Oh dear!

[mrsbrown]

It starts so easily.

I think, "what shall I read? I haven't read Anne of Green Gables for a while, its lovely and peaceful and chirpy" And I start reading my ebook.

And I finish it and start on the next one, Anne of Avonlea. As the week goes on and I read the next one and the next one during the week I start to get nervous.

Yesterday morning in bed I finished Rainbow Valley, and I had the first cry.

Then this morning mr-bassman woke me early by getting out of bed and I started on the non stop, moaning, teary with occasional pauses to cry harder experience that I have every time I read Rilla of Ingleside.

I have to read it in one go and I have to read it on my own. That means staying in bed and pretending that my bladder isn't about to explode, my tea addiction doesn't need feeding and that my blood sugar low is not contributing to my woes.

Unfortunately, because I read it electronically, I can't ignore running out of battery. So I got up, emptied the bladder, drank tea, ate bread, interacted with Rose and settled down with a plugged in pda to recapture the misery. It's not the same, but I've finished it now and I'm still a bit teary. At least I got the worst bit out of the way before the battery died.

---

I've been contemplating a post this week where I talk about the characters I've identified with and what they've taught me.

I didn't learn anything from the childish Anne, but the grownup Anne takes joy in her life and the now of her children, enjoying them and remembering that they won't stay babies forever (makes me cry). She also seeks out people who understand her and will do anything for them. She's understanding of people's mistakes and sympathises with their point of view.

Horatio Hornblower has the same doubtful voices in his head as I do. And does stuff anyway, really cool stuff. He also takes responsibility for things. Even when problems are obviously not his fault, he asks, "what could I have done to make this thing not happen" He takes that all too seriously of course, but I guess I don't get involved in activities that include people dying.

I play Pollyanna's glad game. I learnt from her grown up version (thankyou project gutenberg) that it wasn't a good idea to evangelise at people about it, so I don't.

Laura Ingalls Wilder showed me the sorts of living conditions that people can happily live in. When I remember that she shared a bed with her sister, that she lived on potatoes and salt pork twice a day for three months, that she sat and made buttonholes for 10 hours a day - gee we have it easy these days!

There must be more, but I have Bash to get ready for. And I haven't told you about my new haircut either!

Comments

[tooticky.livejournal.com]

I really love this post. :) I've noticed with regards to Lucy Maue Montgomery, that while I shunned the 'grown up Anne' books as a child, and was a bit disgusted with how Anne never became an author, but instead 'settled down', in my twenties, in my thirties, it's the 'grown up Anne' stores that I really enjoy from that series. The adventure of starting out a new life, coupled with new adult knowledge of grief and suffering in 'Anne's House of Dreams', and 'Anne of Ingleside' are now my favourites. If I ever want to spur myself into having children, 'Anne of Ingleside' makes it look very seductive. Except that I don't have a Susan. ;)
Things I've learned from Anne - joy and sorrow, tragedy and comedy are everywhere around you - don't go imagining that the world will somehow be more glamorous or real in a more famous town or in Europe or America, it is as real as it gets right now this very minute in your own home, good and bad alike. That the most beautiful places in the world are the ones you love, and that you feel love you. That you should never be 'too old and foolish' to dance along the the sea-shore. That love sanctifies your home and relationships, and makes the work of running a home worth-while. That there is artistry in running a house-hold, not just work.
That said, I lean towards the 'Emily' books as well. (Emily quoting Elizabeth Browning (I think); "Get leave to work." The documentation of determination and hard work that it takes to write, not just the inspiration) Have you read them?
And 'The Blue Castle' has a bit of everything, I can re-read the chapters after Valancy marries Barney over and over again. Marriage as a continuing adventure, rather than a dead-end 'happily ever-after'. I nolonger worry about what these books aren't, as I used to, that Anne doesn't become rich and famous (after all that's the exact point of the books), that she enjoys being a mother, that Valancy's adventures really begin when she gathers the courage to ask a man to marry her - that she doesn't go out and sail around the world on her own or something. They're books of their time, and that's enough.
And as a historical document of how it may have felt to live through the First World War on the home-front, 'Rilla of Ingleside' is incredible.

[mrsbrown.livejournal.com]

I've read the Emily books, a couple of times I think, but I've never, or not often anyway :), imagined myself as an author, so I don't identify with her very much.

I've re-read The Blue Castle LOTS of times. I usually keep to that one when I need a bit of a romantic lift in my own life.

and having 6 children would be much easier to contemplate if I had a Susan.

I hadn't thought of 'Rilla' as an historical document, just really hard to put down and emotionally exhausting.

Influence of Book Characters

[mishymoocow-2.livejournal.com]

Georgette Heyer heroines - I'm thinking especially of Frederica, Venetia, Ancilla etc. - taught me a lot about social manners. Also about being able to adapt them a bit as necessary. I liked Jo March's zest for life and her unprosy attempt to do the right thing, yet still have her dreams. The majority of the stories I like taught you that being brave was about being afraid but doing the right thing anyway... and that it won't always work out ok. The Children of Cherry Tree Farm scarred me for life - I am still waiting for a chance to go to the country for my health and run wild for three months. And if Tammylan the Wild Man ever turns up, well, Hubby may be in trouble...

[shu-shu-sleeps.livejournal.com]

I love all the Anne books - but have to admit - my first cry is in the first book - when Matthew dies - never fails - can't get past that bit without crying. My favourite Anne though is Anne of the Island- there's such wonderful humour in it. So called 'children's' books continue to be an important part of my reading - especially these 'classics' - they are not afraid to really explore emotion.

[astemudfoot.livejournal.com]

Showing my ignorance, I haven't read any of these. But I wanted to say.....

Your new haircut is very cute. :)

[hnpcc]

A friend and I were discussing the Little House on the Prairie books, and the thing that we really liked about it was that it showed just how much work went into running a house. Normally books set on the frontier go for the whole heroic 'clearing the land', 'fighting the enemy', 'taming the horses' sorts of stories, and the housework just magically gets done in the background. In LIW's books, you can feel how hard it is to lift a soaking wet quilt in order to get it through the mangle and then out to dry.

gee we have it easy these days

There's a collection of her daughter's short stories in which Rose Wilder Lane talks about a conversation between her mother and father, who must have been in their 60s (I think it was about 1920s?) at that point. They were talking about how easy they had it compared to their parents - they had much more mobility and a wider social life as a result, they had electricity, they weren't having to go out and hunt food to make ends meet, they weren't spending three months worth of evenings sorting out seed potatoes - luxury!