Book Review
Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Blue Castle
At twenty-nine Valancy had never been in love, and it seemed romance had passed her by. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she found her only consolations in the "forbidden" books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle. Then a letter arrived from Dr. Trent -- and Valancy decided to throw caution to the winds. For the first time in her life Valancy did and said exactly what she wanted. Soon she discovered a surprising new world, full of love and adventures far beyond her most secret dreams.
I saw this book at my favourite little bookstore. I walked past it a few times on my visits, but in the end I couldn't resist. This is first time the book got printed in Germany, and it's a wonderful edition.It was a joy to read.
I loved this book. It made me smile, and worry, and almost cry. I don't think I can write a properly objective review. (There are spoilers for the book here.)
The first few chapters were depressing and sad. Valency isn't done well by her family. It's quite fascinating to see how this shapes her. At the beginning I thought her family members to be a little over-done, but then I remembered people I met just like them. There's a casual cruelty and thoughtlessness to them, and they don't need to be evil to do harm. So Valency is down-trodden and meek and only in her head she allows herself to express her thoughts and feelings.
Her liberation comes in form of her death sentence: she has only one more year to live the doctor says. Why should she not take a chance at happiness? Her future death encourages her to live.
She goes to take care of an old man and his dying daughter.
It's kind of disappointing to me that Cissy dies here, even though it makes sense for a novel of this time. There's a sharpness to Valency as she observes the peoples behaviour, and I don't think we are nowadays too far removed from this.
I don't mind the fairytale-ness of what's happening next. Valency finding her Blue Castle may be slightly exaggerated in how it's described, but I'm too glad for her to mind it. I'm glad to see how Valency and Barney take care of each other while giving each other space. They respect each other, and now matter how their marriage came to be this is what is important.
What makes this book shine are the characters, and their realness. There are some books that are very much tied to their time, that fade over the years. This one isn't. While mores may have changed, although not as much as we might like to think so, people in themselves don't change. There are still families like the Stirlings out there, and there have been before.
Valency grows stronger because she stops hiding herself, because she learns to stand against her family and because she meets people who actually care about her.
And this is a universal message I took from this book. The right friends help you lift yourself up and don't put you down.
This entry was originally posted at http://thady.dreamwidth.org/315917.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
At twenty-nine Valancy had never been in love, and it seemed romance had passed her by. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she found her only consolations in the "forbidden" books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle. Then a letter arrived from Dr. Trent -- and Valancy decided to throw caution to the winds. For the first time in her life Valancy did and said exactly what she wanted. Soon she discovered a surprising new world, full of love and adventures far beyond her most secret dreams.
I saw this book at my favourite little bookstore. I walked past it a few times on my visits, but in the end I couldn't resist. This is first time the book got printed in Germany, and it's a wonderful edition.It was a joy to read.
I loved this book. It made me smile, and worry, and almost cry. I don't think I can write a properly objective review. (There are spoilers for the book here.)
The first few chapters were depressing and sad. Valency isn't done well by her family. It's quite fascinating to see how this shapes her. At the beginning I thought her family members to be a little over-done, but then I remembered people I met just like them. There's a casual cruelty and thoughtlessness to them, and they don't need to be evil to do harm. So Valency is down-trodden and meek and only in her head she allows herself to express her thoughts and feelings.
Her liberation comes in form of her death sentence: she has only one more year to live the doctor says. Why should she not take a chance at happiness? Her future death encourages her to live.
She goes to take care of an old man and his dying daughter.
It's kind of disappointing to me that Cissy dies here, even though it makes sense for a novel of this time. There's a sharpness to Valency as she observes the peoples behaviour, and I don't think we are nowadays too far removed from this.
I don't mind the fairytale-ness of what's happening next. Valency finding her Blue Castle may be slightly exaggerated in how it's described, but I'm too glad for her to mind it. I'm glad to see how Valency and Barney take care of each other while giving each other space. They respect each other, and now matter how their marriage came to be this is what is important.
What makes this book shine are the characters, and their realness. There are some books that are very much tied to their time, that fade over the years. This one isn't. While mores may have changed, although not as much as we might like to think so, people in themselves don't change. There are still families like the Stirlings out there, and there have been before.
Valency grows stronger because she stops hiding herself, because she learns to stand against her family and because she meets people who actually care about her.
And this is a universal message I took from this book. The right friends help you lift yourself up and don't put you down.
This entry was originally posted at http://thady.dreamwidth.org/315917.html. Please comment there using OpenID.