Christy Read-Along: Chapters 26-39

Hello, once again, my friends!

It is time for another post in Amber at Seasons of Humility's Christy Read-Along.

As it has become my custom with these posts, I am combining two into one. I didn't post on the 1st because of the start of NaNoWriMo and I was working on my Coco (2017) review, then I didn't post on the 8th because of my Blog Costume Party, so I have some catching up to do now.

Check out Amber's post for chapters 26-32 HERE, and chapters 33-39 HERE.

SPOILER ALERT! I will be talking about the book Christy without any hesitations, so there are a ton of spoilers. Don't read this post unless you've read this book.

Christy - by Catherine Marshall: Chapters 26-39

Discussion format: your favorite quotes, general impressions, and three questions to answer for each week's reading (six questions for two weeks of discussion)

Favorite Quotes:

1.

'"It must have been like seeing through a peephole in his armor," I remarked, "seeing the man as he was meant to be."'

2.

'I might have felt unimportant pitted against the awesome might of the mountains. I did not. Rather, on that mountain top I found something important that I had never known before: an awareness of a vital connection between me and the Authority behind all this beauty.'

3.

"When your heart is ablaze with the love of God, when you love other people -- especially the rip-snorting sinners -- so much that you dare to tell them about Jesus with no apologies, then never fear, there will be results."

4.

'Perhaps it is just that even a small city provides artificial distraction which separates us from the roots of our life; even a few bricks and a little macadam are a shield between us and the wisdom that nature has to give.'

5.

'The sun sifting through moving branches would splinter the light into diamonds on the water tossing them back into my eyes with such magic that I would want to shout and dance, just for the joy of living -- and usually did. Fairlight understood. She always understood.'

General Impressions:

Chapters 26-32:

I know I talk about my favorite characters each time, and you are all probably tired of it, but they are my favorites and I have to keep you updated on why they are my favorites:

Miss Alice: She just has the best advice ever. No arguing about it. Something that she said that I found very relatable (I mean everything that she says is amazing, but one of my favorite bits) was:

"It's been the delight of my life to find God far more common sense and practical than any human I know. The only time I ever find my dealings with God less than clear cut is when I'm not being honest with Him. The fuzziness is always on my side, not His."

Whenever I set my mind to talk to God and open up my heart, I always feel such a sense of relief, but when I keep to myself then everything seems harder.

And something that another participant in the read-along, Julie, and I were talking about in the comments last time was mentioned by Miss Alice:

"So many people never pause long enough to make up their minds about basic issues of life and death. It's quite possible to go through your whole life, making the mechanical motions of living, adopting as your own sets of ideas you've picked up some place or other, and die--never having come to any conclusion for yourself as to what life is all about."

Opal: Can we talk about the fact that here are men standing around her cabin, waiting to kill her husband, and Opal has such a sweet heart that she feeds them because she doesn't want them to starve? She is so kind and thoughtful, definitely a new favorite through these chapters.

Fairlight: I absolutely loved reading about her and Christy's little adventures! The descriptions were gorgeous and so accurate, and her and Christy's friendship is so sweet, I love watching it grow.

Okay, now for parts that are not my favorite:
I was so sad when Tom was murdered! I just wanted to reach through the page and give everyone hugs. Especially Issak who was made to dig his grave. Ugh, is was just so sad! I liked Miss Alice's choice of the story of Lazarus and her thoughts on it. I hope that it gets some sense into them.
(Oh, and learning about Bird's-Eye's back story made me feel victorious because I knew that there is some good in him, and I can't wait to see it. I was so glad to hear that it wasn't him who killed Tom, but it makes me wonder who did...)

Um, this next part is probably controversial, but when David proposed to Christy then kissed her I threw my book (It landed on my bed and it was fine, just to let you all know). I know that this is something that happens in books a lot, and I even know several preachers who are married and have wonderful families, but...reading it is just weird to me. Being a Catholic I am raised with the tradition that all nuns and priests take a vow of celibacy, so my mind just can't comprehend it all. This is just me, I don't know anyone else who reacts to this like I do. I even had a feeling it was coming, because as soon as we met David I was like this:

Source

I mean come on, why can't they just be friends?

Moving on.

