Litsy

L. M. Montgomery's Complete Journals, the Ontario Years: 1926-1929 | Jen Rubio

Hello, Kindred Spirits! We're currently reading Tales of the Alhambra, and in a couple more weeks, we'll start Vol. 6 of the #LMMJournals. Take a look at this schedule & let me know any tag lists you'd like to join! Our #LMMRereads will be The Blue Castle & Emily's Quest, and The Ladies of Missalonghi will be our #LMMAdjacent book (it's widely been called a rip-off of Blue Castle!). Then we'll take December to read LMM's cozy Christmas stories. 🌲

rubyslippersreads, Daisey, LeahBergen, JenlovesJT47, CogsOfEncouragement, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Roary47, julieclair

TheAromaofBooks I can't believe we're going to be starting Volume 6! 5h

TheAromaofBooks Also a little concerned because I went to Amazon to purchase it and Amazon says I've already bought it - but when I click on the order it shows me an earlier volume. So hopefully they are sending me the right one... -_- 4h

19 likes2 comments

BarbaraJean

Tales of the Alhambra | Washington Irving

“That book always makes me feel as if I had opened a little door and stepped straight into fairyland.
How I would love to see the Alhambra!”
—from “Salad Days” in Emily Climbs

How are you enjoying your reading of Tales from the Alhambra this week? Is it taking you to fairyland, as it does Emily? #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

julieclair There are moments where it feels like fairy land, but to be honest, it has mostly felt like a slog. The writing and descriptions are beautiful, but there are too many details for me. Although I must admit it has piqued my interest in visiting Grenada and The Alhambra some day. However, I‘m ready for some action! 7h

rubyslippersreads I need to catch up. I‘ve always wanted to read this because of the Emily connection. 7h

julieclair I‘m not sure where I am vs. where we‘re supposed to be. I‘m listening on audio and there are no chapters referenced, either in the narration itself or in the “details” section on Hoopla. I‘m at the part where he has just climbed up to the ramparts to see the view. 25% of book read. 7h

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BarbaraJean @julieclair The first chapter, where they're traveling to Granada, was SUCH a slog. It's picked up a bit more now he's including some of the legends & stories from the past. And SO interesting that yours doesn't have chapter references! I'm reading a digital copy via Hoopla & there are chapter titles but not chapter numbers. Where I left off yesterday, he was talking about how misunderstood Boabdil is and is about to tell about the Abencerrages. ⬇ 7h

BarbaraJean I wonder if the audio just reads the chapter titles into the text. Would it help if I posted a list of the chapter titles tied to the dates for the week? (Although it's not like there are really spoilers to be careful of, probably reading roughly 1/3 each week is close enough for our check-in/discussion purposes!)

@rubyslippersreads Me too! I remember coming across it first in the Emily books & there was a reference to it in the journals, too. 7h

TheAromaofBooks I actually have been enjoying this. The writing is friendly and I like the way that he is so kind to/about everyone. He seems like a person ready to be pleased with what he finds instead of always looking for faults. I loved the chapter where he decided to sleep in the abandoned rooms and then found himself getting creeped out by the ambiance 😂 It's a little dense - I think I'm a chapter behind - but I quite like it. 5h

julieclair @BarbaraJean You‘re sweet to offer, but I think your idea of just listening to 1/3 each week will work out fine. 💙 7m

julieclair @TheAromaofBooks I hadn‘t really thought about how nice he is, but you‘re right! 5m

19 likes8 comments

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1922-1925 | Lucy Maud Montgomery

Back into the #LMMJournals today! Whenever I‘m reading these, I keep an eye out for mentions of what LMM is reading, partly because I love reading her thoughts about books, but I also look for good #LMMAdjacent picks. However, I don‘t think I‘ll add Les Mis to our list… 😂 (I‘m with LMM here, it was a wonder but I don‘t think I need to re-read it!)
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I saw Les Mis when I was reading yesterday and was like, that is one buddy read I would skip 😂 2mo

lauraisntwilder I've never read it, but I don't think I'd get through it fast enough for a buddy read! 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks So not a candidate for #RandomClassics? 😂 @lauraisntwilder I read Les Mis with a Litsy buddy read, but I didn‘t manage to finish it until a month after the buddy read was over 🥴 2mo

40 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - African Farm discussion 5/5:

