L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon
I feel like I've always enjoyed this when I've read it in the past--though obviously it doesn't hold a candle to Anne of Green Gables! I mean, Teddy is no Gilbert, and Aunt Elizabeth is certainly no Marilla--but man, this time around, Emily's letters to her father are INTERMINABLE. I almost groaned aloud every time I encountered one--which was often. I don't know how well Montgomery nails a child's voice, but the misspellings are nothing to the sheer boringness of each one. Which is a shame, b/c the non-letter sections are quite well-done! It just feels like such a misstep, narratively speaking. Plus, Emily's not flawed like Anne, she's just this perfect little miss that EVERY dude she meets wants to marry, including 36 year olds (she's twelve). FYA, why are you making me reread this and hate it? I may need to reread The Blue Castle for the umpteenth time just to cleanse my brain. (Side note: why, even as a child, did I relate more to the book about the spinster who finds love and adventure on her own than the girl who every dude just automatically loves?)
I tried to comment on this earlier mainly to agree with you that this whole series is creepy. I even re-read it not too long ago to see if I still thought it was creepy - yep, it is.
ReplyDeleteI remember liking/sympathizing with Jarback on previous readings, but yes, SO CREEPY! Why, LM Montgomery, why?????
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