Hello, kindred spirits!
This week was Hamlette's yearly blog party celebrating the love of a fandom! She changes the theme every year and it is always a delight. And this year was all about the marvelous Lucy Maud Montgomery!
And I say was not because I just speak in the past tense all the time (even though apparently I do? Because I keep changing the tense of my lines and it's a bit of a problem) but because it ended yesterday. And I had rehearsals all week. And have you seen my expertise at planning ahead (if you don't know, it's pretty much non-existent). BUT I'm here now. So I'm answering the tag.
1. Who introduced you to L. M. Montgomery's writing? Tell us the story!
My mom. When I was little and had just figured out that I loved reading I asked my mom for books. Because even though we went to the library frequently and I could have the choice of anything and everything I wanted suggestions.
In recent years my mom and I have grown at odds in our reading choices because everything she suggests I loathe, but I owe her a lot for what she got me into when I was younger. Nancy Drew, A Wrinkle in Time, Little House in the Big Woods, Agatha Christie, and The Chronicles of Narnia just to name a few. I also just have to thank her for buying me so many books over the years.
Part of that might be because she recommends books based on how old I am, but I don't want to read books of my current age. I want all the MG fiction still.
Anyway, I must have been about 8 at the time of this story (if you forgot which story, it started three paragraphs ago before I broke off into tangents). She suggested the Anne of Green Gables books. I was a little suspicious of how thick it was (yes, because at that time 300 pages was huge). I started...and didn't even make it past the first paragraph before I was bored out of my mind. So I complained and my mom suggested something else. Which were the Wizard of Oz books, which I gobbled up like candy.
Years passed and when I was about 11 I started going through the books we owned. I found Anne of Green Gables, remembered how bored I was, but decided to try it again. Ever since, it has been my favorite book of all time. Some books can only hit you deeply at a certain time of your life. It may be that because I was 11 and Anne is 11 at the beginning of the book it resonated more?
2. What LMM books have you read?
-1-8 of the Anne books (are they called Avonlea Chronicles?). These are my comfort books and I carry 1 and 3 with me wherever I am living.
-The first book in the Emily of New Moon (thoughts on Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). I keep meaning to finish the series because I really enjoyed it, but haven't succeeded in getting copies!
-The Blue Castle. The writing is one of the most breathtaking I've ever read, but I am not a fan of the story.
3. What movies or shows based on her books have you watched?
I am actually specifically avoiding them. I love seeing adaptations because they are a peek into what someone else envisions for a story, but for the Anne books, they are just too precious for me. It is very selfish, I know. Lately I have been interested in Anne With An E because from what I've heard it has a bit of a different storyline?
This explains why this post does not have the plethora of images that it usually does.
Oh, and none of this applies to Green Gables Fables. And I haven't watched season 2 of that yet even though I love it to bits. I need to get on that...
4. Which LMM character is your kindred spirit, the one you'd like to hang out with in real life?
Una Meredith from Rainbow Valley and Rilla of Ingleside. She's so kind and quiet which is where all of her deep thoughts are harbored. I would want to be a listening ear to her fancies because I feel like she is usually that person for everyone else.
5. Which LMM character do you relate to the most? And why?
...is it cliche to say Anne? Or am I allowed because this is my favorite book of all time? I need to stop using that like a "get out of jail free" card...
A few years ago I got obsessed with the first time of being similar to book characters. I don't know why this had never occurred to me before, but maybe it was my gateway into living more in stories than the real world? Anyway, I asked my mom which book characters she thought I was. She said Anne Shirley and Frodo Baggins. I was indignant. The first was because Anne was so fantastic I couldn't possibly be like her, and the second was because Frodo annoyed me. Shortly after that I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test for the first time. 16 Personalities is not always accurate, but ever since that day I have been way more comfortable with myself because, yep, I'm 100% an INFP. And on their website, two of the characters they list as being fellow INFPs? Frodo and Anne. While it is up for debate if those two accurately are INFPs, but there are enough similarities that I started seeing it. (Also, guys I haven't been on that site in a hot second, but when I looked today they list Levin from Anna Karenina as being one? That explains SO much. Like why he's one of my favorite characters of all time and therefore that is one of my favorite books).
Okay, so I don't have really concrete reasons. But I'll try to find some.
-Though introverted, I'm a little chatterbox when around people.
-My imagination gets away from me and I sometimes have a hard time discerning reality from fiction. "Did I make that up?" is a question I have to ask myself a lot.
-I make mistakes continuously.
It also gives me hope that one day I will:
-Actually learn from my mistakes. Because unlike Anne, I tend to repeat them.
-Appreciate nature more and the world around me.
6. Have you ever been to Prince Edward Island?
No, but I wish! I am told that I have been to British Columbia, but that's all of Canada that I have experience with. But then again, I was only a few months old.
7. Who is your favorite LMM heroine?
Picking favorites seems mean. I love how different each of them are. They are all so real to me that it would be like picking favorite humans and that also seems mean.
I do have a bit of an amusing story to go with that, though. When reading Anne of Ingleside and Rainbow Valley I was so annoyed with Rilla. She drove me crazy and I was not looking forward to her being the protagonist of book 8. Then that "book 8" is my third favorite in the series. Shows you that characters grow and develop.
8. Who is your favorite LMM hero?
*mumbles "as if it's even a question"*
...
Roy Gardener.
Because, yes, I'm so much Anne that I would not see what...who...is in front of me...
