Kindred Spirits: The works of LM Montgomery

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I think, too, that he and LM weren't exactly equals, intellecually. He was far more of a "Diana" type, thinking-wise (not unintelligent, just not that intellectually curious) rather than a "Gilbert"--who would've been a much better match for LMM. The impression I got from her journals was that they didn't really have that much in common--she was very into reading, discussing new ideas and philosophies, and he just wasn't. I think he just wasn't interested and didn't think her writing was a big deal or that special.
Which is kind of ironic, bec. the man LMM did fall madly in love with (an affair of very short duration, which was never consummated--though it almost was) she wrote that she could nevr marry him because he was too far below her in station and that they'd never be happy together. Which might've been proven true, but maybe she miscalculated bec. the man she did approve of being good enough didn't actually make her happy for more than the first few years they were married.

[linared]

So I'm thinking about going to Prince Edward Island this summer and I'm reading through my LM Montgomery collection to prepare. I decided to read the Pat books first because I never liked them that much when I was a kid. I still don't like them. Spoilers below, beware.

First of all, I know this is the most common complaint about these books but Pat is a weirdo. Her obsession with her house is creepy. What makes it worse is that LM doesn't really fill in the other characters in the family. I barely understand the character of the mom and dad. Its hard for the reader to understand why Pat is upset about her brother Joe and her sister, Winnie getting married when they are barely in the book. The character of Sid is even worse. LM keeps saying that he and Pat are best friend and Pat wants them to never get married and stay together for ever (which creepy). But there is hardly a scene with them together. I also don't like that Pat is mad at her brother for marrying because of the memory of Bets. They dated when they were like 16. It's not healthy. The 1D characters make it clear that Pat loves the house more than her family.

But most importantly, the books are boring. I got sick fast of the plot, Pat fears change, change occurs and Pat freaks and adjusts or change doesn't end up happening. Pat could be real selfish bitch about the change thing and also annoyed me that everyone catered to her. Pat's a boring character compared to the LM characters. She's not smart, she has no talents or ambitions.

Also, it seemed that alot of story lines are repeated in this book. Ornery male single characters turns out to be secretly married. Check. Character reconnects with past flame, flame turns out to be old and overweight (Am I crazy or does LM seem to have a basis against overweight people?). Check. Character tries to chose between two men only to fall in love with someone else. Check. Character gets engaged to someone but realizes she doesn't love him enough. There are others beside this.

Wow that was a long post. I think I'll stick to the other LM's that I like better.

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Yeah, linared, I'm totally with you on Pat. I think that LMM must have been getting a bit stuck for ideas and interesting characters by that point - it was written and set considerably later than most of the ones I really like, post WWI.

I like Rae - they could've been fun books if they'd been about her - and I like Jingle. But Pat is just so annoying, and so frustrating. It's one of those show/tell situations - everyone keeps talking about how she's so charming and attractive, but all you see her doing is being quite bitchy and selfish, and just refusing to deal with reality, which is not an attractive trait. It's not like she was even refusing to deal with reality in a Pollyanna kind of way, where she's totally focused on looking on the bright side. Pat is just obsessed with the past.

I think most of LMM's books are about girls who are special in some way, and she just kind of ran out of specialnesses, so Pat's was...to be a totally static human being.

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erinnyes said:

I think most of LMM's books are about girls who are special in some way, and she just kind of ran out of specialnesses, so Pat's was...to be a totally static human being.

Very well put.
My favorite part in the Pat books is when Rae got mad at Pat and gave her the silent treatment. I thought it was kind of funny. And that it served Pat right for being such a know-it-all.

I'd love to go to Prince Edward Island myself but it's not something I've ever seriously looked into.

[linared]

I once read a book on LM's works and the author discussed how Pat had to lose everything before she would be with Jingle. I feel that the Pat and Jingle relationship was the most unrealistic. Anne and Gilbert had a similar relationship, childhood friends where one partner takes a while to realize that she loves the other. But with Anne, even if she doesn't realize that she loves Gilbert, the reader sees that she has feelings, for example, she is jealous with Gilbert pays attention to someone else and she feels annoyed when he stops flirting with her. Jingle is missing from most of the second book and the reader doesn't even get to see letters from him to Pat. The relationship feels very forced, like LM thought that she had to put them together because they are childhood friends. Almost foobian in her thinking.

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Yeah, kind of like she knew the readers were all expecting it and who else would she have paired Pat up with, anyway? LMM never did have a stranger suddenly show up and lead to True Love. Even for the Peter/Donna pairing (A Tangled Web) they were both a part of the clan and certainly knew who the other one was, even if they'd never actually spoken before.

linared, do you remember the title of that book? If so, it sounds like something I'd enjoy. I've read on book about LMM called "Fragrance of Sweet Grasses" but don't remember that specifically being discussed in the book.

[linared]

No, I can't remember, unfortunately. I would like to read it again.

[dwanollah]

There's also one called "Making Avonlea" or somesuch....

[svetlanamonsoon]

My mom got me hooked on LMM's work at a really young age. We would read the books together until I was old enough to read them myself. I must have read the Anne series a dozen times as a child. I loved the movies as much as I loved the books. I'm not usually the type to picture actors when I'm reading books but the actors that played Anne and Gilbert are forever my mental picture of the characters.

As much as I love Anne, my favorite LMM book is Jane of Lantern Hill. It makes me so sad that it's out of print because my copy is a mess and I'd love to get one that hasn't been read a billion times. As someone earlier in the thread mentioned the book has this magic ability to make washing dishes sound magical. Jane's one of my favorite literary characters ever.

Shockingly I've never read the Emily series. I keep meaning to correct this horrible mistake on my part as I keep running across more people that enjoy it more then the Anne series.

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svetlanamonsoon, you can get all the LMM books on either Project Gutenberg or Project Gutenberg of Australia. Not the same as having a book, but if you want to read something and can't get hold of it. I love Jane of Lantern Hill as well.

Pat, however, was messed up. This:

Pat had to lose everything before she would be with Jingle.

Is just crazy, and not romantic at all. Seriously, she ended up clinging to Jingle because he was the only thing that remained the same when everything around her was changing. I don't call that love, I call that a continuation of her obsessive need to control everything and everyone around her.

There's a parallel with Anne and Gilbert, but despite her clinging to somewhat foolish romanticism, Anne is in other ways a continually developing creature. She's interested in a lot of things, and, as much as she loves home, she also loves exploring. Realising she loved Gilbert was about maturing, and developing her ideas of what love is. Pat just...didn't have anything else.

My favorite part in the Pat books is when Rae got mad at Pat and gave her the silent treatment. I thought it was kind of funny. And that it served Pat right for being such a know-it-all.

Yeah, I liked all the Rae stuff. I was just sorry when Rae apologised.