Discussion Post: The Blythes Are Quoted

[myr_soleil]

Hi everyone! Welcome to our final discussion of the Anne series, on The Blythes Are Quoted. I know some of you didn't manage to get your hands on it, so I tried to make some questions more about the short stories that you can also find in The Road To Yesterday, although I don't know if they have as much Blythes references as the ones in The Blythes

Comments

[mardia]

1. What was your reaction to having one more book in the Anne series? If this isn't the first time you read it, do you remember how you felt when you discovered it? Do you consider it part of the series, or superfluous? Did you like it?

Hahaha, my reaction was kind of funny. I immediately went "What the hell do you mean there's ANOTHER BOOK?" And then I realized it was an unedited version of The Road To Yesterday (which I own) and was, "Huh. Wait, UNEDITED?" So all in all, I was fairly excited. As for considering it part of the series...honestly, not really. The Blythes are such minor characters in the stories that it doesn't really jive with the other books, to me. I...liked some of the stories, and I liked the glimpses of the Blythes we got through the poems, but I have to admit, by the end of the book, some of the stories did grate on me.

2. My copy's back cover makes a big deal of how this book is darker than the rest of what LMM wrote (Adultery, illegitimacy, revenge, murder, and death - these are not the first terms we associate with L.M. Montgomery.). Did you find it noticeably darker than the Anne series? Darker than other LMM books, if you read them?

With the inclusion of "Some Fools and a Saint", DEFINITELY. God, that story creeped me out (even though I had an inkling that Alice wasn't all she seemed--if a character doesn't like the Blythes in LMM's world, it's a safe bet that they aren't meant to be sympathized with) and it had me wishing that Montgomery had the chance to really experiment with a novel and write more of those darker elements into it--without spoiling the Emily series, Montgomery is really actually very good at the creepy drama/horror.

3. What about the war? Do you feel that the triumphant pro-war message of Rilla of Ingleside has lessened? (TBAQ spoiler) Did you feel chills as Anne said she was thankful that Walter did not come back?

Definitely. It didn't give me chills, but it just made me so sad for Anne and everyone else, to realize that all their sacrifices hadn't gotten them the lasting peace they thought they'd have.

4. The numerous Blythe references - funny, weird, annoying, interesting? Were you surprised that not everybody seemed to like them and some references were quite venomous?

I feel like they were a little unrealistic and shoehorned in at times, and I also didn't like that whether a person liked the Blythes or not seemed to be a reference to their character. At times it was like, "Oh they don't like the Blythes? Don't bother getting attached then!" But at other times, I thought it was amusing how people got aggravated by how perfect they came off, and it was nice getting little glimpses of what they were up to. (I still want to hear about that possible love triangle in the last story, between, presumably, Jem's son Walter, Rilla's son Gilbert, and that Zoe girl.)

[mardia]

5. Are you happy to get more info on what happened to our Blythes? Jem and Walter Jr, Gilbert Ford, Di Meredith, Di's mysterious beau... Did you want more?

It was nice to get some info, but I wanted more, definitely. I also really wish they'd picked different names for the grandkids, it was really difficult at times figuring out which Gilbert was which, or which Anne, or which Walter.

6. Did you like the format in The Blythes Are Quoted? What did you think of the poems and the vignettes?

The format was okay--I'm not always the greatest fan of poetry, so some of that didn't work for me, but the vignettes were nice--I particularly liked, for example, the moment where Gilbert was all, "Honey, you can write whatever you want, believe me--but some of these poems are CREEPING ME OUT. Uh, you wanna talk about that?"

Also, this moment may be cheap, but it still creeped me out like crazy:

Walter: I hope I meet a friend like that someday.
A Voice no one hears: You will. And his name will be death.

MEEP.

7. I won't ask questions about each short story, because that would take ages, but - favorite story? Least favorite? Isn't Some Fools And A Saint super creepy? Any thoughts on how LMM sort of twisted her favorite theme of families reuniting in An Afternoon With Mr. Jenkins, though she played it more straight up in a few other stories? Did you notice any other recurring themes from the series? Why does everybody talk about Susan Baker?

For me, I actually have to say Some Fools and a Saint is my favorite, just because it sticks out so much in my mind compared to the others, despite how creepy it is. (Jesus, the part where they find Alice on the stairs, ack ack ack.) I liked quite a few of the others, like the Mr. Jenkins story and The Twins Pretend, but one thing that put me off about some of them was the way that the love stories progressed--so often, especially in the latter half--it was about people falling in love at first sight, which is sweet, but in a short story, rather difficult to pull off and make believable. And as that theme kept repeating, I kept thinking about how what made Anne and Gilbert work so well for the readers was how they KNEW each other, how we believed they were perfect for each other because we saw it, because that was shown instead of told.

As for my least favorite story, that has to be Brother Beware, where the guy kidnaps the woman his brother's in love with and then whoops, falls for her himself, but the kidnapping's okay because she allowed it? What? And Anne's complicity in that just--it actually seemed OOC for me, for her to go along with a plan that crazy, matchmaking mania or no. Did not work for me at all.

[h_loquacious]

I think in the latter half the people falling in love so quickly was in part a function of the fact that they were all going off to war ASAP, but still, agree that it was ridiculous and didn't always work. And it's such a contrast to how the stories started with Anne and Gil, yeah.

I agree the plot of Brother Beware is a bit problematic, but for some reason it doesn't bother me in that one. Also, was Anne complicit? I just thought that Anne and that woman had been over earlier and unlocked the door and left it unlocked absentmindedly, pre-kidnapping. That's how I read it. Now I have to check. Okay, yeah, she says that she and Anne were over and forgot to unlock it. So I don't think Anne was complicit, unless Anne could magically predict the dude's kidnapping scheme... That would bring the ridiculousness to a new level.

[katayla]

The love at first sight thing was especially ridiculous in the last story! Oh, we just met for the first time and I let you think I was someone else, but let's get married!

[h_loquacious]

And then I realized it was an unedited version of The Road To Yesterday (which I own) and was, "Huh. Wait, UNEDITED?

Speaking of this, has anyone read the new edition of Rilla that is apparently unabridged?

Montgomery is really actually very good at the creepy drama/horror

Definitely agree

[katayla]

Speaking of this, has anyone read the new edition of Rilla that is apparently unabridged?

No! But I 'm curious about this, too.

[h_loquacious]

I can't help wondering how much was cut...

[katayla]

I've been googling a little. Haven't found much information, but from here:

This is a new “gift edition” of a novel first published in 1921. It’s the novel that Lucy Maude Montgomery then expected would be the final sequel to Anne of Green Gables. The story concerns Rilla Blythe, the youngest daughter of Anne Shirley, and is set during the First World War. Editions of this novel published in 1976 and 1985 removed about four per cent of the original text, which has now been restored in this volume. Editors of the book are Benjamin Lefebvre, a Waterloo literary scholar, and Andrea McKenzie, a University of Waterloo graduate who is now a director of writing at New York University.

And this has general information on the book.

I'd be curious to hear about the actual differences, though.

[h_loquacious]

Well, that makes it sounds like the difference is "not much". Especially if only 4% of the text is changed. Hard to say though... Unless I find someone with a copy of it already.