Discussion Post: Anne's House of Dreams

[myr_soleil]

Hi everyone! Welcome to our discussion post for one of my favorite books, Anne's House of Dreams. I hope you liked it as much as I did, and I can't wait to hear what you think!

Comments

[spyglass_]

1. Did you like the book? Do you like the setting of Anne married, or did you miss having her in school?

I really like the book, and the new setting. I miss Green Gables and the characters we already knew, but at the same time, Anne was starting a new part of her life together with Gilbert. The new setting felt right.

2. How about those new characters? Leslie, Captain Jim, Cornelia, Susan, Jem, Owen - did you like their addition?

Captain Jim! I love him. He's one of my favorites through the whole series. I also really love Leslie and Miss Cornelia. I don't dislike any of them, but those three are my favorites.

3. What do you think of Gilbert in this book? Is there finally enough Gilbert for you? Do you like seeing what happens after the main couple gets married?

There is no such thing as too much Gilbert. Ever. But I do love him in this book. It's such a nice change from Windy Poplars, where there is really no Gilbert at all. I love that we get to see what happens after the main couple gets married. It's something that we don't get to see a lot, but that I wish was explored more often. It can still be interesting! REALLY, IT CAN. I don't know why more couples don't get this. If they get together and then BAM, it's over, you really miss out.

4. Which love story did you prefer - Captain Jim and lost Margaret? Leslie and Owen? Cornelia and Marshall Elliott? Anne and Gilbert?

My heart will always belong to Anne and Gilbert, OBVIOUSLY. I love different things about all three of the other couples. The quiet sadness in Captain Jim and lost Margaret. How Leslie's tragic past ends in happiness with Owen. Cornelia and Marshall Elliott just make me smile. I think of the three others, Captain Jim and lost Margaret holds a particular special place in my heart, but really, I love them all!

5. Is Cornelia a feminist ("Now you know, Anne, I always take the ground that us women ought to stand by each other.") or just sexist ("We've got enough to endure at the hands of the men, the Lord knows")?

I've never really thought about this before. I feel like mostly she's just herself. Nothing more, nothing less. But I do really enjoy her comments. She definitely has some feminist in her own way. Especially given the times.

6. "Some people might think that a Redmond B.A., whom editors were beginning to honor, was 'wasted' as the wife of a struggling country doctor in the rural community of Four Winds." Do you think Anne is wasted as a housewife?

I would have liked to see her continue with her writing or something of her own at least a little, but at the same time, she was happy and she was doing exactly what she wanted to be doing. I find it's something I think about (and struggle with a little bit) more now that I'm older. It wasn't a big thing for me when I was first reading, but now I'm the same age that Anne is at the beginning of this book.

7. Imagine you don't know how "Dick's" operation turns out. Do you think Gilbert should have told Leslie about the operation?

Yes. This means a lot for me on a couple of personal levels. It's up to Leslie to make the choice, but Gilbert has to tell give her the options. I completely understand the downside of having the operation and all of Anne's fears, but Gilbert can't make that choice for her. And by withholding information, he essentially IS making the choice for her. Fortunately, things turn out for the best in the end.

8. "But there was something in the smile that had never been in Anne's smile before and would never be absent from it again." How terrible is that? How much did you cry at Joyce's story? Be honest.

I didn't cry, but Joyce :( So sad. I really love that they remember her and don't just gloss over that loss.

[h_loquacious]

Yes. This means a lot for me on a couple of personal levels. It's up to Leslie to make the choice, but Gilbert has to tell give her the options. I completely understand the downside of having the operation and all of Anne's fears, but Gilbert can't make that choice for her. And by withholding information, he essentially IS making the choice for her. Fortunately, things turn out for the best in the end.

THIS. This is what I was sort of trying to say, but you said it, y'know, more eloquently and such.

[spyglass_]

I was going to pull in Jed and Abbey's conversation from Swiss Diplomacy and/or a quote from the ER pilot, but then I decided that might be overkill? :P

I love Gilbert all the more for the way that he goes about this. He does the right thing, even though it's also the hard thing. Not that all of the fears and concerns that Anne and Cornelia have aren't valid, but you know what I mean.

[h_loquacious]

Well, I wouldn't have recognized the ER pilot, but I feel like Jed would think that one can never have too much overkill when it comes to eloquence.

Also, for all the talk about Anne being the possible Mary Sue, I think Gilbert may really be the mroe likely candidate. Perfect boy.

