The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
SUMMER CHALLENGE 2021
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Group Reads Discussion - Marilla of Green Gables
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CYNBAXTER - I feel like I just read the 4th season of "Anne with an E" - and this is a very, very good thing.
Full Disclosure: I have never read the Green Gable series by L.M. Montgomery....I want to, and I always try to find a task to which I can fit the first book - but never got to the point of reading it. So everything I know - I know from watching the Netflix series "Anne with an E". There were 3 wonderful seasons before they cancelled the show and there is an online petition in process to bring the series back - but I think everyone has moved on by now.
Reading "Marilla of the Green Gables" picks the vibe right back up and rekindles all the warm feelings that I held for Marilla, Matthew and Rachel. And a further disclosure in that it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that John Blythe was THAT John Blythe. Oh my.
What Marilla must have gone thru seeing Anne and Gilbert together. Bittersweet.
Mod
I ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would. Anne of Green Gables was one of my childhood favorites, a vintage copy of it (1910) somehow having been handed down to me, and it was one of the few books I owned and reread many times. The book, rather than a TV series, is my lasting impression of Green Gables and the characters of Marilla, Matthew, Rachel, and others. The style and voices I found to be authentic—much innocent anticipation and excitement over a village event or an invitation, for example, and a lot of emotion over everything. For me, it was a bit slow going over Marilla’s teen years, and I was thinking it was very YA, but I think overall it probably has a wider appeal to those who like this sort of charming old-fashioned story, and certainly to those who are fans of Anne.
I can see how someone who is a fan of Anne with an E, and who hasn’t read the original books would like this. It very much fits the tone of that series.However, I don’t think it fits with it the original series well enough to be considered a good continuation novel.
It very much feels like a modern authors take on the time and place, rather than a book that could have been written at the time it was set-as the originals were.
There are various little anachronisms throughout.
I think as a stand-alone book I would have enjoyed it more, but a lot of the characterisation just didn’t sit right for me.
I don’t believe the Marilla we later know would have kissed any half naked boy in a stream! I also don’t believe a teenage Rachel would have never even seen a dead hog. SHE LIVES ON A FARM!
Most importantly I can’t reconcile the point that Marilla was so moved by an orphan girl, that she would give away a beautiful and expensive hat she had just received as a gift, and then go on to be instrumental in the Underground Railroad, only to then, in Anne of Green Gables, be against adopting an orphan girl.
The continuity of character just didn’t work for me.
That said there were parts of this book I did enjoy. Some of the smaller, home-ier scenes, did give me the same cosy and warm feeling of the original books, which I love, and return to time and again precisely for that feeling. On a different note, my edition of the book had deckled edges, which I don’t think I’ve had before, and it turns out I hate them! I kept accidentally turning more pages than I meant to and kept losing my place as a result. Anyone else?
As a kid, I loved the 80s TV version of Anne of Green Gables, and I read the first book in the series. I think I may have read more in the series, but I remember struggling to get through the books. I agree with Florence that the writing style is different...and I was glad for that! I'm not sure how I'd feel about reading LM Montgomery now, but I remember her writing style being hard to understand as a preteen/teen. Anyway, I enjoyed this book. It was fun to read and recognize last names and go OOH I remember that name! It's also making me want to read some of the original books again, maybe with my daughter. I wasn't expecting the political storyline. I'm not sure how I felt about that. It was interesting to hear Marilla's views on things, but I kind of prefer when a book is more like a world in itself, without discussion of the outside world. If that makes sense. :)
I enjoyed this book. I feel the author truly captured the tenor of the original stories and created a believable back narrative for Marilla. I have read 4 or 5 of the original series and want to read more sometimes i am stymied on fitting them into challenges because of the Children's MPG that some have.I think this book really brought some of the older characters to life. I loved the reaction of Marilla to the twinness of aunt Izzy and her mum. The book also tackled some important but sometimes tricky political issues - Ok this was on a very thin basis but it gave shape to Marilla's thoughts and feelings
Kathy KSFor readers/watchers of anything Anne of Green Gables-related, this novel gives insight into Marilla's youth and adult years prior to Anne's arrival. My favorite aspect was learning the ways in which Marilla and Anne were alike as children; this also explains why they often didn't see eye-to-eye, especially at first.
Putting Marilla's story in historical context was also interesting; both Canada's division over independence and the Civil War and slavery issues in the U.S.
A treat for those of us that enjoy returning to Prince Edward Island and familiar characters and environs.
I put off reading the group read until almost the end of the challenge because the choices I hadn't already read didn't leave much I thought I wanted to read.I ended up enjoying this one, but it didn't wholly feel like an Anne book to me. I read and loved every Montgomery book I could get my hands on as a child and teen. This didn't feel quite like an Anne book to me - the setting was there, and the characters made sense, and it answered a lot of questions about Matthew and Marilla in ways that made sense, but the FEEL of it just wasn't the same. I see a lot of people in the thread comparing it to the recent television adaptation, which I haven't managed to make time for yet, and maybe the fact that it hewed more closely to the adaptation is why I was feeling that little bit of a disconnect?
I did love the historical backdrop of the story, as I don't know much about Canada's history, and that probably would bump it from a 3 to a 3.5 for me, if I could give half stars on Goodreads!
I'm the one who nominated this book and it's looking like I'm not going to get to read it 😂 I'm still #3 on library waiting list haha
Fly wrote: "I'm the one who nominated this book and it's looking like I'm not going to get to read it 😂 I'm still #3 on library waiting list haha"It is freely available on Zlibrary https://b-ok.cc/ a fabulous resource. I use an ipad so have the book sent to my email and then download into ibooks
Fly wrote: "wow! thanks, Marie :) this is new to me"z library has single handedly solved all my problems in finding books. I still use the library and Kindle unlimited but cancelled scribd as they removed all my saved books and said they were no longer available for the next month
The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.