and their widowed minister father. The Meredith kids befriend Anne's six, but other than Walter, most of the little Blythes aren't in the book much.
The child we get the most of is Mary Vance, who after about seventy-five pages I couldn't think of as anything other than "[expletive deleted] Mary Vance." It's all very well to have characters who are annoying to the other characters. Austen was a mistress of this, so it's awesome to read of, for instance, Miss Bates nattering on, even if you probably wouldn't want to hang out with her in real life. Montgomery herself manages this sometimes, as with the Pye sisters. But here Montgomery offers a character that even the friends are annoyed by, although they also love her for reasons they can't understand. (Hint, authorial intent.)
The third reason I'm not crazy about this book is that Montgomery has some very heavy-handed "foreshadowing" about the Great War, as in only two people realizing what a danger the Kaiser is, and in Walter's speeches about the Piper, who will call him and the other boys away, while the girls wait and cry at home.
I will admit I do like the plot of the two West sisters who've made a promise to never marry and abandon the other, but now both find chances to marry men they love. Rosemary West has a possible future with Rev. Meredith, and so of course she has to prove she'll be a good stepmother. There are moments when Montgomery teases the reader that one or more of the Merediths is going over to see Mrs. Blythe, but, nope, Anne isn't home, so they go talk to Rosemary. If this weren't supposed to be an "Anne of Green Gables" book but part of an unrelated series, this wouldn't bother me so much.
It was meant to be the fifth entry, but ended up as #7. The next "Anne" book, which does center on Anne's youngest daughter, was meant to be last, but it's now #8. And it will fulfill the foreshadowing of this one.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Anne's House of Dreams
1917, 1987 Bantam edition
L. M. Montgomery
Anne's House of Dreams
Bought used for $1.98
Slightly worn paperback
B+
This has the worst cover of any edition of an "Anne book" I own, with Anne and Gilbert looking very cartoony. Not only that, they're both shown as redheads, when his hair is supposed to be dark. But, yes, don't judge a book by its cover, because this is possibly my favorite in the series.
Anne and Gilbert get married and move to the title location, an isolated home on the coast, where they seem to have only four near neighbors: Captain Jim, Miss Cornelia, and the Moores. However, these are among the most interesting characters Montgomery created. Captain Jim is similar to Uncle Jabe in Mary Midthorne, but all his tales of adventure are true. He's also wise and kind, and sort of feminist. (He thinks women can't write, but he does think they should have the vote and anything else they want, the dears.) Miss Cornelia is one of those rare characters who's as funny as the author thinks, with an ability to say the unsayable in a surprising way. When she talks to Susan, the kindly housekeeper, the two of them will say things like it's so sad that someone is going to Heaven.
The Moores seem to be Leslie and her husband Dick, but there's a twist later where it turns out that it's actually Dick's look-alike cousin George. They're one pair of matching bookends, different as night and day. Well, not quite, but Dick is a mean, cheating drunk and George is relatively nice. However, George got beat up in Havana and lost his memory for a dozen years. So Leslie, whose life is full of tragedy, is sacrificing her life for a man she's never even met. And then Owen Ford shows up, and they fall in love, although they don't know each other's feelings, and their love is forbidden, and it all sounds very soap-operatic, especially when you throw in Anne's firstborn dying its first day of life.
And yet, it works. Montgomery has mastered a variety of emotional tones by now, and she expertly handles the more mature content. In fact, this is the first book where I have to break out the "YA" (Young Adult) label, because I think this is more of a book for teens than for children. After all, it does include "shameless orgies of love-making and ecstasies of adoration."
Actually, that's Anne and Leslie ooing and ahing over Anne's second baby, Jem. There is, however, a sense in which this story is more about Anne and Leslie's love than it is about newlywed bliss. Gilbert is around, but often in the background, while Anne and the narrator seem much more interested in beautiful, mysterious, bitter but good-hearted Leslie. And I can't really blame them.
As for "love-making," it must've retained that sense of "flattering and charming people" at least until the 1950s. I no longer own Silver Chair, but there's a similar use of the term there, which confused the heck out of me as a kid. (I knew that in 1932 it meant "to woo," since there's a line in Horse Feathers that's something like "Are you making love to me, Professor?") It's pretty funny to run across it in Pride & Prejudice, but you expect language to have changed since the 1810s.
I know, somewhat off topic. So I'll get back on topic by noting that telephones are mentioned in this book that must be set in the 1890s. Montgomery mentions the Grits (Liberals) getting back into power after 18 years, which would place that part of the book as 1896. But the math of http://avonlea.hu/cd/websites/hendricks_paul/kindreds/chronology.html means that this book is set 1890 to '92. If it were 1896, then this would mess up the World War I chronology in Rilla of Ingleside. Still, close enough, and it does allow Montgomery a great pay-off to a minor character, a double pay-off really, when he shaves his beard and becomes engaged to Miss Cornelia.
