Litsy

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread Belated discussion questions for Story Girl! I found this in my photos—somehow I missed posting it last week!

Do you agree with LMM‘s own assessment of The Story Girl, that from a literary standpoint it is “far ahead” of Anne? Why/why not?

If you‘re reading the journals, how have the additional details LMM included there impacted your reading? (Story Girl is mentioned in Vol. 2 p. 316 & pp. 404-408)

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I don\'t agree, but I can\'t tell if it\'s because I just simply like Anne so much better than SG. To me, the character development and story progression in Anne is stronger. SG does have a sense of place and nostalgia, but it feels like you are sitting on the porch with an elderly Bev listening to him reminisce vs more of an \“in the story\“ feeling with Anne. So maybe some of it is what kind of storytelling you prefer? 14h

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BarbaraJean

The Story Girl | L. M. Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread - Story Girl discussion (3/3)

What were your favorite happenings and stories in the second half of the book? Which stories stand out to you the most from across the book?

Is there anything else you‘d like to talk about from The Story Girl?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Seabreeze_Reader

TheAromaofBooks Peter almost dying is a very realistic chapter to me. When I was growing up, a kid I knew from 4-H died from cancer. I didn\'t know him or his family very well, but I remember really for the first time thinking about how death could actually happen to people I know, and not just old people. 7d

TheAromaofBooks I have to say that I can\'t stand Uncle Roger, and his bullying, teasing ways really got to me in this read through. Times when the children were genuinely scared or confused about something, he just tormented them instead of helping them. He\'s so cruel. The other adults felt like they were just not cognizant of various concerns the children had, but Roger would go out of his way to make things worse for them. What a jerk. 7d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Uncle Roger was infuriating. He\'s an adult who either doesn\'t remember what it was like to be a kid, or doesn\'t care to treat them with respect. His interactions with them are about his own amusement at their expense. I hated those kinds of adults, and I think LMM did, too—like her story about the man who called her Johnny (which shows up here, but not from Uncle Roger!). It surprises me he\'s not painted less sympathetically! 5d

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BarbaraJean

The Story Girl | L. M. Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread - Story Girl discussion (2/3)

What did you think of the writing itself: the decision to use a first-person narrator reflecting back on childhood, including letters to show each character‘s voice, including family stories along with folk tales & legends?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Seabreeze_Reader

lauraisntwilder I can understand why Maud loved this book. It feels so personal, almost intimate. It feels like she packed in all her memories from Park Corner of being with her cousins. Knowing her frame of mind at the time she wrote it, the nostalgic tone makes sense. 1w

lauraisntwilder (Cont'd) I mentioned before that I grew up watching the Road to Avonlea TV show. It was a big surprise to me that the narrator was a character they cut for the show. There were lots of changes, of course, but that seems like an especially big one! I liked the narration. I thought it worked well. 1w

TheAromaofBooks I\'ve never been a huge fan of Bev\'s \“ah those were the days\“ attitude, which feels a little cloying at times, but it does make sense and give the book some framework. Although it felt suspicious that he copied everyone\'s letters to Peter except his own 😂 @lauraisntwilder 7d

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BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder It does feel personal! I kept thinking about her journal, where she talks about the games & adventures she got up to with the Nelson boys, as well as her cousins. Writing it probably felt like spending time in those idyllic childhood days for her. I feel like Bev is kind of a stand-in for LMM, in a way—it makes sense she\'d use a narrator who\'s looking back on childhood days, because that\'s what she\'s doing! @TheAromaofBooks 5d

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder I\'d read Story Girl & Chronicles of Avonlea before seeing Road to Avonlea, so my surprise was how Anne-adjacent it was, with Marilla & Mrs. Lynde as characters! Leaving out Bev & reframing the story with Sara as the outsider gives it such a different flavor—lifts the nostalgia right out. @TheAromaofBooks Yes, the omission of his letter to Peter was a lil sus 😂 Doesn\'t he still have his dream book? But also doesn\'t quote from it! 5d

kwmg40 I liked the narrative choices in this novel. I might not have appreciated the sense of nostalgia if I\'d read this book when I was much younger, but it resonates with me now. 4d

24 likes6 comments

BarbaraJean

The Story Girl | L. M. Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread - StoryGirl discussion (1/3)

The Story Girl is a very episodic book, but there are some common themes running throughout the book: faith and religion, family, and the nostalgia of looking back on childhood.