LMM references this book several times in her journals:
Vol. 1—Oct. 7, 1897, p. 38
Vol. 2—March 6, 1901, p. 9
Vol. 4—Jan. 31, 1920, pp. 240-41
Vol. 5—Oct. 29, 1925, p. 420

What do you think LMM appreciated about this book? Where do you see influences on her writing?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean I‘ve thought several of our adjacent reads were a bust—but not this one. I‘m so glad we included this even though there was a lot about it that was frustrating. I could see LMM being influenced by the spiritual and religious views here—so many of the ideas reflect her views as articulated in her journals. And I noticed so many passages that echoed her writing. A couple quotes below ⬇ (edited) 2mo

BarbaraJean “I once heard an old man say, that he never saw intellect help a woman so much as a pretty ankle; and it was the truth.”
—Lyndall in African Farm (Part 2, Chapter 4 “Lyndall“)

“Emily, you remember that. You have brains—hide them. Your ankles will do more for you than your brains ever will.”
—Aunt Nancy Priest in Emily of New Moon (Chapter 25) 2mo

BarbaraJean This sounds SO like Anne:
“I will tell you... where I could pray. If there were a wall of rock on the edge of a world, and one rock stretched out far, far into space, and I stood alone upon it, alone, with stars above me, and stars below me—I would not say anything; but the feeling would be prayer.“
—Waldo, in African Farm (Part 2, Ch. 6 “A Boer-Wedding“) 2mo

BarbaraJean Last one…there are SO many! @TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder This is almost EXACTLY what we were musing about re: EoNM a few weeks ago—the soul/brain/body forms of love. In LMM‘s journal on Jan. 31, 1920, she quotes a passage from African Farm: “who knows whether there is no love that holds all—friendship, passion, worship?” Then she discusses different forms of love:
“Yes, I think there must be a love which embraces them all but it is rarer ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …than a blue diamond. Most of us have to content ourselves with far less. I have loved different men in vastly different ways but I have never loved any man with the whole force of my nature—with passion and friendship and worship. They have all been present repeatedly but never altogether in any of my loves. Perhaps it is as well, for such a love, in spite of its rapture and wonder and happiness, would make a woman an absolute slave…” 2mo

26 likes5 comments

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - African Farm discussion 4/5:

How did this work for you as a story, with so many philosophical or religious digressions? Would you have preferred the book to be one or the other—philosophy or story? Or did it work for you as is?

Published in 1883, this has been called an early feminist classic. What ideas (feminist or otherwise) did you find to be progressive for their time?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean The story felt really uneven to me, partly because of how different Parts 1 & 2 were from each other, but also because the philosophizing felt forced. I wish the author had done more to integrate the ideas into the narrative more naturally, rather than putting in long monologues from Lyndall, Waldo, Waldo's stranger, and others. The ideas in those monologues were integral to those characters, but the way they were presented was awkward. 2mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) That said, Waldo's ideas on religion & personal faith, and Lyndall's ideas (and choices) felt super progressive for the time (probably what LMM refers to when she says the book “made a tremendous sensation“). The fact that any moralizing on those ideas was put into Tant' Sannie's mouth, and clearly presented as wrong-headed, also felt ahead of its time (but it aligned with what we've seen in LMM's journals when she critiques religion). 2mo

julieclair This didn‘t really feel like a story at all to me, but rather as a series of narrative vignettes interspersed with philosophical essays. It was much too disjointed for me. 2mo

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julieclair Lyndall‘s feminist attitudes and beliefs were obviously progressive for the time, but so were Tant Sannie‘s, with her multiple husbands. 2mo

lauraisntwilder I never managed to get around to this one. I sort of hate summer for how busy and hectic it is. Maybe I'll read it one day! 🤞 2mo

BarbaraJean @julieclair I felt the same—it was too disjointed. I spent a lot of time wondering how she could have conveyed the same ideas more naturally within the story instead of using long monologues like she did. @lauraisntwilder Someday! 😁 It was such a mixed bag for me—really uneven—but it was fascinating to read it with LMM‘s journals as a backdrop. 2mo

27 likes6 comments

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - Story of an African Farm discussion 3/5:

