authobiography

reading_rainbow

Baby Doll: An Autobiography | Carroll Baker

Birthday finds from my favorite used bookstore 🩶 I have been really into vintage biographies lately

Leftcoastzen Wow! 2d

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lauraisntwilder

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years: 1918-1921 | Jen Rubio L.M. Montgomery

pick

Book review catch-up post 5 of 5:

This is the fourth volume of LM Montgomery's journals and by now I really feel like I know her, warts and all. She was not a perfect person, but she had a wonderful sense of humor and, in this volume especially, a difficult life. It was hard to hear of the pain she endured at the loss of her closest friend and the onset of her husband's mental illness. Three more volumes remain and life doesn't get any easier...

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years: 1918-1921 | Jen Rubio L.M. Montgomery

What sections or themes from this volume of the journals stand out to you?
Are there sections or quotes that you particularly enjoyed or resonated with?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

lauraisntwilder I have been using colored tabs throughout my reading of LMM's journals, using green to note especially pretty observations of the natural world. I realize LMM has left the island, but she goes on multiple vacations in this volume, & still I only used one green tab in this book. Instead of a favorite part, I'm most conscious of a change in her world view. Even before Frede died & Ewan had his first attack, her years of severe anxiety changed her. 2w

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder That is fascinating! I hadn't noticed it while reading, but yes, there are far fewer nature descriptions in this volume. And her overall view of life does seem to have changed. Her exuberance--the heights that seem to balance her lows--is missing here. It does seem to be a gradual change, growing from those years of anxiety, but it's there. 1w

BarbaraJean What I most enjoyed was what I guess I'd call the more philosophical entries. She seems to spend more time than she did in previous journals discussing her views on religion, life, literature, writing, etc. And she's such a fascinating personality that those sections were super interesting to read. I love her stories and her observations/commentary on various happenings, but hearing her thoughts in depth was my favorite aspect of this volume. 1w

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years: 1918-1921 | Jen Rubio L.M. Montgomery

During this time, LMM began copying over her earlier journals. Having read those earlier journals and reading this journal now—do you think she ended up doing what she said she would, and copying them absolutely faithfully?

If you undertook the same task—copying out early journals now that you‘ve become a famous writer—how would you handle it?

Would you edit or revise along the way? Why or why not?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean I said this earlier when @TheAromaofBooks asked similar questions--I think she intended to, and started out copying them faithfully, but as time went on, I think she made some edits & excisions. As she became conscious of a future audience for her journals, I think she definitely left some stuff out (especially in the Herman Laird sections!). Maybe that's me projecting, because I DEFINITELY would edit/leave stuff out from my journal-writing days! 2w

lauraisntwilder I think she probably did edit and even add things. However, I think she must've copied quite a lot verbatim. Her writing style changed so much over the years. Her youthful voice falls away and I think, even for her, that would be hard to replicate so gradually. But hindsight must've colored her reading and made her want to emphasize or diminish certain subjects. Herman, yes, but also Edwin and Frede, in different ways. 2w

TheAromaofBooks I feel like the temptation would have been too great! We all edit our own memories/stories/etc and I can't imagine copying out my teenage diaries and not changing just a teeny bit here and there to make myself look not QUITE so dumb 😂 I don't think she just wholesale rewrote passages, but I just can't believe that she didn't remove or rearrange some sections to tone down some aspects of her past. @lauraisntwilder 2w

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years: 1918-1921 | Jen Rubio L.M. Montgomery

In a couple of journal entries in this volume, LMM gives extensive descriptions of herself, her likes, and her views on various subjects, notably her religious views.

Did her beliefs or her view of herself surprise you?
What about her likes?
How did these sections affect the view you have of who LMM was?
#LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

lauraisntwilder I wasn't surprised by anything, but it must've been so hard to be a minister's wife with her beliefs. I don't know that I could've relinquished my kids to Sunday School teachers I thought were stupid. In fact, I know I couldn't have - I actually changed churches, leaving the church I grew up in that my parents & sister still attend, because I didn't trust who was going to teach my kid. (There was no drama & we don't live there now anyway!) 2w

TheAromaofBooks I've read before that your view of God is heavily influenced by the type of father you had growing up. I don't know how true that is, but I found myself thinking about it when I was reading LMM's religious thoughts - her view of God seems to vary between a strict disciplinarian looking to pounce on wrongdoings (like her grandfather) and someone who mouths platitudes of fondness and affection but leaves you hanging when push comes to shove (like ⬇ 2w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) her actual father). While I would say that I probably have a more traditional view of Christian beliefs than LMM, I actually agreed with a lot of what she had to say. I do think that God rejoices in beauty and His creation, and loves to see us do the same. I do think that the church gets bogged down in weird little details instead of just trying to live a life of that reflects God's goodness. I was blessed to grow up in a church that ⬇ 2w