What did you think of the depiction of religion?

What did you think of how LMM described childhood?

What other themes stood out to you?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Seabreeze_Reader

Seabreeze_Reader This is just a personal opinion but overall the theme of religion started to feel too dominant and heavy handed. I was relieved there were a couple of chapters that didn\'t focus too much on religion, such as when they were picking apples. 1w

lauraisntwilder I think it's realistic depiction of children growing up in a religious home, at least at that time. They seem to know so much -- all the things they've learned for Sunday School -- but they often don't understand the implications of anything. The Methodist vs. Presbyterian conversations were funny. 1w

TheAromaofBooks I think church was a major social/cultural aspect of life at that time, so it seemed natural that they would talk about it and try to understand as they went along. This never felt like a preachy book in the sense that LMM was trying to \“convert\“ her readers - it felt more like a realistic part of the King children\'s lives. I thought things like Dan\'s skepticism regarding prayer vs Cecily\'s implicit faith helped give their characters depth. 7d

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BarbaraJean @Seabreeze_Reader It really is everywhere, isn\'t it?! I agree with @lauraisntwilder & @The AromaofBooks—church was so central to the life of a family/community like this at that time, so it felt realistic to me. The kid-discussions of prayer and Methodist vs. Presbyterian also felt so realistic, and I found the partial understanding of those topics really funny. And the different perspectives, like Dan\'s skepticism, kept it from feeling preachy—⬇ 5d

BarbaraJean (Cont\'d) instead, it was just a part of life that kids wondered a lot about. What struck me about all the church/God elements is how those might have been viewed at the time. There are a lot of unflattering anecdotes about ministers, and conversations that might have been seen as irreverent at that time—and LMM was engaged to a minister! I kind of love reading it with that in mind, knowing that LMM wasn\'t afraid to poke fun at the institution! 5d

Seabreeze_Reader I was partially viewing it in comparison to Anne of Green Gables which ended up being a more popular book. In Anne religious beliefs were also integral to the story but it just seemed more balanced. Yes, it\'s probably not fair to compare books but one cannot help it sometimes. 🙂 5d

BarbaraJean @Seabreeze_Reader Haha, as I was typing my comment that it was realistic for the time, I actually thought to myself: \“but it\'s not all over the place in Anne like it is in Story Girl...\“ 😂 I love the way Anne talks about faith, too--her comments on wanting to \“just FEEL a prayer\“ out among the trees, and her very on-point critiques about people whose prayers sound like they don\'t actually mean it. With Anne those comments flow more naturally. 5d

kwmg40 As I non-religious person, I did not find the depiction of religion heavy handed. In fact, I thought LMM was good at showing different interpretations of and reactions to religious beliefs, including skepticism of traditional teachings. Also, as others had mentioned, this novel seemed very much a product of its time and I felt I should read it in that context. 4d

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BarbaraJean

The Story Girl | L. M. Montgomery

The Story Girl Discussion, Chapters 1-16
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

This is a very episodic book, with an ensemble cast rather than a central character (despite the title!)—which episodes, stories, or characters have you particularly enjoyed so far?

What connections do you see between this and LMM‘s other work (or connections to her life)?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Seabreeze_Reader

rubyslippersreads I reread this a couple of years ago, and what I liked were the family stories, because they reminded me of Emily of New Moon, with all the legends about the Murrays. 2w

TheAromaofBooks Once again, LMM's passion for places/home comes through in this story. While it's definitely about the children and their adventures, in some ways the “old King homestead“ is the center of story. The descriptions of the orchard, the barn, the house, and the way the Story Girl's stories weave around it are what make this book work for me. 2w

lauraisntwilder LMM got a lot of mileage out of that blue trunk! 2w

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BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads Yes, the family lore is such a strong connection here & in Emily of New Moon. It's fascinating to me how many family stories from LMM's own family were used in her fiction. And what great stories they are! @lauraisntwilder She repurposes so many stories/objects from her life! @TheAromaofBooks Yes, definitely. Reading this after reading how she modeled Carlisle after Cavendish really emphasized to me how much she loved her home. 2w

kwmg40 While the Story Girl is quite different from Anne in many ways, I felt that they both recognized the power of imagination. The Story Girl used it to mesmerize her friends while Anne used it to reshape her own life. 2w

BarbaraJean @kwmg40 I love that idea of Anne using imagination to reshape her own life! And the Story Girl really does bring so much joy and comfort to the group of friends and family through the way she tells her stories. 1w

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BarbaraJean

The Story Girl | L. M. Montgomery

The Story Girl Discussion, Chapters 1-16
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

Have you read The Story Girl before, or is this your first read?