L. M. Montgomery
Anne's House of Dreams
Bought used for $1.98
Slightly worn paperback
B+
This has the worst cover of any edition of an "Anne book" I own, with Anne and Gilbert looking very cartoony. Not only that, they're both shown as redheads, when his hair is supposed to be dark. But, yes, don't judge a book by its cover, because this is possibly my favorite in the series.
Anne and Gilbert get married and move to the title location, an isolated home on the coast, where they seem to have only four near neighbors: Captain Jim, Miss Cornelia, and the Moores. However, these are among the most interesting characters Montgomery created. Captain Jim is similar to Uncle Jabe in Mary Midthorne, but all his tales of adventure are true. He's also wise and kind, and sort of feminist. (He thinks women can't write, but he does think they should have the vote and anything else they want, the dears.) Miss Cornelia is one of those rare characters who's as funny as the author thinks, with an ability to say the unsayable in a surprising way. When she talks to Susan, the kindly housekeeper, the two of them will say things like it's so sad that someone is going to Heaven.
The Moores seem to be Leslie and her husband Dick, but there's a twist later where it turns out that it's actually Dick's look-alike cousin George. They're one pair of matching bookends, different as night and day. Well, not quite, but Dick is a mean, cheating drunk and George is relatively nice. However, George got beat up in Havana and lost his memory for a dozen years. So Leslie, whose life is full of tragedy, is sacrificing her life for a man she's never even met. And then Owen Ford shows up, and they fall in love, although they don't know each other's feelings, and their love is forbidden, and it all sounds very soap-operatic, especially when you throw in Anne's firstborn dying its first day of life.
And yet, it works. Montgomery has mastered a variety of emotional tones by now, and she expertly handles the more mature content. In fact, this is the first book where I have to break out the "YA" (Young Adult) label, because I think this is more of a book for teens than for children. After all, it does include "shameless orgies of love-making and ecstasies of adoration."
Actually, that's Anne and Leslie ooing and ahing over Anne's second baby, Jem. There is, however, a sense in which this story is more about Anne and Leslie's love than it is about newlywed bliss. Gilbert is around, but often in the background, while Anne and the narrator seem much more interested in beautiful, mysterious, bitter but good-hearted Leslie. And I can't really blame them.
As for "love-making," it must've retained that sense of "flattering and charming people" at least until the 1950s. I no longer own Silver Chair, but there's a similar use of the term there, which confused the heck out of me as a kid. (I knew that in 1932 it meant "to woo," since there's a line in Horse Feathers that's something like "Are you making love to me, Professor?") It's pretty funny to run across it in Pride & Prejudice, but you expect language to have changed since the 1810s.
I know, somewhat off topic. So I'll get back on topic by noting that telephones are mentioned in this book that must be set in the 1890s. Montgomery mentions the Grits (Liberals) getting back into power after 18 years, which would place that part of the book as 1896. But the math of http://avonlea.hu/cd/websites/hendricks_paul/kindreds/chronology.html means that this book is set 1890 to '92. If it were 1896, then this would mess up the World War I chronology in Rilla of Ingleside. Still, close enough, and it does allow Montgomery a great pay-off to a minor character, a double pay-off really, when he shaves his beard and becomes engaged to Miss Cornelia.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Anne of the Island
1915, 1992 Bantam edition
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of the Island
Bought new for $2.95
Good condition paperback
B
If you can put aside that for a book about Anne's four years at Redmond College there isn't really that much about college, like, oh, the courses she's taking, this is equal to the first two "Anne" books. It's mostly about romances, Anne's own (including, if I counted correctly, five proposals), Diana's (she marries good old Fred and has Fred, Jr. by the end of the book), her friends', and some random middle-aged strangers that show up only so that Anne can matchmake them.
There's thankfully less of Davy, although we are treated to the misadventures that ensue when he skips Sunday School, Dora the Dreary in tow. (Anne is visiting nameless friends at Carmody, another town on the island.) I totally forgot that Miss Lavendar's posse returns, twice, with Charlotta the Fourth now wearing a pompadour. Miss Lavendar's stepson Paul has developed the amazing ability to age twice as fast as everyone else, so he's thirteen when he should be twelve, and sixteen when he should be fourteen.
The best new character is frivolous Philippa, who has a swarm of beaux but falls for an ugly minister. I still can't remember much about Priscilla, other than her aunt is a writer. And who was the other roommate again? Not Aunt Jimsie, but the classmate. Not too memorable.
