Bookstore on My Mind. | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Bookstore on My Mind.

LRK

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Nov 13, 2012
I'm in the same - or similar - boat with Olympia - and since she used the words "warm to", I suspect for similar reasons. For my part, I never felt as emotionally connected to Emily as I did to Anne. I was interested in Emily, and they were well-written books - but I loved Anne.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I'm in the same - or similar - boat with Olympia - and since she used the words "warm to", I suspect for similar reasons. For my part, I never felt as emotionally connected to Emily as I did to Anne. I was interested in Emily, and they were well-written books - but I loved Anne.

That's it, LRK. I just didn't feel the connection to Emily, and I so wanted to, especially after Madeleine L'Engle's endorsement. It's been awhile since I read the Emily books, so I can't give more detail than that about my less than ardent feelings for them, but the lack of emotional pull gives a general impression of my reasons.
 

skatedreamer

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Feb 18, 2014
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I would agree that there's something about Anne that tugs at the heartstrings in a very special way. She's certainly my favorite of LMM's heroines but I still love Emily, too. :)

Just remembered (correctly??) one of the best lines from Green Gables: "Isn't it wonderful that tomorrow is a brand-new day with no mistakes in it?"
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Oh, boy! Thanks for the heads-up, Doris!

I have read the Road to Yesterday but didn't know about the Blythes book. I will look out for it.

I think it was Bantam that published a whole heap of Montgomery books a few years back--things like Jane of Lantern Hill as well as Rilla of Ingleside and Rainbow Valley. Bless them! I suspect that the popularity of the TV series was the impetus, so even though it wasn't a favorite of mine, I was grateful to it.

The neat thing about the Anne stories is that one can reread them as adults (as one can Alcott's books) and still find them interesting. I think it would even be possible to encounter them for the first time as an adult reader and enjoy them, which isn't really true of many other books for young readers. Pollyanna, for example, isn't rewarding to read on a deeper level, though it is charming in its way.
 

dorispulaski

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I agree-I watched my husband and his friend Jimmy start watching Anne about 4 years ago in the Canadian Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla version. It came on with all the episodes through Gilbert's terrible illness run one after the other, and they couldn't stop watching.


Ski went back to read the first book of the series. As an older person discovering Anne of Green Gables, he found Marilla much more engrossing a character than Anne. And I must say, I too appreciate Marilla much more now that I am older.
 
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LRK

Record Breaker
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Nov 13, 2012
Thanks, Doris! I too have read "The Road to Yesterday", but didn't know about this book, or what it was. I think I've always loved Marilla... :)

Have any of you seen the Road to Avonlea series? It's definitely more "inspired by" than "based on", and they mix in and up all kind of things... actually, I think it got better the less they tried to base it directly on the books. Which may sound strange, but, they used many of the "Chronicles of Avonlea" short stories at first - sometimes they worked, but sometimes, they didn't quite fit with the characters they... used them on, or how should I put it. But still, a series I really enjoyed. Oh, yes, and also mixed in, of course are "The Story Girl" and "The Golden Road" - or some characters therefrom. Again much more "inspired by" than "based on".
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I agree-I watched my husband and his friend Jimmy start watching Anne about 4 years ago in the Canadian Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla version. It came on with all the episodes through Gilbert's terrible illness run one after the other, and they couldn't stop watching.


Ski went back to read the first book of the series. As an older person discovering Anne of Green Gables, he found Marilla much more engrossing a character than Anne. And I must say, I too appreciate Marilla much more now that I am older.

That's the thing about Montgomery. Her writing gave each character weight, so that on different readings (or at different ages), one could focus on different characters. I think that this is one of the signs of a good writer: that the subsidiary characters have a richness and dimensions and aren't just orbiting the main characters. Marilla is wonderful, as is Mrs. Rachel Lynde (a favorite of mine) and Rebecca Dew and countless others. One of my favorite aspects of Anne of Ingleside is that each of the children gets at least one chapter of "stardom." They're not just part of the scenery.

In the Canadian film, I loved Colleen Dewhurst. I think she was the perfect Marilla: strong but with warmth underneath. And I adored Richard Farnsworth as Matthew. He must surely be one of the sweetest "real guy" actors ever.
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Have you seen The Straight Story? He was wonderful in that.
 

BusyMom

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Jan 10, 2014
UNESCO's World Book Capital : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Book_Capital

I found it amusing because my city, Bangkok, got the honour in 2013. In all UNESCO's researches regarding world literacy, Thailand always get the worst reviews. When I was in high school, their research showed that in general Thai people reading only 12 sentences a year. 5 years ago it dropped to 8 sentences. In 2013 in which they honour us the tiltle, big decline, we only read 4 sentences a year.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20121210-bangkok-becomes-the-2013-world-book-capital
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-...ignated_world_book_capital_2013/#.U66cJRdZpjo
 

BusyMom

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Jan 10, 2014
Just the thought of seeing all those book temples gives me delight!
:agree: Seeing some of their photos gave me a goose bumps. Keeping up all those books in good condition must be a massive works.

Not just for books but also arts too. I read so many news about European Museums got in so much trouble with crowded tourists this summer. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/29/a...training-under-weight-of-popularity.html?_r=0
Well...at least there will be more profit for the maintenances. :biggrin:
 

skatedreamer

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Feb 18, 2014
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This is a piece that appeared in the NY Times a few weeks ago about a new independent -- yes, independent -- bookstore that's opening in my neighborhood. What really warms the cockles of my heart is that the owner cleaned out his retirement savings to help cover the cost of the lease. Now, that's what I call a book lover (not to mention a guy after my own heart :love:)!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/n...-booksellers-on-the-upper-west-side.html?_r=0
 
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