The Anne Books

[buttercup]

I too love the Anne books.. my favorite LMM book is The Blue Castle, though. Nothing fundie approved there! A young woman breaks away from her family and attends a "Free Methodist" church when she attends at all.

I liked the Emily books but didn't necessarily love them. The character of Teddy just seemed so underdeveloped and blah compared to Ilse, Perry, Emily, Dean, etc. that it almost seemed a shame that Emily ended up with him.

[ElphabaGalinda]

Thank you for the link ! I didn't know it had been translate into French and French Canadian is not really different so there is no problem with that...

I'm going to buy the first one for my youngest who is 11yo, my other daughter is almost 17 so I don't think she'll be interested ;)

As for me, I like to read in English because I want to improve my English level and I love the English language !

No problem! They were translated a little late for me to enjoy them in French, but I read them after my sister was done with them and enjoyed them very much. Maybe your other daughter would like to try them in English, if she's at that level yet :) I loved them when I was 11, so that's a great age for them. It's interesting reading a book in French that you know in English because they change all the names.

Your English is great! I know for me, I read French books where I've already read the English translation, because that makes it easier. I just read the first Harry Potter in French, and I loved it and it wasn't hard.

I only knew it had to have been translated in French because it's a Canadian book and it would make sense for it to be available in both official languages of Canada.

Also you can watch the Anne of Green Gables cartoon in French here pSGigsoS17o

[Bookworm]

I adored the Anne books.

The chapter "Little Dog Monday Knows" still breaks my heart to this day. Oh it gets me every single time.

Little Dog Monday - OMG, he kills me, especially that last scene with Jem. Just so poignant and beautiful.

As to the question why do fundies like these books, I don't know. What with Mrs. Rachel Lynde and "Mrs. Rachel Lynde's husband," all the highly opinionated and outspoken female characters, the general gumption of the teenage girls, and the snark about religion I never have understood why so many fundies like them. As an aside, for years I seriously considered naming a daughter Rilla.

[buttercup]

As to the question why do fundies like these books, I don't know. What with Mrs. Rachel Lynde and "Mrs. Rachel Lynde's husband," all the highly opinionated and outspoken female characters, the general gumption of the teenage girls, and the snark about religion I never have understood why so many fundies like them. As an aside, for years I seriously considered naming a daughter Rilla.

I've considered Marilla/Rilla, Jocelyn (A Tangled Web), Cecily (The Story Girl) and Valancy (Blue Castle) all because of LMM. She really has some great character names. And I think she's a master, like in the early Anne books and Rainbow Valley, of telling an adult story through the eyes of a child.

[hoipolloi]

Fundies think they like these books because they probably have poor reading comprehension. A bunch of them also probably watched Kevin Sullivan's Anne-based movies & TV shows and loved the costumes - similar to their "love" of Jane Austen, another author whose work they don't seem to have read very carefully if at all. As usual, not a lot of deep thinking goes on in fundie-land.

That all said, I love the Anne books (and all the others) though I didn't discover them until graduate school. What I love even more are LM Montgomery's journals (http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Journals ... 0195415124) of which there are 5 or 6 volumes now. They are almost better than her books in some ways - just an amazing social history of late 19th & early 20th century Canada.

[Edited for clarity]

[heinz57]

I too love the Anne books.. my favorite LMM book is The Blue Castle, though. Nothing fundie approved there! A young woman breaks away from her family and attends a "Free Methodist" church when she attends at all.

I liked the Emily books but didn't necessarily love them. The character of Teddy just seemed so underdeveloped and blah compared to Ilse, Perry, Emily, Dean, etc. that it almost seemed a shame that Emily ended up with him.

The Anne books were hugely popular in Eastern Europe when I was a kid, and I read them all, but The Blue Castle was little known and yet a favorite of mine. Definitely not fundie approved! If I recall well she tells her family too piss off, buys defrauding dresses and moves in with a man without marriage. And is rewarded for it all...

[emmyfair]

I've made it one of my missions in life to read everything L.M. Montgomery has ever written. I think I'm getting close, but there's a lot out there in short story format that just pops up. I think she had a horribly sad life. If fundies actually looked at the books, and the author herself, they might re-thing promotiong the books. I wouldn't let on to them, though, I'd love to see some of those fundie girls adopt Anne's gumption.

[Markie]

my favorite LMM book is The Blue Castle, though

That is my favourite LLM book, too. I love how Valancy has finally had it with her family and says exactly what she thinks. She also wears a daring bathing suit (not wholesome wear) and hangs out in it all day when she wants to. How she gets her man is def not fundy approved.