Did you find the ending satisfying?
Do you think it offers resolution for the main characters and the questions they struggle with?
Did it offer resolution for you?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean I was so conflicted about the ending. I had a really hard time with Lyndall's fate. It all felt so bleak and hopeless, then somehow Waldo's reflections at the end made it work for me. For me, it did feel like there was resolution for Waldo and Em, but I don't see a resolution that resolves the questions Lyndall (and her story) raises. 2mo

julieclair The ending just made me sad. I agree that Waldo and Em did find resolution, but still, the overarching feeling was one of sadness, I thought. For Lyndall, I‘m not sure resolution was even possible for her, being so far ahead of her time. I don‘t think that the society she lived in could have supported resolution for her in any way. 2mo

BarbaraJean @julieclair I think you‘re right, that there couldn‘t have been resolution for Lyndall. I really wanted it to work, for her to get out and make her own way in the world (become a successful actress!), but the narrative is far too realistic for that. 2mo

23 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - discussion 2/5:
Part One focuses on Bonaparte‘s sojourn at the farm and Waldo, Lyndall, and Em together as children. Part Two focuses on the three as young adults making their way separate from one another.

How do the children‘s experiences in Part One shape their lives in Part Two?
Do you see other connections between Parts One & Two?
Did the two parts feel like a cohesive narrative to you? Why/why not?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean The two parts felt disjointed at first, but looking back, I think Part 1 lays out the seeds of who the children become in Part 2. It's Bonaparte that made the book NOT feel cohesive to me! The whole Bonaparte thing felt out of place, other than providing some drama against which the children could demonstrate who they were (observant but passive & compliant Em, opinionated Lyndall struggling against constraints, Waldo trying to learn & grow). 2mo

23 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

This book was not at ALL what I expected! Let‘s discuss!

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - Story of an African Farm discussion 1/5:

What impact does the setting (the African Farm of the title) have on the story? How did you feel about the characterization and treatment of native people throughout the book?

What roles do the adults (Tant‘ Sannie, Otto, Bonaparte) play in the children‘s growth (whether positively or negatively)?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

rubyslippersreads I completely missed this one but, depending on the comments, may go back and catch up. 2mo

BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads Would love to hear your thoughts if you end up going back to read it! 2mo

julieclair Tha characterization of the natives really disturbed me. Even setting aside the outdated language, the whites seemed to regard the natives almost like they would a piece of furniture. There to perform a function and otherwise beneath their notice. 2mo

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BarbaraJean I was struck by how little impact the African setting had on the story. It could almost be any remote area with a harsh climate. Other than the fact that the characters are so isolated, the setting didn't seem to have a lot of impact. I thought there would be more overt racism than there is, so I kind of took it in stride that the native characters are kind of just bit players, often referred to with outdated terms that are now seen as racist. ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) I did find Lyndall's progressive feminist views ironic against the backdrop of casual racism and colonialism. When she says: “…if I might but be one of those born in the future; then, perhaps, to be born a woman will not be to be born branded.” (Part 2, Ch. 4)—I doubt she sees the connection between her “branding“ as a woman and the racism & colonialism that “brand,“ repress and confine the native South Africans. 2mo

julieclair The setting on the African farm, with its isolation, served to make every human relationship more intense. And the pastoral setting left lots of time in the day for thinking, dreaming and philosophizing. 2mo

julieclair Otto was a lovely role model of a good, kind, faith-filled man. I can‘t even discuss that despicable Bonaparte. Tant Sante wasn‘t a great influence, either. 2mo

BarbaraJean @julieclair I was expecting more overt racism, so the characterization of native characters hit differently with me. It bothered me, but to some extent it was a relief that active, malicious actions or egregious stereotypes were absent. But as you said, the absence of notice is itself disturbing. I love your comments on the setting. The isolation really does intensify things, and the philosophizing makes more sense when I think of it that way. 2mo

22 likes8 comments

BarbaraJean

Beautiful Joe: An Autobiography | Marshall Saunders

so-so

(I‘m slowly trying to catch up on reviews back to MAY… when this was a #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent pick.)

