Evening, Miss Osborne’s apartment. A dinner of pigeon pie, forcemeat balls, and sherry syllabub sits demolished on the dining room table; Miss Osborne, Miss Ball, and Mrs. Fitzpatrick lounge around the living room, each trying not to be the one to have to make tea for the group.
Miss Ball: . . . so it’s like that time in Book X when Character Z says—
Miss Osborne: Wait, don’t spoil it for me!
Mrs. Fitzpatrick: What?!
Miss O: I-I haven’t read it yet.
Miss B: How is that possible?
Mrs. F: It’s the best book ever written!
Miss B: I read it in first grade.
Mrs. F: I read it in the womb.
Miss B: That book saved my life.
Mrs. F: You can’t be President unless you’ve read it, you know. It’s in the Constitution.
Miss B: . . . I was in a dark place.
Mrs. F: They say it was the inspiration for “Raindrops and roses and whiskers on kittens.”
Miss B: I heard it’s what makes Superman fly!
Mrs. F: Don’t your parents like you?
Miss B: Or is this some kind of cruel joke?
Miss O: I . . . I don’t think so? I mean, I think they like me.
Mrs. F: Well, it doesn’t matter. They’re cruel.
Readers, it’s true. My parents were cruel, but only because they made me wear my brothers’ hand-me-down Toughskins jeans. They were and are avid readers, and they indulged my reading habits. Still, I managed to miss out on a few classics. To right these terrible wrongs, I’m slowly catching up on the books that apparently failed to shape my young psyche. Last summer, Mrs. F loaned me her tattered and well-loved (and fabulous) Little House books; this summer, I bought myself the entire Anne of Green Gables series. (In my defense, I had seen the movies. I’m up to the fifth book, and squeee! I do love Anne-with-an-E.)
I’ve stayed up late many nights enjoying the world of Anne Shirley, and was also pleased to find that the movie was faithful to the first novel. But I have to admit that I was surprised by the short bio about Lucy Maud Montgomery at the end of the book: apparently, during her college and post-college years, there was a tumultuous time when she was engaged to a cousin she did not love, and was in love with a farmer she thought was not a good match. She ended both relationships and eventually married a minister named Ewan MacDonald. Per the bio, “she did not love MacDonald with any passion, but she respected him, and he was a more suitable match for her than any of her previous suitors.”
I recognize it’s not uncommon to marry without passion, but I was surprised that Montgomery would do so when her heroine also made her way through a series of potential suitors (and ruminated on others’ good and bad relationships)—and then happily entered into a relationship of respect and passion with Gilbert Blythe. My mind keeps going back to Jane Austen, who is often quoted as saying, “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection.” Is that why Jane never married? I assume that when she wrote about the marriage prospects of Lizzy Bennet, Elinor Dashwood, and her other heroines, she gave the reader her ideal vision of a good marriage—one of passion, tenderness, and mutual respect—because that’s what she desired for herself. Without any hard facts to back up my assumptions, I have always felt that Austen was true to her words and chose to remain unmarried because she couldn’t find a husband that could provide her ideal marriage. Who knows? Maybe Austen secretly wished she had married for the sake of being married, and maybe Montgomery was perfectly satisfied in a passionless marriage. But I can’t help but believe that both put their innermost desires into the lives of their heroines. In the meantime, I shall keep myself out of the depths of despair over the lack of my ideal mate by entertaining myself with more stories of Anne-with-an-E, outings with kindred spirits, and tantalizing visions of men with muttonchops.
austenacious 
Yes, I, too, have seen more movies of the classics than have read the actual books, but I’m catching up by starting with my beloved Jane Austen novels first.
It’s interesting how much fun it is to appreciate the genius of Jane Austen’s writing style as well as to see how each screenwriter interprets of novels.
As I catch up on reading the classics, I plan to watch each one’s adaptations to close the loop.
Should be great fun!
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I, being the oldest, thankfully only had to endure new Toughskin jeans!! 😀 What I would have given to have worn jeans made of nothing but denim! I hope you are too young to remember polyester pants with the crease sown in. Oy!
I read the Anne books around 9th grade and remember reading a bit about Lucy Maud Montgomery, but as a 13 year old I guess her love life really didn’t interest me as much as her character’s did. I fell in love with Gilbert waaaay before I ever knew who Fitzwilliam Darcy was. I was a died in the wool spinster (25yo) by the time he and I were introduced. Which I guess is why Capt Wentworth is the man for me. 🙂
Reading about “depths of despair” and “bosom friends” has me wanting to buy another set of the Anne of Green Gables books (original set has all but disintegrated), huddle down in my room for the weekend and do nothing but read the exploits of Anne, Diana, Gilbert and all the wonderful citizens of Avonlea.
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Anne Shirley is one of the reasons I fell in love with reading. I have all of the Anne books, but have never been able to get into any of LMM’s other characters. I do have the first two volumes of LMM’s letters and journals, they are hard reading, she had an unhappy life all around. There is a newly released book The Blythes Are Quoted, that follows the family after WW1. I have yet to get my hands on that one.
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Betty–I like your idea of comparing adaptations to the novels. The screenwriters (and movie designers) make all sorts of choices, and it’s interesting to see what choices were influenced by the current times or good or bad writing.
Blarneygirl–Ha! Sadly, I also was victim of polyester pants. I read Persuasion for the first time when I was in my mid-20s (single, of course), so Capt Wentworth was and still is very appealing. Re: the Anne of Green Gables books–I bought a paperback set, though I wish there were hardcovers available. I have no doubt I’ll be re-reading them for a long time to come. I just finished Anne’s House of Dreams last night, and so far I love that one the best.
Barbara–I haven’t read anything else my LMM. I’m curious about them because in reading the Anne books, I think she’s got a terrific and snarky sense of humor. I knew she must have when I saw the movies, but it really comes out in her writing. It’s sad to think that someone who brings so many people great joy didn’t seem to enjoy her life.
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You know in Austenland by Shannon Hale, how the main character is tragified because no real man will ever resemble Mr. Darcy? Well, I do love Mr. Darcy, but for me it’s Gilbert Blythe who makes me dissatisfied with real men. I love Anne, although the later books don’t do it for me as much as the earlier ones do.
As for other LMM books, may I recommend The Blue Castle? It’s one of her books for older readers, and I adore it. It’s weird, actually, because there are whole portions of the book that bore me–LMM was going through a nature writing phase, I think, and spends pages quoting fictional nature writers or going into raptures about the sunset over the lake. But I love the rest of it so much that I let the boring parts slide. Valancy is no Anne, but she’s an extremely likable heroine who gets some really funny lines along with some rather poignant moments. If you like Anne Elliot, wondering if life and romance have passed her by, you might like Valancy.
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