[dawbs]

I'm a sucker for "magic for marigold' still. I think it's my fave.

and one of the other ones that's not anne or emily is coming to mind and it's going to make me batty that I can't think of it...but it happens to be locked int he baby's room at the moment with the 'kids' books I have for her. NOt waking her up to think of it.

[Sister Mozz]

As an aside, for years I seriously considered naming a daughter Rilla.

I would definitely consider Rilla for a daughter. Also love the thought of using Avonlea, particularly as a middle name.

[Wolfie]

I loved those books! When my parents were naming my sister I insisted that her middle name be Anne spelt with an "e." I read the whole series twice...but I haven't read them since I was 11. Time to reread

I was always disappointed while reading them that my middle name was Ann without an E.

I loved the books, and still have all of them on my bookshelf. Plus many other LM Montgomery books- she even gave a couple of characters my first name, which isn't a super common name. (she spelled it slightly different, though)

Has anybody read "The Blue Castle" or "A Tangled Web"? Both were written for adults, but seem tame for today's standards.

[phoenissadido]

The Blue Castle is one of my favorites -- I loved when Valancy starts talking back to her oblivious family, and how quickly she blossoms out into this funny, clever young woman.

What are y'all's favorite scenes from the Montgomery books? The ones I can think of are:

-- when Emily shows Mr. Carpenter her poetry for the first time..

-- when that random guy proposes to her in the third book and smashes a bowl when she says no

-- that bit of paranoia at the end of Anne of Ingleside when she thinks Gil doesn't love her anymore

There are lots more, but those stuck out in my head.

[phoenissadido]

Also the newspaper bits in the Story Girl series -- those were amazing.

"F-l-t-y:--It does not break any rule of etiquette if you keep a button off your best young man's coat for a keepsake. But don't take more than one or his mother might miss them."

"ANXIOUS INQUIRER: We don't know anything that will take the stain out of a silk dress when a soft-boiled egg is dropped on it. Better not wear your silk dress so often, especially when boiling eggs."

"P-r C-g:--Yes, it would be quite proper to say good evening to the family ghost if you met it."

[NjoyingNsanity]

Loved both the Anne series and the Little House books growing up and just recently started reading them with my girls. Completely irrelivant, but my youngest's middle name is Anne spelled with an "E" because of those books.

[Anise]

I must fourth the mention of The Blue Castle. In fact, I'd love to hand out copies to older fundie SAHDs. After all Valancy was the perfect SAHD- obedient to her mother, desperately hoping for marriage and babies despite turning thirty, the darning and quilting duties- all every familiar to such an audience. And then, she breaks free and lives a glorious life and actually shows her own personality and is loved for it!

My other favorites are A Tangled Web and Jane of Lantern Hill.

[buttercup]

I must fourth the mention of The Blue Castle. In fact, I'd love to hand out copies to older fundie SAHDs. After all Valancy was the perfect SAHD- obedient to her mother, desperately hoping for marriage and babies despite turning thirty, the darning and quilting duties- all every familiar to such an audience. And then, she breaks free and lives a glorious life and actually shows her own personality and is loved for it!

My other favorites are A Tangled Web and Jane of Lantern Hill.

After this thread, I just reread Blue Castle last night. Just adore that book. I love the part about how everyone judges Valancy for taking care of Cissy, and she points out that a woman dying alone in a community that professes to be Christian is far worse than the damage her reputation might receive from living with the Gays.

Valancy doesn't turn her life around until she's 29.. maybe we should smuggle a copy of the Blue Castle to Sarah Maxwell.

[MissBitters]

I adore The Blue Castle! Valancy is such an awesome character and I had a huge crush on Barney Snaith. Their little house on the island with the cats sounds so lovely.

I would pay good money to see Sarah Maxwell go off on her family like Valancy does during the dinner scene. I wonder how Steve would react? :D

[browngrl]

I liked Anne of Green Gables and the rest of LLM's books but I did not like them enough to want to add to this thread. However now people are talking about Blue Castle......

I love this book. One of my favourite day dream ideas is to try and think about who I would cast to play the various characters and how I would film each scene - should this book ever get made into a movie. I know, I know, totally geeky.

[Chavymishmacoy]

These were hands down my absolute favorite

books as a kid. I hadn't realized how much she wrote. Will go check it out.

[hoipolloi]

A good source for FREE e-versions of the Anne books is Girlebooks; the formatting is great & they have most or all widely used e-reading platforms.

Here's a link to AOGG: http://girlebooks.com/ebook-catalog/luc ... en-gables/

ETA: "FREE"