#lmm lockdown

[no-where-new-hero]

was just thinking today that part of the beauty of "the blue castle" is the fact that the fairy tale ending comes on the tail of an excessively realist novel. like where else in montgomery's canon do we see a main side character have a baby out of wedlock and have a heroine address the social hypocrisy with which she's treated? where else do we have an important family like the stirlings that aren't wealthy, to the point where valancy has to worry about saving money and buying cheap beans for dinner? where else is the idea of the xenophobia in a small town--which has become romanticized in her other works--so bitterly mocked in the person of barney snaith? where else do we have a scene like the chidley corners dance, where physical and sexual violence simmer just under the surface?

it's easy to laugh gently at valancy's fairy tale happily ever after, but the book itself refuses to yield to "coziness" or a cottagecore fantasy because the things that valancy works through and experiences do have a dark and brutal edge. she's saved, in some ways through the power of narrative--but remember, maud seems to tell us, it is not so lucky for everyone.

[lillipad72]

Anne's World: A New Century of Anne of Green Gables

Part 1: Introduction (Irene Gammel)

"Anyone who has ever encountered her in one of L.M. Montgomery's novels will never forget her, for she is what we're not - and all that we long for and shall never become." - Jack Zipes on Anne Shirley

Key questions the book wants to answer:

"How do we read this early twentieth-century novel in ways that are relevant for readers of the twenty-first century?

How do the novel’s ethical dimensions fit into our own era?

Can Anne of Green Gables be read as a therapeutic text, capable of counteracting depression?

What is the power and danger of digital encounters with Anne?"

The goal of this book:

To consolidate and expand upon previous scholarship and information by placing Anne in its contemporary context while also exploring the reception and cultural impact, providing new references for future study.

The essays:

'Seven Milestones: How Anne of Green Gables Became a Canadian Icon' (Carole Gerson) "argues that Anne’s longevity is partly the result of a series of ‘institutional, commercial, and grassroots interventions."

'Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves: Ambivalence towards Fashion in Anne of Green Gables' (Allison Matthews, David and Kimberly Wahl) "argues that the text allows Anne Shirley to have it both ways: others want her to be fashionable and ambitious, whereas she wants to fit in."

'I'll never be Agelically Good: Feminist Narrative Ethics in Anne of Green Gables' (Mary Jeanette Moran) "reveals that the novel conforms to a feminist ethical paradigm because it tends to value those ethical choices that preserve or maintain relationships to support the principle that those who nurture others must also care for themselves, and to challenge the assumptions that women naturally care for others or that they alone bear the responsibility to do so."

'Too Headless and Impulsive: Re-reading Anne of Green Gables through a Clinical Approach' (Helen Hoy) "argues for the possibility of reading Anne Shirley as a psychological case study."

'Reading to Heal: Anne of Green Gables as Biblio-therapy' (Irene Gammel) "argues for reading Montgomery’s fiction within the important context of bibliotherapy, or the use of books in the treatment of personal and mental disorders."

'Reading with Blitheness: Anne of Green Gables in Toronto Public Library's Children's Collections' (Leslie McGrath) "examines how Montgomery’s literary reputation endured wide swings of critical opinion"

'Learning with Anne: Early Childhood Education Looks at New Media for Young Girls' (Jason Nolan) "looks closely at Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series, Anne’s Diary, and New Moon Girls as prominent examples of how Anne of Green Gables and the work of Montgomery in general have been taken up as locations for formal and informal learning, through the identifi cation of Anne as variously a marketing icon, as an ideal young girl, and through the way Montgomery constructed learning environments within her novels."

'On the Road from Bright River: Shifting Social Space in Anne of Green Gables' (Alexander MacLeod) "studies the ways in which the characters inside the novel, like the readers outside of the text and the real-world visitors to the Green Gables National Park site in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, are all engaged in a complex process of reading and rewriting social space"

'Anne in a "Globalized" World: Nation, Nostalgia, and Postcolonial Perspectives of Home' (Margaret Steffler) "explores the impact of the novel and character both outside and within Canada, arguing that the attraction of Montgomery’s work continues into the twenty-first century because it resonates with conditions in contemporary lives and culture, specifically the emotions and activity involved in migratory patterns of losing and creating home"

'An Enchanting Girl: International Portraits of Anne's Cultural Transfer' (Andrew O'Malley, Huifeng Hu, Ranbir K. Banwait, Irene Gammel) "shines a light on the crossover points from one culture to another, identifying cultures that have ‘appropriated’ Anne for very different purposes"

'What's in a Name? Towards a Theory of the Anne Brand' (Benjamin Lefebvre) "draws on film and cultural theories to consider paratextual Annes in terms of authorial ownership, control, and narrative pleasure"