[spyglass_]

They're two of my favorite medically related quotes/speeches in all of the TV I've seen. Abbey's "That's the way it goes, you set the leg" argument, and Mark Greene's "People come in here and they're sick and dying and bleeding, and they need our help. Helping them is more important than how we feel." And I just. Those quotes make me FEEL SO MUCH.

Yeah, Gilbert may be a more likely candidate. You're right. I've never really thought of it before though? Perfect boy. Which is part of why I love him. He's just Gilbert.

[katayla]

I don't know why more couples don't get this. If they get together and then BAM, it's over, you really miss out.

I didn't mention it above because of the whole no one else knows about them issue, but HOW AWESOME IS BETSY'S WEDDING FOR THIS? Almost more than the Anne books, even, because it feels like Betsy and Joe's relationship is focused on more? (Both after marriage and in general.)

And by withholding information, he essentially IS making the choice for her. Fortunately, things turn out for the best in the end.

YES.

[spyglass_]

I didn't mention it above because of the whole no one else knows about them issue, but HOW AWESOME IS BETSY'S WEDDING FOR THIS?

BETSY'S WEDDING IS SO GREAT FOR THIS. I mean, we don't get the number of years that we get in Anne, but we get more detail on some of the things that I like most? Betsy's Wedding is one of my favorite books in the series, and it ends on such a great note. I love pretty much everything about it.

[katayla]

I just wish we got a glimpse of after the war, though! I need to know everyone's okay!!!

[spyglass_]

Very true! They have to be okay!! And then they need to have baby girls who can all be best friends just like they were. (I know Bick only had the two boys IRL, but THIS IS MY FANTASY and thus it happens how I want it to!)

[katayla]

YES. Tacy had to have a girl eventually!!!!!

[spyglass_]

YES. And in my head, she's Anna Elizabeth to go along with Betsy's Bettina Anastasia. It's not weird that I've named them, RIGHT? I mean, Bettina is a given. BUT JUST IN GENERAL, TACY HAS TO HAVE A GIRL EVENTUALLY. Betsy already bought her a doll!!

(We need a Betsy-Tacy miniseries just so I can have Betsy-Tacy icons. I HAVE DECIDED.)

[katayla]

I LOVE IT. Did you know she was planning a book called Betsy's Bettina? I think it's talked about in that biography you mentioned the other day. I'm so bummed it doesn't exists!!!

(THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. Someone should at least make icons of, you know, all the chapter introduction drawings! Sometimes I see people with those kind of icons--not for Betsy-Tacy, but in general--and get so jealous!)

[spyglass_]

AWWWWW. I think I had read that somewhere too? Maybe in the back of one of the books/in a commentary? I mean, I love the way Betsy's Wedding ends, but I would have loved one more book to see a little bit more of where everyone went.

(OOOOH. I could possibly do that! I love the chapter introduction drawings! I will see about doing that sometime this week if I get a chance. I've seen people around with similar icons too, but I'd never thought of doing them for Betsy-Tacy! THAT WOULD BE FUN!)

[katayla]

Yeah! It just would've been so much fun to get a glimpse of the next generation. But I do love where it ends, too.

(DO IT DO IT! YOU WOULD HAVE MY EVERLASTING DEVOTION . . . or something!)

[kindness_says]

Hello, it is I, your silly first-time-reading friend, come to respond late to everyone's threads (and I made my own at the bottom, of course!)!

3. It can still be interesting! REALLY, IT CAN. I don't know why more couples don't get this. If they get together and then BAM, it's over, you really miss out. Yessssssssssssssssss. So many TV shows, books, etc., that end at their first kiss or whatever and I'm like WHAT WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT DDDD: the little things are wonderful toooooooooooooooooooo. Although, um, definitely when I was twelve or thirteen and writing melodramatic RPF with my best friend we were like so not interested in anything that happened after people had their first kid. God, they were like almost thirty SO OLD PFFFFFFT. (um, who were we?!?!?)

6. How old is Anne at the beginning of the book? I think sometimes I'm fuzzy on timeline and I go about trying to figure out how old everyone is based on glimpses of how old the children (Dora for instance is mentioned as seventeen) have gotten...

8. I really love that they remember her and don't just gloss over that loss. Yes. That Anne's smile is changed not just for a bit, but forever. That Anne fears she'll be a stranger to her, then knows she won't...etc.

[h_loquacious]

There is a timeline somewhere on the internet. It's linked in the above thread. Myr_soleil linked it in my responses above if you want to see it. It does give Anne's ages. I believe she's 25 at the start of House of Dreams though (I think she says).