I will end on a high note, the last day of school celebration was so sweet (sorry, sweet is one of my favorite words. How many times have I said it in this post?)! I will miss reading about Christy teaching them, but I'm glad that they were all so happy.

"You'd be surprised how much children can teach us ossified adults, if we'd only stoop to listen."

Chapters 33-39:

Oh boy. Where to begin?

Miss Alice's story was really sad. Whenever someone betrays our deep trust in them it is heartbreaking. That man was horrible and I'm glad that we never saw him again. What really sticks out to me is how brave it was of Miss Alice to tell Christy the story. I know that when people think well of me I like to keep it that way, and the fact that she thought Christy thought of her too well shows how wonderful she is.

'In the light of Miss Alice's story, I understood that the reason we have to accept other people is simply because God receives us just the way we are.'

I think that Christy did a very good job with the Ladies of the University Club speech. Based on her interaction I with Mr. Smith, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I think that she did a really nice job. It's exciting that they will now be taking boarders.

I absolutely couldn't believe that Ruby Mae got married. What??? I mean, I know that it was normal back then, but she is just so young! I agree with Christy that she could have waited longer. The whole chapter was rather disturbing for me. Let's think of a good part, ah! It was fun to read about the dancing because I love to dance and explore different kinds.

'The American frontier had its dangers and its hard work but it also had a rare talent for making its own fun.'

David and Christy... yeah, I talked about them enough in the last few chapters. My feelings haven't changed.

The discussing of fears was so important! We all are afraid of things, and we have to face them at some point.

"After a while the love of God was more real to me than any ghost."

I was so sad when Fairlight died! It seems like my favorite character in any book always dies. It was painful to read about how terrified she was, I mean, wouldn't we all be?

Asking the question of "Why?" is very relatable to many people. And I absolutely loved that the end of this chapter (39) was focusing on the feeling of being loved by God. It was really beautiful.

Discussion Questions:

Chapters 26-32:

1. What turn of events shocked or surprised you most in this section?

Besides everything else that I mentioned, it must have been really scary when Christy, Miss Ida, and Ruby Mae were alone and the men were trying to break in! I would have been terrified. I admire that Miss Ida was able to remain calm.

2. What do you think drove Christy to climb a mountain? Have you ever been driven to do something out of the ordinary or especially challenging for you? What was the experience like?

Christy's experience on the mountain was so vivid for me! I have had the same feeling go through me. I always think that people who said that they don't believe in God must never have felt this, because once you do you know and never forget.

I am very stubborn and determined, so once I start something I push through until the end. One time I did want to climb a hill, and I did it, but it was pretty much straight up and down and my side hurt for the rest of the day because I was breathing so heavily. So yeah. I would definitely encourage trying new things, but don't hurt yourself!

3. What was your favorite part or performance from the school's last-day festivities?

Creed showing off Scalawag II was so cute! The way that he was so proud of himself was adorable. I also loved how their different words spelled OUR SCHOOL.

Chapters 33-39:

1. What do you think of the Folk School idea that Mrs. Browning shared with Christy? Do you feel like it would be beneficial to the people of the Cove?

All of the talk and debates about the Folk School idea are really interesting to me. I'm not sure if it will work in the Cove because of the personalities of the people there, but if they could figure out how to make it work it would be beneficial, I think!

2. Do you find nighttime and darkness bothersome or appealing? Have your feelings changed since childhood?

This is really funny that this is one of the discussion questions because I absolutely love night and darkness. When I was little I was afraid of someone being in the dark and going to scare me (a realistic fear when you have sisters), but since I was about ten I've loved the dark. There is something so mysterious and thrilling about it. I love to challenge myself by walking around my house at night and trying not to run into anything. This isn't a really good idea because I am naturally clumsy, but I fall when there is already light, no difference when there isn't.

My favorite thing is that it is so much easier to see the light when you are surrounded by darkness. A good metaphor for life, right?

3. What are some of the things you hope will happen or be resolved in the last chapters? (Or, if you've already read the book, has anything stood out to you differently so far while reading the book this time around?)

I'm interested to see how Dr. MacNeil's and Christy's friendship will grow. Oh, and maybe getting to see the children in school again? And there is always the hope that Ben Pentland will show up.


Thanks to Amber for hosting, and to all of you for reading! What do you think of this book and my thoughts?

MovieCritic