'Mediating Anne' (Richard Cavell) (afterword) "closes off the book by providing a jumping-off point, looking forward to future research exploring the global Anne."

hi hi hi! I just discovered this book from 2010, which is a collection of essays on Anne of Green Gables, and I thought I might go through each essay and share my thoughts on the pieces! If anyone else has this book or access to any of the essays (some of which I think you can find online) I would love to discuss them with you! xoxo lily

[alwayschasingrainbows]

The LEAST favourite love interest of LMM's books:

Neil Gordon (Kilmeny)

Eric Marshall (Kilmeny)

Roy Gardner (Anne)

David Kirk (Pat)

Teddy Kent (Emily)

Dean Priest (Emily)

Aylmer Vincent (Emily)

Andrew Stuart (Robin), from Jane of Lantern Hill

Mr. Edward Beck (Valancy)

Jerry Meredith (Nan)

Other

Voting ended onDec 4, 2023

I didn't include Barney Snaith, Gilbert Blythe and Hilary Gordon, because they seem to be the best liked.

Also, I am curious about the results.

[dustpileofherown]

Considering another writing challenge over the summer.

What would you prefer?

Another The Blue Castle Writing Challenge (just like the first)

Expand to all LM Montgomery (except Anne)

Expand to all LM Montgomery (including Anne)

A writing challenge for a single Montgomery book (that is not The Blue Castle)

Voting ended onApr 15, 2024

[no-where-new-hero]

things in lm montgomery novels i thought would be much more common when i grew up than they are:

significant discussions in twilit gardens

marriage proposals

eccentric men talking to me about my writing

things in lm montgomery novels that are in fact as common as she portrays them:

that one specific girl out to Get you

[no-where-new-hero]

And then his signal whistle from the shore. She ran down to the landing rock to greet him—to nestle herself into his eager arms—they did seem eager. (The Blue Castle, 1926)

vs

Suddenly I heard Teddy's signal whistle in the old orchard. Of course I went. It's always a case of 'Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad' with me—though I would die before I would admit it to any one but my journal. (Emily Climbs, 1925)

vs

She would not go. Let him call as he might. "Whistle and I'll come to you, my lad," indeed! No more of that for Emily Byrd Starr. Teddy Kent need not imagine that he could come and go as went the years and find her meekly waiting to answer his lordly signal. (Emily's Quest, 1927)

and

Barney laughed—the laugh Valancy did not like—the little, bitter, cynical laugh (The Blue Castle, 1926)

vs

Dean laughed—with a little note of bitterness that was so often present in his laughter—though less often with Emily than with other people. It was really his laughter that had won Dean his reputation for cynicism (Emily of New Moon, 1923)

My brain is a sieve these days so I don't really have anything meaningful to say about these parallels, except as many people have pointed out, Valancy's and Barney's relationship could have gone so badly, and we can guess exactly how badly because of how Emily's relationships with Teddy and Dean went.

[no-where-new-hero]

suddenly realized that ilse and dean have NOT ONE SINGLE SCENE TOGETHER in the entire emily trilogy!! it’s like they don’t even exist in the same universe, which is supremely funny to me for some reason. ilse has negative interest in emily’s old weird situationship; dean pays zero attention to any of emily’s friends except his boy rival/potential mentee.

but it is kind of interesting from the pov that emily and dean exist in this pseudo gothic novel all the time and ilse is just. happily in the real world. has her school life and her career and her boyfriends. she’s not living in a story

[no-where-new-hero]

There was no money for rooms nobody ever saw.

Uncle Wellington, whom she disliked and despised even though he had fulfilled the highest Stirling aspiration, “marrying money,”

Uncle Benjamin was a wealthy and childless old widower and Valancy had been brought up in the fear and admonition of his money. If she offended him he would cut her out of his will—supposing she were in it. Valancy did not want to be cut out of Uncle Benjamin’s will. She had been poor all her life and knew the galling bitterness of it.

This comes up again in a later chapter (Cousin Stickles tells Valancy to buy beans because they're cheap), but I do think it's interesting that this book actually engages in a realistic way with the socioeconomic standing of its protagonist, unlike in the Anne and Emily books, where the question of money is personal and never a noticeable impediment to existence. The Stirlings are conscious of their reputation, but they don't have the cash to back it up, which makes the whole Redfern reveal later on even more impactful. It also is what makes the book feel more geared to an adult audience--a grown-up knows the humiliation and necessity of doing unpleasant thing for the sake of money, when a child takes it for granted (even a child like Emily, who writes to pay off her debt to Aunt Ruth, has the financial security of New Moon into adulthood so long as Cousin Jimmy's alive).