#lmmblogging

[mzannthropy]

You know how Anne Shirley's ideal look is the "Rose-leaf complexion—starry violet eyes—raven hair" (from Anne of The Island). I think the actress Dagmara Dominczyk matches that.

This is her as Mercedes in The Count of Monte Cristo 2002.

Lady Cordelia Fitzgerald?

[marigoldbaker]

decided to start reading anne of green gables again to see if that fulfilled the very specific need awoken within me thanks to emily of new moon & i think i am glad that i am reading it again because it's helping me better understand and articulate exactly why i like emily of new moon much much better. it's the difference between a crisp red apple and bittersweet dark chocolate, i think -- very much a matter of taste, and what you're personally partial to in the moment.

but the thing i noticed immediately is that marilla is 100 percent charmed by anne from the jump, and it shows up in her behavior in a way that anne responds to! her judgments are thoughtful and compassionate, even if they are a little stiff at times, and she very clearly always has anne's best interests at heart. compare this to aunt elizabeth, who takes emily on with this very up-front attitude of "i'm doing this because it's my responsibility to do this," spends basically half the book alternating between trying to Fix all the things that are Wrong With Emily, telling emily that there are things Wrong With Her, and disciplining emily based on knee-jerk reactions that come from her own unresolved emotional issues and generational trauma -- and at the same time, at the very core of her, what motivates her is not wrath or dislike but fear! she has noooooo idea how to handle this little baby girl (like marilla) and nooooo idea that she even CARES about this little baby girl (UNLIKE marilla) and it's this lethal combination that means that emily is just totally convinced that aunt elizabeth is burdened by her.

and yet there are these tiny tiny little touches in emily of new moon that rattle me and warm my heart. soooo silly and sweet, but when emily comes back from visiting great-aunt nancy, aunt elizabeth's made her favorite cream puffs. aunt elizabeth is the one who emily trusts to do right by her, because if she promises, she means it. it's especially Much when juxtaposed with aunt laura, who showers emily with all sorts of warm and cuddly love but isn't actually any kind of material support against aunt elizabeth outside of being like "it sucks that she treats you like this :("

the thing that gets me too about emily and aunt elizabeth is like ..... they really want to be loved by each other but they feel embarrassed by that fact? aunt elizabeth when we first meet her "doesn't want to be snubbed" by emily; emily despite all the insanity and weirdness of aunt elizabeth has one of her deepest moments of shame and sadness when she realizes she's actually deeply hurt her.

i mean she expresses it like -- “And I’ll love you, Aunt Elizabeth, if you’ll let me—if you want me to. I didn’t think you cared. Dear Aunt Elizabeth.”

what an insane thing to say! i am clawing at walls! love that's held back because you're scared it's not wanted! love that's not felt because you're scared you aren't lovable! there is SO MUCH to unpack there and i just .... do not feel that level of vicious defensive insanity exists between anne and marilla! they just love each other! which is an equally valid and lovely narrative but does not make me want to like roam the moors breaking plates or whatever.

so idk i think emily of new moon is really a favorite of mine in a way that's very different from anne of green gables. apples and chocolate. both things i love too much to properly articulate, but there's one i just cannot live without.

[alwayschasingrainbows]

“I have a dream,” he said slowly. “I persist in dreaming it, although it has often seemed to me that it could never come true. I dream of a home with a hearth-fire in it, a cat and dog, the footsteps of friends—and you!”

Anne of The Island, L. M. Montgomery.

make me choose: @tiffanymaxwels asked - gilbert blythe or cole mackenzie

Need anything else? Any dragons around here need slaying?

[alwayschasingrainbows]

Does someone else remember the hillarious story Peter Craig (The Golden Road by Lucy Maud Montgomery) wrote for "Our Magazine"?

