Kindred Spirits: The works of LM Montgomery

[dwanollah]

*so freakin' jellus!!!!*

Why does he have to ruin everything?! When I won the first Franny B. for my Montgomery paper, I spent part of my prize money on a pair of antique gloves that were used on the first film. If K.Sul keeps this up, I'm gonna start glaring hateful shit at them!

[prydainprincess]

Or you could fill them with lead shot and go up and smack KS.

[Deleted]

Oh, I adore Anne of Green Gables. It was one of my first favorite books I've read the whole Anne series, but none of her other stuff. The first book will always be my favorite though, with all of her adventures and her imagination sometimes getting her into trouble. I loved the cooking misadventures she got into (and getting poor Diana drunk, hehe).

If I have kids though, I want to make sure they read Anne, and also Little Women - books about family, friendship, loyalty and somehow are able to mix 'old fashioned' values with strong female characters with great identities and passions.

[dwanollah]

Shall prydainprincess and I ruin 'em for you and start talking about all the homoerotic connotations and gender subversions...? ;D

[linared]

Ooh, I want to hear about the gender subversions and homoerotic connotations.

[prydainprincess]

Heck, I want to hear about them. I've never been in a class where we studied it or wrote a paper about it (which I would, but there's SO many better minds in the field writing about it, such as one of our lovely and talented admins).

[dwanollah]

Suck up. Not that I think Anne and Diana or Emily and Ilse were lesbians, but there are critics who've argued it. I'll have to dig up some stuff from Julie Pffeifer's gender seminar!

You know, I feel even more betrayed by Phil as by Mrs. Dr. Gilbert Blythe.... Don't be HIS "little candlethick" Phil! Be your own!

[prydainprincess]

Sigh. Phil, Phil, why were you cut from the KS movies? You were much missed.

[linared]

I'm not sure why anyone would Anne, Emily and Ilse (how do you pronounce that name anyway) as lesbians, I don't really see that in the text. I do see Pat as being completely asexual though. I have read that some critics see the relationship between Dean Priest and Emily's father as having homo-erotic overtones. I'd love to hear more Dwan

And ITA on Phil and Mrs. Dr. That's why I like Emily's story better, I can believe that after she is married she will keep her identity.

ETA: Does anyone have any special requests for pictures when I go to PEI? I'm planning to go to all of LM museums.

[linared]

Sorry for the double post but it has been a while.

I'm feeling a bit obsessed with LM lately since visiting PEI and reading her journals. I've read volumes 2 and 3 and started 4. I had to order volume 1 because it is out of print. I wish I could have read 1 first because 2,3 and 4 are so sad. From what I understand volume 1 is a little more upbeat. However, I'm enjoying reading them very much, I love when I find something in her journal that ending up in the books. I wish she would have written more about her books and her writing process. I noticed that she did not like the second and third Emily books, which interested me because they are my favorites. I wonder if she thinks they are poorly written because she wrote them in a time that she was depressed and her depression carries over into the books. The second and especially the third books are dark.

I was disappointed that she had nothing critical to say about Kilmeny of the Orchard. I read that book for the first time this week and I really did not like it. The storyline seemed cheesy but what bothers me the most was the Italian characters. It upset that someone who is Italian is portrayed as this crazy out of control person. I was also bothered by his adoptive parents just giving up on him. I think it goes against the messages of the Anne books, that you shouldn't judge people by their background and being adoptive doesn't mean that you cannot be loved just as much as a biological child.

I have a ton to write about LM's personal life too but I don't want to make this post too long.

ETA: I have just had to add this one part. I went to a reading of LM's stories at the Bideford Parsonage, where she lived while teaching. Some of the people who were there lived in the community and are big fans of LM, one woman's grandfather lived in the same house as LM while she was waiting to find out if she could board at the Parsonage. And we were talking about the new movie and they were all horrified. According to them, KS has decided that he knows the true story of Anne, LM got it wrong and that she wasn't an orphan until later in life. Man is batshit.