Showing posts with label Rilla of Ingleside. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rilla of Ingleside. Show all posts

Monday, April 3, 2017

“I’d wish it might be spring all the time and in everybody’s heart and all our lives,”

Yep, I'm hopping aboard the "it's spring!" train. 
BECAUSE IT'S SPRING!!!!
And it's beautiful and I love it and aaaaaaah, Spring, where I can wear short sleeves outside and do school outside and be outside and outside outside outside!!!

Ahem.
No case of spring fever here, no siree.

Aaaanyway.  I want to share some beauty with you all, courtesty of L. M. Montgomery. She is a master of descriptions.

1. Anne of Green Gables
Marilla, walking home one late April evening from an Aid meeting, realized that the winter was over and gone with the thrill of delight that spring never fails to bring to the oldest and saddest as well as to the youngest and merriest. Marilla was not given to subjective analysis of her thoughts and feelings. She probably imagined that she was thinking about the Aids and their missionary box and the new carpet for the vestry room, but under these reflections was a harmonious consciousness of red fields smoking into pale-purply mists in the declining sun, of long, sharp-pointed fir shadows falling over the meadow beyond the brook, of still, crimson-budded maples around a mirrorlike wood pool, of a wakening in the world and a stir of hidden pulses under the gray sod. The spring was abroad in the land and Marilla’s sober, middle-aged step was lighter and swifter because of its deep, primal gladness.

See??? Even Marilla did not remain untouched by Spring's magic, so don't blame me. :p
(Also isn't L. M. Montgomery's sense of humour perfection? "She probably imagined that she was thinking about the Aids and their missionary box and the new carpet for the vestry room, but under these reflections was..." Haha. Oh, Marilla.)

2. Rainbow Valley
A light rain had been falling all day—a little, delicate, beautiful spring rain, that somehow seemed to hint and whisper of mayflowers and wakening violets. The harbour and the gulf and the low-lying shore fields had been dim with pearl-gray mists. But now in the evening the rain had ceased and the mists had blown out to sea. Clouds sprinkled the sky over the harbour like little fiery roses. Beyond it the hills were dark against a spendthrift splendour of daffodil and crimson. A great silvery evening star was watching over the bar. A brisk, dancing, new-sprung wind was blowing up from Rainbow Valley, resinous with the odours of fir and damp mosses.
Okay, seriously, if you didn't think that description was amazingly beautiful, I don't know how to help you. 

3. Kilmeny of the Orchard
The sunshine of a day in early spring, honey pale and honey sweet, was showering over the red brick buildings of Queenslea College and the grounds about them, throwing through the bare, budding maples and elms, delicate, evasive etchings of gold and brown on the paths, and coaxing into life the daffodils that were peering greenly and perkily up under the windows of the co-eds’ dressing-room.


A young April wind, as fresh and sweet as if it had been blowing over the fields of memory instead of through dingy streets, was purring in the tree-tops and whipping the loose tendrils of the ivy network which covered the front of the main building. It was a wind that sang of many things, but what it sang to each listener was only what was in that listener’s heart.

I don't even know what to say about this; it's pure poetry.

4. Anne of Green Gables
 Spring had come once more to Green Gables—the beautiful capricious, reluctant Canadian spring, lingering along through April and May in a succession of sweet, fresh, chilly days, with pink sunsets and miracles of resurrection and growth. The maples in Lover’s Lane were red budded and little curly ferns pushed up around the Dryad’s Bubble. Away up in the barrens, behind Mr. Silas Sloane’s place, the Mayflowers blossomed out, pink and white stars of sweetness under their brown leaves. All the school girls and boys had one golden afternoon gathering them, coming home in the clear, echoing twilight with arms and baskets full of flowery spoil.
“I’m so sorry for people who live in lands where there are no Mayflowers,” said Anne.

Aaah isn't it beautiful? You can just see what L. M. Montgomery is describing!!

5. Rilla of Ingleside
Rilla put away her diary and went out to the garden. The spring evening was very lovely. The long, green, seaward-looking glen was filled with dusk, and beyond it were meadows of sunset. The harbour was radiant, purple here, azure there, opal elsewhere. The maple grove was beginning to be misty green. Rilla looked about her with wistful eyes. Who said that spring was the joy of the year? It was the heart-break of the year. And the pale-purply mornings and the daffodil stars and the wind in the old pine were so many separate pangs of the heart-break. Would life ever be free from dread again?

"It's good to see P.E.I. twilight once more," said Walter, joining her. "I didn't really remember that the sea was so blue and the roads so red and the wood nooks so wild and fairy haunted. Yes, the fairies still abide here. I vow I could find scores of them under the violets in Rainbow Valley."

Being Rilla of Ingleside, the description is laced with tragedy. But it is oh, so beautiful.