What are your initial impressions of the book? What do you like or not like?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Seabreeze_Reader

Seabreeze_Reader In years past I read part of The Story Girl but I don't recall why I didn't complete the book.
As with Anne of Green Gables, I found some of the descriptive passages about nature and the seasons to be absolutely enchanting.
One of the aspects of the story that started to get on my nerves was all the bickering and competiveness between the children, especially Dan eating more of those potentially poisonous berries out of spite for a 2nd time. (edited) 2w

BarbaraJean @Seabreeze_Reader Haha! All that bickering felt so true to life as far as sibling dynamics! And I seriously could have slapped Dan over that second time eating the berries out of spite. I totally understood the emotion behind it, though--Felicity was infuriatingly condescending to him. (I had to laugh at Uncle Roger's comment that if she wasn't careful she'd grow up to be a woman who drove her husband to drink 😂) 2w

TheAromaofBooks I've always felt rather ambivalent towards The Story Girl. I read it every few years, but it's not one of my favorites. There's a sort of bittersweet/nostalgic undertone, I think because Bev is theoretically now an old man narrating about his past. However, the characters always feel realistic to me. I always feel bad for Sara Ray, but honestly I've also known people just like her 😂 2w

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lauraisntwilder This is my first time reading it. My first impression, I hate to admit, has a lot to do with how different it is from "The Road to Avonlea" TV show. I grew up on that show and hoped this would feel like revisiting those characters. It took me a while to adjust! 2w

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I feel the same--so many of the children's antics are funny and endearing, but I can kind of take it or leave it. I think this one falls into that pattern we identified of being vs. doing. Story Girl is so episodic, like Anne of Avonlea or Rainbow Valley, and the characters are realistic but pretty static. Poor Sara Ray!! 😂 2w

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Hahaha! I didn't know about the Road to Avonlea show until people mentioned it on our first Kindred Spirits read a couple years ago, so I experienced them in the opposite order. I checked out some of the Road to Avonlea DVDs from the library and was distracted by how many of the stories were re-contextualized to include Marilla and Mrs. Lynde! I should go back and watch the rest one of these days. 2w

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean Yes! Imagine my surprise when I finally read all the Anne books and Marilla and Rachel stop being mentioned less than halfway through the series. 2w

kwmg40 I'd not read this one before and it felt quite different from the Anne stories. At first, I found the characters not as likeable as the Avonlea characters but later appreciated that they seemed much more realistic. The nostalgic voice of the narrator also gave the novel a melancholy but sweet tone. 2w

BarbaraJean @kwmg40 I feel the same way about these characters--Anne and the other Avonlea characters are much more likable! The first time I read this, I was much more annoyed with the sibling squabbles and Sara Ray\'s tears... but this time, like you, I appreciated the realism there. The Dan/Felicity fights were so relatable, honestly!! 1w

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BarbaraJean

The Story Girl | L. M. Montgomery

Things I have recently googled while reading The Story Girl:
👒Leghorn hat
🍷Wine-glass pulpit
❓Drugget

The last one of these reminds me of an idea I came across recently: having a fabric sample glossary at the back of the book!

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

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BarbaraJean

The Story Girl | L. M. Montgomery

“He never goes anywhere except to church. He just stays home and reads books when he isn‘t working. Mother says he is a perfect hermit.”
—Felicity King, discussing the Awkward Man

I knew I liked the Awkward Man.

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Seabreeze_Reader

rubyslippersreads A kindred spirit indeed. 2w

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BarbaraJean

The Story Girl | L. M. Montgomery

A reminder that we‘ll be discussing the first half of The Story Girl (chapters 1-16) on Saturday. I‘m excited to revisit this book that L.M. Montgomery found such delight in writing!

All are welcome—let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be! #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, Seabreeze_Reader

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Seabreeze_Reader

September | Rosamunde Pilcher

My #SeptemberTBR isn't a long list but fits well with my current #moodreading.🍁

#Autumn #MountTBR #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread @BarbaraJean

Seabreeze_Reader Well, I after a few chapters, I already bailed on September. Maybe it's just a timing thing but I couldn't get into the story at all. 3w

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