nanceoir's review against another edition
4.0
It's been ages since I've read the bulk of these stories in The Road to Yesterday, so I can't speak to how much they were re-adapted for that book, but they're still fun stories, if occasionally mind-blowing. (I'm sorry, but it's still such a strange thing to think of Anne and Gilbert in their mid-to-late 70s!) The poetry's not my favorite thing, but that's just because I'm not a big poetry reader; however, the vignettes are really great. I love the glimpses into Ingleside life, of them not doing much but sitting around reading and talking; it makes you feel like you're part of the family, almost.
liliales's review
3.0
This could maybe have been edited into something pretty good. I appreciate the experimental format. In reading the afterword, one comes to understand why it was not much edited, but I think that should have been in the foreword, instead. Besides the inconsistencies that would have been worked out during a standard editing process, a reworking of some of the stories is needed, and the continual references to the awesome or awful Blythes could have been managed more smoothly, though of course there was no need for about 90% of them. People very often tell each other what Susan Baker says, but we don’t usually have any idea why they’d know her or have her patter memorized. In one case, the people quoting her live twenty miles away, which was a rather fair distance 100 years ago when the story was set.
Even though most of the poetry isn't very good, I had no problem with its inclusion, mainly because it was intended to appear as though Anne and Walter wrote it, and no matter how good a poet is, not every poem he or she writes will be a complete gem. These poems have a real poignancy as they are tied to the commentary that follows, and that commentary forms the best part of the book. And some of them do have a real poetic spark, which is nice to come upon.
People who find this book darker than the rest, well, I think maybe they don't fully remember the rest, beyond the first book. There's darkness and something a bit sensational in nearly everything Montgomery wrote. But there is a weary bitterness to these stories not found in most of the others. Her final note indicates her disappointment with herself and the belief that she hasn't succeeded with it or with her current state of being. Well, suppose she'd gone on to live through the reshaping of this book. She'd have left with something rather finer. But she was unable to do so, for reasons that are wholly her own, and so while I understand the editor's desire to respect her final effort, my respect would have led me to annotate the inconsistencies which are not uncommon in a long writing career, and also to have lightly reshaped this into something that showed more strongly Montgomery's clear disappointment with the world not having learned any lasting lessons after the Great War. Most of us would not ask for our wholly unedited manuscripts to stand as our final life testament, I think.
Even though most of the poetry isn't very good, I had no problem with its inclusion, mainly because it was intended to appear as though Anne and Walter wrote it, and no matter how good a poet is, not every poem he or she writes will be a complete gem. These poems have a real poignancy as they are tied to the commentary that follows, and that commentary forms the best part of the book. And some of them do have a real poetic spark, which is nice to come upon.
People who find this book darker than the rest, well, I think maybe they don't fully remember the rest, beyond the first book. There's darkness and something a bit sensational in nearly everything Montgomery wrote. But there is a weary bitterness to these stories not found in most of the others. Her final note indicates her disappointment with herself and the belief that she hasn't succeeded with it or with her current state of being. Well, suppose she'd gone on to live through the reshaping of this book. She'd have left with something rather finer. But she was unable to do so, for reasons that are wholly her own, and so while I understand the editor's desire to respect her final effort, my respect would have led me to annotate the inconsistencies which are not uncommon in a long writing career, and also to have lightly reshaped this into something that showed more strongly Montgomery's clear disappointment with the world not having learned any lasting lessons after the Great War. Most of us would not ask for our wholly unedited manuscripts to stand as our final life testament, I think.
aminowrimo's review
4.0
So much darker than the rest of the series. There were definitely stories here that I had to stop and pause before reading, since there are themes of misogyny and hatred in some of them. Others are the sort of adorable falling in love stories that I love from Montgomery. One was quite iffy for me though;
The Pot and the Kettle.
Favorites:
* Some Fools and a Saint : Wow, is this one fascinating.
* The Twins Pretend was quite adorable.
* Fancy's Fool was ghostly and cute, and I liked the fact that Dr. Gilbert Blythe finally was right about a couple.
* A Dream Comes True was hilarious.
* The Cheated Child was beautiful. A very poignant story with elements of pride and wistfulness.
* Fool's Errand was also cute, though I would have liked more emotion to it.
* The Road to Yesterday
The Pot and the Kettle.
Spoiler
On first reading it I thought he'd concocted the whole scheme to marry her for her money; but it seems maybe he saw her, fell in love at first sight, and then concocted a scheme to make sure she'd marry him anyway? Unclear.Favorites:
* Some Fools and a Saint : Wow, is this one fascinating.
Spoiler
I don't think I've seen this much hatred in a story since maybe East of Eden? But that's one of my rereads. I loved this story, even though it gave me the chills.* The Twins Pretend was quite adorable.
* Fancy's Fool was ghostly and cute, and I liked the fact that Dr. Gilbert Blythe finally was right about a couple.
* A Dream Comes True was hilarious.
* The Cheated Child was beautiful. A very poignant story with elements of pride and wistfulness.
* Fool's Errand was also cute, though I would have liked more emotion to it.
* The Road to Yesterday
diptiramblesaboutbooks's review
4.0
I'm so glad I finally got to read Anne and Walter's poems, and even though the short stories without Anne had to be tolerated at times, they were really interesting, and it was such a pleasure reading them. I'm really glad this book was published at long last. :)
salo1996's review
2.0
The title is suitable because the Blythes are sometimes quoted in a series of short-stories that I couldn't care less about.
