Recommendations and Warnings Concerning L.M. Montgomery

   Scythrop Glowry on Apr 4 11:15:03

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I know I should have written on this already, but L.M. Montgomery seemed to be so well known already that it didn't seem necessary. Thinking of it, though, I have met at least two or three people who knew nothing of her. Poor unfortunate readers, not to have known! At last I have decided to make it more interesting to the initiated as well as uninitiated by adding Warnings. Warnings which I think by now to be quite necessary.

First, I will start with Recomendations. Even those who know Anne of Green Gables do not always know of LM's other books, and to them it should be an extra pleasure to know, since they love already.

First, there are EIGHT (Oh, joy!) Anne books. I sped like a howling wind through all of them while yet not much older than Anne started out. I will warn the sensitive soul, however, that Anne encounters both maternal raptures and maternal sorrows, and almost fades out of the story entirely by the last book.

Then there is the Emily Trilogy: Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, and Emily's Quest. These are very good - Lucy Maud herself finished Emily of Newmoon feeling that it was her best book - but unrealistic at times. They all three deal with the supernatural - each a different experience of "second sight" for Emily - but there is more to rankle the reverent reader. The last book seems like the product of an unsteady mind. Though plenty of stuff happens in it, one looks back on it as though empty and languishing. And then it has a moment when Lucy Maud seems to have gotten as tired of the monotony as you have, and suddenly produces a wild, impossible, but hilariously funny chapter. You will have to read the last book, but it will be a mixture of pleasure and ordeal. I actually went to pick it up one day and sighed when I realized that it wasn't a Jane Austen. I call that just strange.

By the way, if you were dissapointed that Anne doesn't become a writer, read Emily.

Then comes Pat, wonderful Pat. Rare it is you find two books with so much Life in them. The Life in them deserves to be capitalized. Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat are two lovely things spoken of. You may not like Pat so much, and the first book starts slow, but they're worth reading. I loved Pat by the end. Her loving, hard-working, matronly ways, her love for a man I liked best of all Lucy Maud's heros...yes I loved Pat. Unfortunately, LM seemed to be recycling ideas by then, and some things in Pat are too much like Emily...

And here is where the warning comes in.

Novice readers need not pay much mind to this warning. It should not badly affect anyone who is not a Lucy Maud lover, but if you are a big fan, this is the hard part. You should not read Magic for Marigold , and you shouldn't read The Chronicles of Avonlea , and maybe not even Jane of Lantern Hill ...for they recycle ideas and hurt her best works. If you love her books like I do, you will understand.

I also have a warning for LM fans and non LM fans alike. You needn't bother reading Kilmeny of the Orchard or The Story Girl . I tried both and they were just disappointing. Not good at all.

And that's all I have to say for the moment...if you have more Warnings and Recommendations please add yours. Thank you.

Tags: literature L.M. Montgomery