"THE BATTLE OF THE PARTRIDGE EGGS

Once upon a time there lived about half a mile from a forrest a farmer and his wife and his sons and daughters and a granddaughter. The farmer and his wife loved this little girl very much but she caused them great trouble by running away into the woods and they often spent haf days looking for her. One day she wondered further into the forrest than usual and she begun to be hungry. Then night closed in. She asked a fox where she could get something to eat. The fox told her he knew where there was a partridges nest and a bluejays nest full of eggs. So he led her to the nests and she took five eggs out of each. When the birds came home they missed the eggs and flew into a rage. The bluejay put on his topcoat and was going to the partridge for law when he met the partridge coming to him. They lit up a fire and commenced sining their deeds when they heard a tremendous howl close behind them. They jumped up and put out the fire and were immejutly attacked by five great wolves. The next day the little girl was rambelling through the woods when they saw her and took her prisoner. After she had confessed that she had stole the eggs they told her to raise an army. They would have to fight over the nests of eggs and whoever one would have the eggs. So the partridge raised a great army of all kinds of birds except robins and the little girl got all the robins and foxes and bees and wasps. And best of all the little girl had a gun and plenty of ammunishun. The leader of her army was a wolf. The result of the battle was that all the birds were killed except the partridge and the bluejay and they were taken prisoner and starved to death.

The little girl was then taken prisoner by a witch and cast into a dunjun full of snakes where she died from their bites and people who went through the forrest after that were taken prisoner by her ghost and cast into the same dunjun where they died. About a year after the wood turned into a gold castle and one morning everything had vanished except a piece of a tree.

by Peter Craig."

Golden Road, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

[mzannthropy]

Anne of the Island Chapter 11

Whew, LMM really threw everything into this chapter, the good the bad and the ugly. (This got long.)

So we're back in Avonlea and it's summer and Anne is reunited with her bestie Diana. RIP residents of Avonlea I never heard of or cared about much. I wonder if Uncle Abe foresaw his own death?

Congrats to Billy Andrews and Nettie Blewett. I also want to know (quoting Davy's favourite phrase here lol) whether he proposed to her himself or sent Jane again. Methinks he did it himself, if only bc I like to think that Jane refused to be his proxy again. We don't know anything about Nettie (at least I don't remember her from previous books) but I imagine her to be the bossy type, a formidable woman, you know, I think that would go well with his personality. Though why the hell am I investing this much time into a storyline that gets fewer sentences that I'm writing here, I cannot answer.

Now, Jane. I made a post on Jane in AOTI in 2023, not linking it here now bc it contains spoilers for later chapters. So, Jane resigned from Avonlea school and is going West. For illustration, this is what "West" means in Canada (PEI is so tiny!):

“Can’t get a beau in Avonlea, that’s what,” said Mrs. Rachel Lynde scornfully. “Says she thinks she’ll have better health out West. I never heard her health was poor before.”

Well, Jane did mention headaches in her letter to Anne but if it's true that her reason for going West is to find a man (and I think it likely is, though I also suspect that Jane wishes to get away from her mother, who is not a nice person) then--so fucking what? In this culture, there seems to be no worse fate for a woman than that of remaining a spinster. I get the impression that even an abusive husband is better than none. Then why blame a girl who is actively working on avoiding this fate? "What else would take her out West to some forsaken place whose only recommendation is that men are plenty and women scarce?" That's kinda the point, Rachel. Jane probably realised she's not getting attention at home, so she decided to go somewhere where she will get it, if only bc there aren't many women. Mrs Lynde is being unfair and judgemental here. Jane is going West to teach, not to have fun. Half a fucking continent away, where she doesn't know a soul, to a completely different environment, and different customs too, I imagine their ways will be very different from the ways of PEI. And she's going on her own. Jane is one truly brave young woman. In this instalment, LMM has gone out of her way to describe Jane as plain and boring. I think this is why she did it, bc there was to be a twist. And I like that Anne defends her friend. It also just occurred to me now that the proposal by proxy might have been a catalyst for Jane. Someone like her brother, who can't even talk to the girl he wants to marry, still manages to bag himself a wife, while she can't even get a man to look twice at her. That's gotta hurt. So she took her life into her own hands, instead of crying into her pillow at night. Good for you, Jane!

Next, Ruby. You know I've always thought that LMM chose to kill her off bc she was so wild about boys. Maybe she wanted to depict someone dying from tuberculosis, bc that's what used to happen in her times, and it had to be someone close to Anne. It couldn't be Diana, of course, so it had to be either Jane or Ruby. Ruby was probably the better choice for that. I mean, idk, I don't care for her much. She's crazy about boys and gets hysterical, that's all there is to her, but also she was an opportunity for LMM to write someone so vivid fighting against inevitable death.

Next, Aunt Atossa. One of the book's pointless plots. There already was a similar character in AOA and it wasn't as out of place. LMM should have written a separate short story for her. (There are actually 2 spinoff short stories for AOTI.) The only good thing is that Diana on their way there admired the sunset. We don't see her do that a lot.