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) encouraged questions and testing the foundations. If you don't push those boundaries, you don't actually know if they are firm enough to stand on, which ironically leads to a life of fear and doubt. But the church that LMM was a part of (and many still today) just want members to recite back the right words by rote instead of genuinely understanding and embracing true faith. This section just again made me so sad for LMM as it was yet ⬇ 2w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) another way she felt alone, isolated, and unable to share or discuss her feelings/doubts/beliefs because of fear of judgment and how it would reflect on her husband and his job. I think LMM marrying a minister was one of the greatest tragedies of her life. It forced her into a role that she didn't respect or enjoy, and meant that she had to keep so many of her personal beliefs hidden away instead of being able to freely discuss and ⬇ 2w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) grow them. And then to have the added tragedy of Ewan's mental issues turning his own beliefs against himself - it just seems so horrible that two people who didn't actually believe in the things they “had“ to preach were trapped doing so! 2w

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks I was both surprised/not surprised by how nontraditional her views were. Her view of God (at times a strict disciplinarian, at times a comfort but not consistent) seems to track with what I assume were prevalent views of the time, other than her disbelief in God‘s omnipotence. I was surprised by her belief in a “Principle of Evil, equal to God in power”—but as I think about it, that makes sense for her, post-WWI.⬇ 1w

BarbaraJean I WAS surprised by her beliefs on the afterlife--I thought she might not believe in hell, but was surprised to hear her vision of the afterlife basically being reincarnation and endless struggle between good and evil. I wonder how that impacted her view of Ewan's terror of hell! 1w

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Like you, I resonate with a lot of what LMM has to say about God & about Christianity in general: her emphasis on moving beyond rules & doctrines, emphasizing a joyful appreciation of beauty (of God and of nature). I wonder if her nontraditional views on faith contributed to her deep, deep fear of what others would think. When you feel you have to hide some of the deepest parts of yourself, I could see that intensifying an ⬇ 1w

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...already-ingrained fear of judgment from others. ESPECIALLY as a minister‘s wife!! My heart really goes out to both of them for the reasons you mention. I SO wonder how different their lives would have been if Ewan had pursued a different career (and if they‘d both been able to have good therapists!!). 1w

TheAromaofBooks I know that at times in my life where I have struggled with my faith or wondered if God really existed, part of what helped me regain perspective was being able to talk it out with people I trust, who didn't try to just force me to believe what they thought I should, but who genuinely encouraged me to work through it. It seems so sad to see LMM and her husband both trapped in circumstances where they have to hide every thought that doesn't align ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) with Ewan's job - not a healthy way to work through spiritual questioning! It's also really hard reading this section knowing that even LMM's one joy in her life - her children - is going to go south later and become yet another source of sorrow and pain! 1w

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years: 1918-1921 | Jen Rubio L.M. Montgomery

On January 31, 1920, LMM lists and comments on several quotations she‘d recorded earlier. I thought this was such a great view into her thoughts on writing and life in general.

Which of those comments stood out to you?
Are there any books listed there that you‘ve read or would like to read?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder @JenlovesJT47 2w

TheAromaofBooks I didn't have any of the quotations jump out at me particularly, but I did enjoy the section. She definitely has an eye for catching a good line. She had quotes from classics that I've found rather dull and uninspiring, but she had pulled specific lines from them that made me rethink my original thoughts on the writing! 2w

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I know, right? There were several where I read the quote and her comments on it and thought, ooh, maybe I want to read that! And then I'd go to the footnote and investigate further and decide maybe not 😂 1w

TheAromaofBooks A couple of times I was like oh wait I hated that book 😂 1w

18 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years: 1918-1921 | Jen Rubio L.M. Montgomery

In this volume, we see an end to WWI, but LMM records some profound struggles, from Ewan‘s illness to Frede‘s death. We see legal battles with Page and small mentions revealing her status as an author: speaking engagements, reviews, letters from fans. And we see her as a mother, writing about Chester & Stuart.

What influence do you think these years had on LMM‘s writing? Do you see echoes of this time in Rainbow Valley or in later books?

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean #LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead 2w

BarbaraJean I think these years brought a maturity to LMM's writing--I see a deepening in her writing a bit in Rainbow Valley, but more in Rilla--deeper themes that seem to emerge from this time of such struggle in her life. Rilla especially, to me, reads like a more mature writer, as LMM explores the role of women during the war. And I see such an echo of LMM's obsession over the war news in the way the women on the “home front“ followed the war news. ⬇ 2w

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) I also feel like there's more of a consciousness in her journals that she's now an established writer and her journals are not just for her, but also for posterity. There's an awareness that others may read what she writes that I didn't sense in the early journals. She definitely uses her journal as a confidant, but sometimes even straight up says she's leaving out details because her future grandchildren or others would be shocked! (edited) 2w

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lauraisntwilder Rilla definitely shows the influence of WWI, but I think the Emily books show signs of LMM's trauma. They're darker books, in general, than the Anne books. PEI, so beautifully described in the Anne books, is almost magical in the Emily books. I don't think I ever realized before that Dean has some similarities to Ewan. Emily feels trapped in her relationship with Dean, someone she once loved and admired, or thought she did, but now he's a burden. 2w

TheAromaofBooks I feel like in some ways Rilla is the first book LMM wrote with a “purpose“ - that she wanted to tell the story of Canada's homefront and she did. I liked the part where her publishers tried to get her to make it nicer to America and she was pretty much like yeah no haha That along with her insistence that her new heroine's name is Emily to me emphasized how LMM is learning to at least somewhat value herself and stand up for her rights as an ⬇ 2w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) established author.