Speaking of writers, Anne starts to pursue her professional writing career, helped along by Diana. She's hoping to return to teaching-- now with a B.A.!-- but she wants to write, too. When Gilbert almost dies, she realizes she loves him (although I read her as lesbian for the most part), and he proposes to her again. She accepts, but they'll have to wait three years, as he gets his medical training.
As for readers, well, they only had to wait two years for Anne's House of Dreams, although that would end up being Book 5. More about that later....
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of the Island
Bought new for $2.95
Good condition paperback
B
If you can put aside that for a book about Anne's four years at Redmond College there isn't really that much about college, like, oh, the courses she's taking, this is equal to the first two "Anne" books. It's mostly about romances, Anne's own (including, if I counted correctly, five proposals), Diana's (she marries good old Fred and has Fred, Jr. by the end of the book), her friends', and some random middle-aged strangers that show up only so that Anne can matchmake them.
There's thankfully less of Davy, although we are treated to the misadventures that ensue when he skips Sunday School, Dora the Dreary in tow. (Anne is visiting nameless friends at Carmody, another town on the island.) I totally forgot that Miss Lavendar's posse returns, twice, with Charlotta the Fourth now wearing a pompadour. Miss Lavendar's stepson Paul has developed the amazing ability to age twice as fast as everyone else, so he's thirteen when he should be twelve, and sixteen when he should be fourteen.
The best new character is frivolous Philippa, who has a swarm of beaux but falls for an ugly minister. I still can't remember much about Priscilla, other than her aunt is a writer. And who was the other roommate again? Not Aunt Jimsie, but the classmate. Not too memorable.
Speaking of writers, Anne starts to pursue her professional writing career, helped along by Diana. She's hoping to return to teaching-- now with a B.A.!-- but she wants to write, too. When Gilbert almost dies, she realizes she loves him (although I read her as lesbian for the most part), and he proposes to her again. She accepts, but they'll have to wait three years, as he gets his medical training.
As for readers, well, they only had to wait two years for Anne's House of Dreams, although that would end up being Book 5. More about that later....
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Anne of Avonlea
1909, 1988 Bantam Classic edition
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of Avonlea
Original price $2.95, purchase price $1.75
OK condition paperback
B
The second "Anne" book is just as good as the first. It covers the two years in which Anne teaches at her old school, and learns a few things herself. The school parts are fine, but I prefer to read about the AVIS campaign to beautify Avonlea and Miss Lavendar's middle-aged romance. Anne is 16 to 18 in this story, so she's more grown-up but still getting into scrapes. She helps Marilla raise twins that a distant relative has left, bratty Davy and boring Dora. I could've done without this thread, but I guess Montgomery felt that there wasn't enough of children saying the darnedest things. Fourteen-year-old Charlotta the Fourth is my favorite new character, but I don't think she comes back. The Mr. and Mrs. Harrison thread is pretty good, although I was surprised that Ginger the parrot is killed off so soon. There are more references to Canadian politics than usual, and confusingly Mrs. Lynde, who doesn't believe in higher education for women, is a Liberal.
The book ends with Miss Lavendar's wedding, as Anne and Gilbert prepare to go off to Redmond College. He's been carrying a torch for her for years, but she only gets a sense of it now. Despite her romantic imagination, she doesn't seem to see what's right in front of her. She's quicker to spot Diana & Fred. I don't remember Fred in the first book, but suddenly he's there as part of the gang. Anne's sad to lose her best friend to marriage, but at least it'll be a long engagement. Not only does Mrs. Barry want Diana wait till she's 21, but the third Anne book must wait till 1915....
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of Avonlea
Original price $2.95, purchase price $1.75
OK condition paperback
B
The second "Anne" book is just as good as the first. It covers the two years in which Anne teaches at her old school, and learns a few things herself. The school parts are fine, but I prefer to read about the AVIS campaign to beautify Avonlea and Miss Lavendar's middle-aged romance. Anne is 16 to 18 in this story, so she's more grown-up but still getting into scrapes. She helps Marilla raise twins that a distant relative has left, bratty Davy and boring Dora. I could've done without this thread, but I guess Montgomery felt that there wasn't enough of children saying the darnedest things. Fourteen-year-old Charlotta the Fourth is my favorite new character, but I don't think she comes back. The Mr. and Mrs. Harrison thread is pretty good, although I was surprised that Ginger the parrot is killed off so soon. There are more references to Canadian politics than usual, and confusingly Mrs. Lynde, who doesn't believe in higher education for women, is a Liberal.