Last, Anne wants to write a short story. Fantastic, tell me more!

[mzannthropy]

I once suggested we should have this exact thing for Anne of Green Gables, in particular the Redmond years era. Anne and her friends living together at Patty's Place with Aunt Jamesina, navigating their studies, romance and life in general. I just think that L.M. Montgomery would have made a great sitcom writer.

concept: a period drama that's also a sitcom.

It's got all the rag-tag group of friends à la F.R.I.E.N.D.S. but they're all living in 1500's Paris or 1850's London and it's just a big sitcom but everything is period-compliant.

what i'm saying is, why should we choose between a sitcom tropes and a show with exciting historical fashion when we can have both at the same time

[mzannthropy]

Anne and Priscilla waking up in sweat in the middle of the night from a nightmare, in which they are stuck in a room full of cushions.

[mzannthropy]

Anne of the Island Chapter 3

"Greeting and Farewell" encapsulates this chapter well.

Nothing's more annoying than rain on the day you're travelling, but rain at the beginning of September feels like goodbye to summer.

And really, idk what LMM's intentions with Dora were, and not like the narrative was ever favourable to her, but I'm certainly not gonna hate on her. She was always a quiet girl who minded her own business, almost as if she went out of her way not to be a bother to people. Maybe she was taught by her mother that a lady should not show emotions? (idk just guessing). Why is LMM so determined to make it look like Dora is not sorry that Anne is leaving? And so what if she likes her poached egg on toast, must she starve herself? Enjoy that breakfast, girl. Davy throws a tantrum, of course, but I wonder if Dora behaved that way, how tolerated it would be. The funniest thing is that Dora is exactly the sort of girl Marilla wanted Anne to be. And yet it's still not good enough... (Villain arc for Dora, NOW.)

Even Gilbert’s presence brought her no comfort, for Charlie Sloane was there, too and Anne and Gilbert were left alone on deck. “I am very glad that all the Sloanes get seasick as soon as they go on water,” thought Anne mercilessly. “I am sure I couldn’t take my farewell look at the ‘ould sod’ with Charlie standing there pretending to look sentimentally at it, too.”

You're killing me, Lucy Maud. This is perfect. I love that Anne doesn't lie to herself about this matter. This is the third chapter in a row that Gilbert serves as comfort to Anne.

"I wonder if Davy has come out of the closet yet." I wonder what LMM would think if she learned what this phrase means in current times.

Priscilla feels almost like an angel in this chapter. Anne is so lucky to have a friend at Kingsport; coming to a new place so far from home where she doesn't know anyone--plus the fact that it must be a fairly big town while she's lived in the countryside--is an unsettling experience. "Miss Hannah gravely told me we could have ‘young gentlemen callers’ two evenings in the week, if they went away at a reasonable hour" idk what it is but I find this line to be so amusingly sweet. Very old school classy, if you know what I mean.

Must I really shake hands with Charlie Sloane, Anne?

All the girlies hate Charlie Sloane, lol. But Priscilla saying that Gilbert "has grown in the past year" feels a bit weird--like she must be the same age as him. It's something your mum would say.

Calmly and sensibly ging to sleep is the best solution for anything, I swear. It must have been a long journey. They arrived at Kingsport at 9pm, and Anne had to wake up at dawn, that's a long day. Also she took several modes of transport - a buggy, a train, a boat, another train and a cab. She would be exhausted.

Looking forward to tomorrow's chapter!

[mzannthropy]

Anne of the Island Chapter 10

What to say about this chapter other than: yay!

LMM at her best with her description of the interior of Patty's Place, complete with china dogs Gog and Magog! And I like that there are the same mats as at Green Gables--nice callback to home. Even though it's a tense situation, the depiction of Misses Spoffords was still humorous.

Then did Miss Patty lay down her knitting, take off her specs, rub them, put them on again, and for the first time look at Anne as at a human being. The other lady followed her example so perfectly that she might as well have been a reflection in a mirror.

We need to see it on screen.

I always thought of this chapter as, of course it works all out bc it's fiction, but it's not that implausible that Miss Patty would find Anne and Priscilla trustworthy tenants. They are both respectable girls and Redmond students. Miss Patty and Miss Maria are also good examples of not being too old to do new things. Travelling around the world, life goals. The thought of the two of them at Westminster Abbey with their knitting paints a funny picture. (And why not? Live your best lives, ladies!)