Like @lauraisntwilder said, I think Emily definitely shows echoes of the trauma and struggles LMM has and is facing. I hadn't really thought of Dean in terms of Ewan, but I can see that. In general, Emily is very lonely, and I think that definitely reflects that status of LMM's life when she was writing these books. When I first read them I saw Emily as a reflection of LMM's childhood, but reading this section of ⬇ 2w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) journals has definitely made me think about how these books reflect her adult life as well. She isn't “trapped“ in the same ways as she was as a young girl, but she is still definitely trapped and isolated. I originally wasn't going to reread the Emily books because I didn't like them very much the first time around, but I think I will after all because I'm so intrigued and engaged in the way we are reading published works/journals ⬇ 2w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) together and seeing how they reflect one another!

I definitely think that the tone of the journals has changed to a more “public“ voice. It kind of reminds me your “company“ voice vs the one you use with friends. She is still warm, friendly, and full of anecdotes, and she still does complain (usually justly) and talk about her grievances, but it feels more reserved. Part of that is probably just being an adult vs being an angsty teen!! 2w

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Yes to the signs of trauma in Emily! I hadn't thought about the parallels between Ewan and Dean, either (I usually get too caught up in how awful and possessive Dean is), but that feels spot on: that there are elements to how Emily feels about their relationship that parallel how LMM feels about Ewan. As @TheAromaofBooks said, the feelings of being trapped and isolated are BIG parallels between Emily and LMM's adult life. 1w

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TheAromaofBooks

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years: 1918-1921 | Jen Rubio L.M. Montgomery

I had to find out what the deal was with these magical yeast cakes (and can I still get them, because I totally would love to have my 20-year-old energy back 😂) Found this fun article - https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-healing-power-of-compressed-...

So is the renewed energy and vigor LMM experienced entirely a placebo effect? Or were the B vitamins really that helpful? Either way it's fun to see how humans always look ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) for the easy ticket!! 😆

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

@BarbaraJean @JenlovesJT47 @lauraisntwilder 2w

TheSpineView 20 year old... I would settle for 40! 😂 2w

Suet624 Great article! 2w

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Cuilin Fabulous article, thanks for sharing. 2w

BarbaraJean What a fantastic article!! This part: “…when I mentioned the cakes to my husband‘s 91-year-old grandmother, her face lit up. ‘Ooh, I love yeast cakes!‘ she said, before taking a nibble. ‘The texture is so nice.‘ Encouraged, I then spent the weekend trying to press yeast cakes on her. Eventually she turned to me. ‘You know, Catherine,‘ she said, ‘sometimes people say things they don‘t entirely mean.‘” 😂😂 2w

BarbaraJean I love knowing that LMM was just as susceptible to advertising and getting caught up in a health craze as the rest of us!! All her talk of “vitamines” was so interesting. I wonder if she got Ewan to try yeast cakes?! (edited) 2w

tpixie @BarbaraJean funny quote 2w

tpixie @TheAromaofBooks thanks for the link! 2w

tpixie If you look at the difference between women‘s vitamins and men‘s vitamins women‘s vitamins have calcium in men‘s vitamins have B vitamins…. I guess for their “Energy“ 2w

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years: 1918-1921 | Jen Rubio L.M. Montgomery

“There isn't a single interesting person in this village—not one who makes you feel better just because of a chat. I really never saw such a collection of stupid, uninteresting people. …When I am feeling normal I suffer them gladly and find some amusement in their very stupidity but when I'm below par I'd like to blow them all up with gunpowder.”

😂 As I find so often, Maud‘s “below par” reaction to certain other people is thoroughly relatable.

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals 2w

TheAromaofBooks Been there, Maud 😂 2w

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BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years: 1918-1921 | Jen Rubio L.M. Montgomery

I feel
Very much
Like taking
Its unholy perpetrators
By the hair
Of their heads
(If they have any hair)
And dragging them around
The yard
A few times,
And then cutting them
Into small, irregular pieces
And burying them
In the depths of the blue sea
They are without form
And void,
Or at least
The stuff they produce
Is.
They are too lazy
To hunt up rhymes,
And that
Is all
That is the matter with them.

😂😂
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks This is EXACTLY how I feel when I read this type of poetry! 😂 Especially when the lines are super short. 3w

lil1inblue 😍 😍 😍 3w

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