GUYS. HIS STINKING FIRST NAME IS ROYAL. I just love him a lot, okay?
9. Do you have any fun merch related to her books? If so, please share some photos!
I have a boxed set of the Anne books, but they no longer have a box because when I was little we did not have the best system for books and several got tossed about and damaged. And, as I said above.
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| From my bookstagram |
10. What are some of your favorite LMM quotations?
Hamlette has wonderful questions, I am just terrible at answering them. Especially the quotations ones. I always feel like I have so many but I can never find them, so I resort to pulling them off of Goodreads then don't feel original at all. It's the Anne in me that is bemoaning this travesty.
Like, I can't read a chapter in Anne of the Island without stopping and marveling at the writing or wit. So most are pulled from there.
“October—with a gorgeous pageant of color around Mistawis into which Valancy plunged her soul. Never had she imagined anything so splendid. A great, tinted peace. Blue, wind-winnowed skies. Sunlight sleeping in the glades of that fairyland. Long dreamy purple days paddling idly in their canoe along shores and up the rivers of crimson and gold. A sleepy, red hunter’s moon. Enchanted tempests that stripped the leaves from the trees and heaped them along the shores. Flying shadows of clouds. What had all the smug, opulent lands out front to compare with this?”
-The Blue Castle
'"Toil not, neither do I spin," finished Philippa. "But I'll learn to do things. You'll only have to show me once. I can make my own bed to begin with. And remember that, though I can't cook, I canker my temper. That's something. And I never growl about the weather."'
-Anne of the Island
“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
-Anne of Green Gables
“Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I’ll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods and I'd look up into the sky—up—up—up—into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd just feel a prayer.”
-Anne of Green Gables
"I don't want sunbursts or marble halls, I just want you.”
-Anne of the Island
'“I do know my own mind," protested Anne. 'The trouble is, my mind changes and then I have to get acquainted with it all over again.”
-Anne of the Island
“Besides, I've been feeling a little blue — just a pale, elusive azure. It isn't serious enough for anything darker.”
-Anne of the Island
If you're interested in reading all of the cool posts written this week, check out this master post!
What L. M. Montgomery book should I read next? Which L. M. Montgomery books have you read? Did anyone else dislike something initially that became your favorite of all time? Tell me all of your thoughts!
Thank you so much for reading! And remember, "Tomorrow is another day with no mistakes in it yet."
Chloe the MovieCritic
Your mom sounds like a good mom. I think offering you age appropriate reading material is what a good mom should do.
ReplyDeleteI refused to watch Anne with an E because of how they change the characters and storylines. Does anyone really enjoy a depressed Gilbert and he's suddenly an orphan?
Una Meredith is one my favorite characters.
As for reading recommendation - perhaps 'The Story' Girl' or 'The Golden Road' as I always think those two books should follow the Anne series.
Have a lovely day.
Loved reading your answers! :D
ReplyDeleteFrodo Baggins is definitely INFP--Anne Shirley is probably ENFP, but has a lot of similarities to the INFP type, just more outgoing and talkative. So your mom was right on the money there ;)
I don't think I realized Anne was your favorite book of all time? Wow! (I thought it was Anna Karenina, for some reason? I guess both have "Ann" in the title? XD)
ReplyDeleteI can definitely understand not wanting to watch the movies! I also have books that are like that for me. (Most notably the Queen's Thief books--if a movie adaptation comes out, as people were considering just a bit ago, I am NOT going to see it.) HOWEVER the Anne movies do intrigue me quite a bit...
You do remind me of Anne Shirley in some ways! Not all ways, but the parallels are definitely there...
ROY GARDNER IS YOUR FAVORITE HERO? *chokes* Girl, you need to get your eyes...or maybe your priorities...checked. Sheesh. (Please tell me you were being sarcastic. Please.)
I think an abridged Anne of Green Gables was the first 'novel' that I ever owned so I've always had a bit of a soft spot for it even though I remember liking Emily of New Moon better at the time although I only ever read the first one. The rest of the books in the Anne of Green Gables series I could never really get into.
ReplyDeleteThe Blue Castle is in my personal opinion the best book she's written and probably the character I relate to most if I had to pick one from the ones I remember/know about.
I really need to read Wizard of Oz. Have you ever read
Loved reading your answers!
Also personally depressed Gilbert is the only Gilbert I respect so he's got one fan here.
Woops. Published the comment before I actually finished writing it.
DeleteRecently I watched the movie sequel to Wizard of Oz called return to Oz. I don't know if you've ever seen it, it's a really weird movie. I was just curious if you had, if that was something in the books or if that was completely unrelated and they just made up everything for the movie?
So interesting that you and your mom disagree over book reccs now! My kids tend to refuse to read a book if I say I liked/loved it, so I have to just basically leave things lying around for them to find OR just say "This looks interesting." They do have pretty different reading tastes from mine, though -- they all love fantasy WAY more than I ever have, and don't care for historical fiction much, which has always been My Jam.
ReplyDeleteUna is really, really sweet and lovely.
I'm an ISFJ with a raging imagination, and "Did I make that up?" is definitely a question I have to ask myself a lot.
I like Roy a lot too. I love that Anne doesn't have to choose between a bad boy and a good boy, she has two good guys to choose from -- that's such a hard choice, and so much more realistic, really. To me, anyway!
I think you might like Jane of Lantern Hill a lot. Totally Middle Grade!