It's weird, though, that throughout their visit, Priscilla never speaks.

Philippa is HILARIOUS. Just realising now, this is the second time profanity is mentioned in this book. I don't think it has been in the previous two books? In Rilla, Susan and Gertrude discuss swearing, but that's obvs much later.

"Get up, you goose."

"If you won’t let me cast in my lot with you I’ll die of the disappointment and then I’ll come back and haunt you. I’ll camp on the very doorstep of Patty’s Place and you won’t be able to go out or come in without falling over my spook."

The lines in this chapter are chef's kiss.

And so their first year at Redmond is over.

[mzannthropy]

Anne of the Island Chapter 9

Anne enjoyed it [the second term] thoroughly in all its phases—the stimulating class rivalry, the making and deepening of new and helpful friendships, the gay little social stunts, the doings of the various societies of which she was a member, the widening of horizons and interests.

I wish LMM gave us more of this, instead of summing it up in one paragraph. I'd like to see more of the student's life and the different societies. AOTI is my favourite of the series, but I can think of ways it could have been so much better... a lot of telling instead of showing.

So Gilbert is extra careful to only act as an old friend. "...she was very glad, so she told herself, that he had evidently dropped all nonsensical ideas—though she spent considerable time secretly wondering why." Do you, Anne?

And so we have another proposal. Well, the bar was on the floor after Billy Andrews, it could only get better, though that's not much of a consolation. Anne doesn't think she gave Charlie Sloane any encouragement--she did let him walk her home that evening after the party in Avonlea, but then she hangs out with Gilbert way more often--but honestly I don't think it would matter how well or poorly she treated him bc he was always determined to propose to her. Charlie might be working towards his degree, but what he really needs is a course in self-awareness. Poor Anne feels so bad after going off at him, I wish I could give her a hug. Like, we don't all behave gracefully at all time and some people can bring out the worst in you. It's a win for Miss Ada's cushions, at least. Also I take it that Anne is not keen to talk about this proposal to anyone either?

We hear from Stella Maynard again! LMM should have written The Trials of a Country Schoolmarm, I bet she'd have a lot to say. I don't know how anyone could think of teacher's work as easy, in those times, when they had one classroom to teach everything to all grades! (I mean, even now.) Stella's coming to Redmond and they're all going to rent a house together with her aunt as their housekeeper! And Patty's Place just happens to be available to let. Well, Anne had that premonition that she would get to know the house better. And bc this is a book of fiction, you know how it's going to go--but that's for the next chapter.

[mzannthropy]

I often think of Anne of Green Gables on my nature photography walks. I think she would like this place--a graveyard in the woods. Behind me there's a church with an older graveyard. And so many bluebells, it's tempting to name it Bluebell Vale!

[mzannthropy]

I don't have rankings as such, so I put them in categories:

Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island - classic Anne, must reads. AOTI is a fave.

Anne's House of Dreams, Rilla of Ingleside - for darker, more 'serious' themes.

Anne of Windy Poplars - my most re-read one, probably. Very low stakes for Anne, as it's not, apart from her beef with the Pringles at the beginning, about her, so you can relax and enjoy those little stories. But it also has the intriguing Katherine Brooke. And the unforgettable Rebecca Dew.

Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley - don't vibe with these. AOI is the weakest one for me; I don't like reading about kids and that drama with Christine is so contrived and unnecessary. I choose not to accept it as canon. In RV at least the kids are a bit older. Still, these two are completely skippable for me. The WW1 foreshadowing doesn't grab me.

I liked The Blythes Are Quoted, but I liked it for the stories, not the bits about the Blythe family. I think can also be considered semi-canon at best; in any case, I don't think about the next generation much anyway. I never read the poems bc I can't do poetry.

final aogg book rankings for anyone who cares

anne of the island

anne of green gables

anne of avonlea

anne of ingleside

anne’s house of dreams

rilla of ingleside

anne of windy poplars

rainbow valley

[mzannthropy]

Some Bits About Jem Blythe from Rilla of Ingleside That I Love

From Chapter 30 - The Turning of the Tide

Rilla wakes up one morning and sees Gertrude Oliver at the window of her room.

When she wakened Gertrude Oliver was sitting at her window leaning out to meet the silver mystery of the dawn. Her clever, striking profile, with the masses of black hair behind it, came out clearly against the pallid gold of the eastern sky. Rilla remembered Jem's admiration of the curve of Miss Oliver's brow and chin, and she shuddered.