The book ends with Miss Lavendar's wedding, as Anne and Gilbert prepare to go off to Redmond College. He's been carrying a torch for her for years, but she only gets a sense of it now. Despite her romantic imagination, she doesn't seem to see what's right in front of her. She's quicker to spot Diana & Fred. I don't remember Fred in the first book, but suddenly he's there as part of the gang. Anne's sad to lose her best friend to marriage, but at least it'll be a long engagement. Not only does Mrs. Barry want Diana wait till she's 21, but the third Anne book must wait till 1915....
Friday, March 16, 2012
Anne of Green Gables
1908, undated 1980s Bantam Seal edition (see below)
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables
Original price $3.95, purchase price $2.08
OK condition paperback
B
Judging from the bookstore stamp in the front, I didn't read this series till my early 20s. Oddly enough, much of the book is from the perspective of adults, 50-something Marilla in particular. Even more than with Tom Sawyer, we see Anne from the outside. So we're well aware of how unique she is. Never mind that she seems like a more interesting version of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and that some of her mishaps sound like variations of Jo March's mishaps. Oddly enough, a lot of these mishaps are Marilla's fault, usually due to mislabeling liquids. Anne will suffer, sometimes get punished, and then Marilla will realize what happened and sort of apologize. Maybe this book is actually about Marilla, despite the title. Certainly, she's more transformed than Anne by the end, becoming kinder and generally more emotional.
I don't like how the second half of the book just rushes through four years, after spending the first half on Anne's first year at Green Gables. (The first quarter covers a couple weeks.) I understand that Montgomery would want to include (spoilers) Matthew's death, Marilla's eyes, and Anne's decision to not go to college, but I would prefer that she either make the book longer, maybe the length of Little Women, or just split it into two, with this book going up to perhaps "Where the Brook and River Meet," where Anne spends her last summer as "a little girl," and tell us more about her early teens, and then the sequel could cover her last year at the Avonlea school and her year at Queen's. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm had this problem, too, but I was less invested in the characters. Even the best friend, Diana, is much more of an individual here.
It's never explicitly said when the story is set, although there are electric lights in town and puffed sleeves even in the country. If you don't mind more spoilers, check out this link that's worked out the dates of the series: http://avonlea.hu/cd/websites/hendricks_paul/kindreds/chronology.html . I agree with their calculations, and think this book covers 1876 to 1881. Montgomery herself wasn't born till 1874, but there are definitely autobiographical elements.
I remember watching the quite good 1985 series, starring Megan Follows as Anne. I probably saw it on cable a few years after it came out. This Bantam edition shows Megan on the cover, perfectly fitting the first physical description of Anne, and the back says that it's "now a major television miniseries." I think I watched the show and then bought a couple of the books. I can't remember if I watched the sequels.
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables
Original price $3.95, purchase price $2.08
OK condition paperback
B
Judging from the bookstore stamp in the front, I didn't read this series till my early 20s. Oddly enough, much of the book is from the perspective of adults, 50-something Marilla in particular. Even more than with Tom Sawyer, we see Anne from the outside. So we're well aware of how unique she is. Never mind that she seems like a more interesting version of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and that some of her mishaps sound like variations of Jo March's mishaps. Oddly enough, a lot of these mishaps are Marilla's fault, usually due to mislabeling liquids. Anne will suffer, sometimes get punished, and then Marilla will realize what happened and sort of apologize. Maybe this book is actually about Marilla, despite the title. Certainly, she's more transformed than Anne by the end, becoming kinder and generally more emotional.
I don't like how the second half of the book just rushes through four years, after spending the first half on Anne's first year at Green Gables. (The first quarter covers a couple weeks.) I understand that Montgomery would want to include (spoilers) Matthew's death, Marilla's eyes, and Anne's decision to not go to college, but I would prefer that she either make the book longer, maybe the length of Little Women, or just split it into two, with this book going up to perhaps "Where the Brook and River Meet," where Anne spends her last summer as "a little girl," and tell us more about her early teens, and then the sequel could cover her last year at the Avonlea school and her year at Queen's. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm had this problem, too, but I was less invested in the characters. Even the best friend, Diana, is much more of an individual here.
It's never explicitly said when the story is set, although there are electric lights in town and puffed sleeves even in the country. If you don't mind more spoilers, check out this link that's worked out the dates of the series: http://avonlea.hu/cd/websites/hendricks_paul/kindreds/chronology.html . I agree with their calculations, and think this book covers 1876 to 1881. Montgomery herself wasn't born till 1874, but there are definitely autobiographical elements.
I remember watching the quite good 1985 series, starring Megan Follows as Anne. I probably saw it on cable a few years after it came out. This Bantam edition shows Megan on the cover, perfectly fitting the first physical description of Anne, and the back says that it's "now a major television miniseries." I think I watched the show and then bought a couple of the books. I can't remember if I watched the sequels.
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