This book for children, published in 1893, is based on the real-life story of a dog who‘s rescued from horrible abuse. When I was a kid, I loved animal stories, especially when told from the animal's perspective. And I think I‘d have enjoyed this “Autobiography of a Dog” much more as a kid. Or maybe not? ⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) Overall, it was far more didactic than narrative. With so many lessons shoehorned in—without much of a plot to tie all the little stories together—the book was too preachy for me. As an adult, I wanted more story and more character development. My child self might have felt that a bit, too. 2mo

31 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

“…Bonaparte soon came to a conclusion as to the nature of the book and its contents, by the application of a simple rule now largely acted upon, but which, becoming universal, would save much thought and valuable time. It is of marvellous simplicity, of infinite utility, of universal applicability. It may easily be committed to memory, and runs thus:—
Whenever you come into contact with any book, person, or opinion… ⤵️

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean …of which you absolutely comprehend nothing, declare that book, person, or opinion to be immoral. Bespatter it, vituperate against it, strongly insist that any man or woman harbouring it is a fool or a knave, or both. Carefully abstain from studying it. Do all that in you lies to annihilate that book, person, or opinion.
…‘This book,‘ said Bonaparte, ‘is not a fit and proper study for a young and immature mind.‘” 2mo

BarbaraJean Well, if that doesn‘t remind me of something… 🤔 #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent 2mo

TheAromaofBooks By the way, in my copy, after Chapter 13 it switches to Part 2 and starts numbering the chapters again. So should I just count 2:1 as 14, etc, to get to our goal of chapter 18 by Saturday? 2:1 is also divided into multiple labeled sections as well, just to keep things bonus confusing 😂 2mo

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BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Ugh, me too!! I‘m having to do chapter math every time I pick it up to read now! I read 2:1 yesterday and was further confused by the subsections!! Yes, just count part 2, chapter 1 as chapter 14 and so on. This is what happens when I look up the table of contents online before I have a copy of the book in hand 🙄 2mo

TheAromaofBooks Okay, that is what I thought, but decided I should double check haha I have also gotten burned in the past by looking up how long/how many chapters a book has and getting LIED TO. Robinson Crusoe was the worst, since apparently some editions have chapters and some don't! 2mo

julieclair @TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean I was wondering about the chapter numbers, too. I‘m listening on audio, but have just kept plowing ahead. This week‘s listening has been slow going, though. 2mo

TheAromaofBooks @julieclair @BarbaraJean - This week has definitely felt slower to me - and I'm not through it all yet!! I think I was somewhat let down by the abrupt departure of Bonaparte. It made it feel like the entire first part of the book was kind of pointless? It was weird. 2mo

BarbaraJean @julieclair When I saw the change in chapter numbering, I kind of panicked and thought I'd gotten it completely wrong in the schedule! But then I counted the total number of chapters and realized the total was still correct, technically. I incorrectly assumed they'd be numbered sequentially 1-27 instead of split up like this. And I guess there's no point to updating the schedule now, since next week's reading is just to finish the book 😆 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks @julieclair This week's chapters have felt slower to me, too. All the philosophical conversations (almost monologues)! Re: Bonaparte—I felt that, too. I thought it was interesting that the author kind of gave a caveat about him in the Preface: “Two strangers appear on the scene, and some have fancied that in the second they have again the first, who returns in a new guise. Why this should be we cannot tell... ⬇ 2mo

BarbaraJean ...unless there is a feeling that a man should not appear upon the scene, and then dis-appear, leaving behind him no more substantial trace than a mere book; that he should return later on as husband or lover, to fill some more important part than that of the mere stimulator of thought.“

I'm guessing based on that, Bonaparte doesn't return! 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks @julieclair @lauraisntwilder Also, I was going to post a separate check-in post today, but we're already kind of having our weekly check-in here, so I'm going to let this be that, without a separate post!! 2mo

TheAromaofBooks This section felt kind of preachy, without a lot of story to back it up. 2mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Yeah, there were a couple of chapters in this week's section that felt like they were just setup for long one-sided conversations on philosophy and feminism. I loved what Lyndall had to say, but it was awkward the way she went on and on, with Waldo just there to provide the setup for her next long comment. The idea-heavy parts last week—like where Waldo struggled with his view of God—were woven into the story much more naturally. 2mo

julieclair @TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean I agree that this week‘s chapters felt like a series of longwinded monologues. Rather boring, as they didn‘t have much of a plot connecting them. The comment in the Preface about the two strangers is interesting. I agree, it seems like Bonaparte will not reappear, and that‘s fine by me! 2mo

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