From Chapter 31 - Mrs Matilda Pittman

Mrs Matilda is quite the personality, one of the elderly ladies type L.M. Montgomery writes so well. Rilla's thoughts after leaving her house:

Jem—who would have appreciated Mrs. Matilda Pitman keenly—where was Jem?

From Chapter 27 - Waiting

Rilla writes in her diary about the family's first car ride, which ended up with the car in the ditch bc an old lady, Miss Elizabeth Carr, riding in her cart, would not let them pass (Rilla sympathises with her, which I find really sweet).

Jem will have a laugh when I write him this. He knows Miss Elizabeth of old.

He may not write poetry, but he sure does appreciate the beauty and strong character of women!

[mzannthropy]

They got into the canoe and paddled out to it. They left behind the realm of everyday and things known and landed on a realm of mystery and enchantment where anything might happen—anything might be true.

The Blue Castle, L.M. Montgomery.

Art by Bill Reynolds

[mzannthropy]

This showed up on my Pinterest. I know you guys like pretty covers and I don't remember seeing these before, so sharing it here.

[mzannthropy]

Anne of the Island Book Club Chapter 25

Good to be back at Redmond again.

Anne contemplates going out vs staying in, but from the way they're described, both sound good.

Shall I spend it here where there is a cosy fire, a plateful of delicious russets, three purring and harmonious cats, and two impeccable china dogs with green noses? Or shall I go to the park, where there is the lure of gray woods and of gray water lapping on the harbor rocks?

LMM once again summarises life at Patty's Place in several paragraphs when I wish she gave us at least one scene of this. Slice of life was something she excelled at. I said what I thought of Jonas already, but it's good that he's a regular visitor at PP--and he clearly makes an effort in seeing Phil if he needs to get on a train. 'If he wanted to, he would' and clearly Jonas does. The geography here has always confused me, though. Where is this St Columbia, where is Bolingbroke and Prospect Point in relation to Kingsport? It's not that important for the book, but I like knowing where a story takes place (When I read something set in a real place, I always look it up on a map. I know many of these are fictional, but I'd like to have an idea.) I wonder, though, if there were many people who agreed with Aunt Jamesina about ministers laughing, and I wonder if this will have implications for his future employment.

Gilbert's conduct towards Anne has drastically changed, but it had to be that way. He shot his shot and it didn't go as he wanted, so he wants to move on--can't blame him. Funny that Anne is the one who believes that Phil is not just flirting with Jonas, but at the same time, hearing Phil and Gilbert chat and joke with each other makes her think she only imagined that look of pain in Gilbert eyes when she refused him. She knows Phil cares for Jonas only. (Actually--and this is purely theoretical, mind you--you could make an argument in favour of Phil x Gilbert. Sure, he is poor, but it's not like he doesn't have prospects, and with her connections she would be able to get him a good position once he qualifies as a medical doctor. They could be good for each other. But that would be a different story, not this one.)

If the real Prince Charming was never to come she would have none of a substitute.

This is actually valid. Don't settle, ladies. (I mean this as in your version of Prince Charming, whatever the characteristics may be. (I'm speaking to straight women here bc that's what I am, but it should go for everyone, I think.))

Okay but. I swear on the life of my cat I don't want to be heretical on purpose, I can't help being what I am, but that meet cute at the park is. Well. Cute.

I like parks. I go to one almost every day (I wfh and take a walk there on my lunch break). One of my favourite places in the whole world is a giant park (see my photography, in fact I went there just last Saturday and posted some pics here too). I also like pavilions (in fact I wrote an original story set in such a structure, where two characters get engaged). And he has a good entrance, though for us modern readers the meeting may seem a bit stereotypical. But he knows her name already from her reading a paper on Tennyson, and this is something that matters to her (I mean, she almost drowned RP-ing his poem). And then he sends her roses and a nice quote? I know he's not the one but I can't really see fault with anything here. And from what Phil says, Roy Gardner seems quite the catch. Maybe in a different story, not this one.

Poor Rusty got snubbed, though. Cats look at us like we're committing crimes against them when we don't pay attention to them for 5 minutes, so I imagine his "why you no love me no more?" must have been devastating.

Note, in Slovak translation he was always called 'Roy', I didn't know he was actually 'Royal' in the original. I will continue calling him Roy.