This book receives 2 (and not 1) stars because of the beautiful poems attributed to Anne and Walter Blythe. And even them get, more often then not, ruined because of the comments of Susan Baker (which confirms me my queer dislike of the character).
I am disappointed...
This book receives 2 (and not 1) stars because of the beautiful poems attributed to Anne and Walter Blythe. And even them get, more often then not, ruined because of the comments of Susan Baker (which confirms me my queer dislike of the character).
I am disappointed...
katiewhocanread's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, War, and Violence
Moderate: Murder and Animal cruelty
Minor: Murder and Pregnancy
drewanabri's review
4.0
Absolutely fascinating from a historical and philosophical perspective, but pretty bad from a literary perspective.
While reading an LMM biography, I discovered there was a book by her I hadn't read yet, so I immediately rushed to pick it up. This book provides a lot of insight into LMM's state of mind before her death, and it's interesting to see the author grapple with themes of infidelity, insanity, death, war, and disability.
I also enjoyed just how tiresome all the constant references to the Blythes were. By the fifth or sixth time a person randomly mentions an unrelated Blythe anecdote in a 30-second conversation, I really started to sympathize with just how much LMM wanted people to shut up about Anne and quit bugging her for sequels.
However, I did find that this book wasn't really fun to read in the way all other LMM novels are. The fact that it was an unfinished text is clear, since it really could've benefited from hefty editing. The "book" feels choppy and disjointed, with the stories being shoved randomly next to poems that don't have similar themes. All the shoehorned in Blythe bits are clunky, the poems are not that good (sorry LMM, but I've always felt you should've stuck to prose), and many of the stories contain highly disturbing approaches to consent. I've always enjoyed how quietly feminist her works were, but in these stories, we have multiple dudes tricking women into marriage, telling the woman they're getting married instead of asking, and even physically kidnapping women into marriage.
Ultimately, I recommend this if you're interested in LMM's life, publishing history, and personal approach to writing. However, if you want to relax with a cup of tea and read some charming, humorous stories, this isn't the book for you.
While reading an LMM biography, I discovered there was a book by her I hadn't read yet, so I immediately rushed to pick it up. This book provides a lot of insight into LMM's state of mind before her death, and it's interesting to see the author grapple with themes of infidelity, insanity, death, war, and disability.
I also enjoyed just how tiresome all the constant references to the Blythes were. By the fifth or sixth time a person randomly mentions an unrelated Blythe anecdote in a 30-second conversation, I really started to sympathize with just how much LMM wanted people to shut up about Anne and quit bugging her for sequels.
However, I did find that this book wasn't really fun to read in the way all other LMM novels are. The fact that it was an unfinished text is clear, since it really could've benefited from hefty editing. The "book" feels choppy and disjointed, with the stories being shoved randomly next to poems that don't have similar themes. All the shoehorned in Blythe bits are clunky, the poems are not that good (sorry LMM, but I've always felt you should've stuck to prose), and many of the stories contain highly disturbing approaches to consent. I've always enjoyed how quietly feminist her works were, but in these stories, we have multiple dudes tricking women into marriage, telling the woman they're getting married instead of asking, and even physically kidnapping women into marriage.
Ultimately, I recommend this if you're interested in LMM's life, publishing history, and personal approach to writing. However, if you want to relax with a cup of tea and read some charming, humorous stories, this isn't the book for you.
bookswithpetra's review
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
readingthethings's review against another edition
4.0
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.──
What! These stories are EXCELLENT. I loved “A Commonplace Woman” the most. DARING AND INTERESTING. Also the poem “The Aftermath” by Walter.
Apparently Montgomery delivered this collection to her publisher the day before she died — which says to me she figured the world wouldn’t be ready for it until she was gone. And it WASN’T. It was ignored for thirty years, then someone abridged it and cut out all the parts they didn’t like and came up with their own order for the stories, and published it that way ([b:The Road to Yesterday|8137|The Road to Yesterday (Anne of Green Gables)|L.M. Montgomery|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1357465163l/8137._SY75_.jpg|166374]).
The original, as Montgomery intended it to be read, wasn’t published until seven years ago! And it is weird and excellent, and filled with themes of gossip as power, and dark themes like sex and adultery and murder, and this is periodically juxtaposed against quiet conversations between the Blythe family responding to the effects of war and the loss of their son. It’s a really uncomfortable arrangement which makes it very, very interesting to read. And the stories themselves are piping good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
༊*·˚ this book is on my list of books i highly recommend
What! These stories are EXCELLENT. I loved “A Commonplace Woman” the most. DARING AND INTERESTING. Also the poem “The Aftermath” by Walter.
Apparently Montgomery delivered this collection to her publisher the day before she died — which says to me she figured the world wouldn’t be ready for it until she was gone. And it WASN’T. It was ignored for thirty years, then someone abridged it and cut out all the parts they didn’t like and came up with their own order for the stories, and published it that way ([b:The Road to Yesterday|8137|The Road to Yesterday (Anne of Green Gables)|L.M. Montgomery|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1357465163l/8137._SY75_.jpg|166374]).
The original, as Montgomery intended it to be read, wasn’t published until seven years ago! And it is weird and excellent, and filled with themes of gossip as power, and dark themes like sex and adultery and murder, and this is periodically juxtaposed against quiet conversations between the Blythe family responding to the effects of war and the loss of their son. It’s a really uncomfortable arrangement which makes it very, very interesting to read. And the stories themselves are piping good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
༊*·˚ this book is on my list of books i highly recommend