6. Rilla of Ingleside (again)
When the bitter dawn came she rose and went to her window. Below her was a big apple-tree, a great swelling cone of rosy blossom. Walter had planted it years ago when he was a little boy. Beyond Rainbow Valley there was a cloudy shore of morning with little ripples of sunrise breaking over it. The far, cold beauty of a lingering star shone above it. Why, in this world of springtime loveliness, must hearts break?

Aaah, my heart! 


Now if you don't think L. M. Montgomery has a positive gift with words and descriptions, you are no longer welcome here. Haha. Just kidding. (Kind of) 

I hope you all are enjoying Spring, except for dear Miss Evie (for those of you who are not so fortunate as to have met that lady's acquaintance, I beg you do not think I mean her any ill will, but simply that it is not springtime where she lives :). 

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Rilla-my-Rilla


I just finished Rilla of Ingleside again.


Elisabeth, Naomi Bennet, Adellaide, (and whomever else has read it,) if you read this, please just sympathise with me for a moment.

This bit at the end of Rilla of Ingleside that describes Rilla's feelings perfectly describes my own while reading the last chapter:
"Emotion shook Rilla from head to foot. Joy--happiness--sorrow--fear--every passion that had wrung her heart in those four long years seemed to surge up in her sould for a moment as the deeps of being were stirred."

Yes. Yes, Rilla. That is how I felt whilst reading your book, such is the talent of L. M. Montgomery. 
I cried the whole time while reading the last chapter. It was Jem's homecoming that started it. Dog Monday--I was just smiling and laughing and sobbing silently. Then when Jem talks about Walter--more tears...

This book!!!


I don't know if there are words to properly describe how I feel about this book--except perhaps what I quoted already. 

I don't want to give any spoilers because seriously--I think everyone should read this book. You don't actually need to read the whole Anne series before, though it is the last book of that series. It works fine as a stand-alone, and in my opinion is the best of them all. 

I don't know if I could choose favourite parts--except that definitely the last chapter, the ending, is my favourite. As I said, I cried throughout it all--but they were mostly tears of joy. 

This book, admittedly, is sad. It's about World War I, so it has sadness connected with it. But I promise the sadness does not ruin it like sadness does in some books, and the ending is very happy. Tears of joy. I do not like books with sad endings. If it has sadness, it needs to end happily. And L. M. Montgomery did that very, very wonderfully.
(For anyone who doesn't know, L. M. Montgomery is my very favourite authouress ever.)

So. Have you read this book? If so, please feel with me. And I know you agree that it's a wonderful book, for anyone who has read it thinks so. If not: Go read it. (That is, if you enjoy such books as Anne of Green Gables or other L. M. Montgomery, or Little Women, or Jane Austen's books. If you like those old-fashioned books, I think you'll like this book.) It's--it's--indescribable. And in my opinion,
It is perfect.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Happy Valentine's Day! Favourite Couples from Literature

Valentine's Day...
To me that usually means a Valentine's Day "Tea" Party with a bunch of children and an excuse to make pink and red and heart-shaped food. The love part? Whatever. My only love life exists in reading the novels of L. M. Montgomery and Jane Austen. So for my Valentine's Day post, I'm going to present my favourite couples from literature--mostly Montgomery and Austen.
**Warning: This post will contain spoilers. Sorry.**
Note: The couples are not in order of favourite. I like them all almost equally-ish. 
"Love doesn't iver be dying, Patsy." Judy Plum, Mistress Pat, L. M. Montgomery

1. Polly Milton and Tom Shaw, An Old-Fashioned Girl 
I think these two are one of the most under-appreciated couples in literature. An Old-Fashioned Girl is such a marvelous book, yet so few people know it and love it. Polly and Tom--well, their relationship is really hard to describe in a word or anything like that. Read the book. 
2. Rilla Blythe and Kenneth Ford, Rilla of Ingleside, L. M. Montgomery

This is another under-appreciated couple. But such a sweet one. They are pretty young at the beginning of the book, but their love survives a whole WWI of separation. This book has such a sweet ending. It is probably my very favourite book ever except for being tied with Mistress Pat. Which brings me to...
3. Pat Gardiner and Hilary "Jingle" Gordon, Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat, L. M. Montgomery
Of all the literary heroes anyone ever wrote, Jingle is definitely the best (sorry Mr. Darcy, Gilbert, Mr. Rochester, whomever else...). The only problem is that too few people have read the Pat books so people don't know about him. Jingle is, I swear, perfect. I honestly cannot think of a single flaw. The only problem with Pat & Jingle's relationship is that Pat keeps putting Jingle in the "brother zone" even though he is so in love with her and never, ever gives up on her, ever, even though she dates a bunch of guys and even gets engaged. But in the end it all works out perfectly and ever-so-romantically. 
4. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Enough said? No, let me add one thing: Every time I read the book or watch the 1995 BBC Ministries (I've done each...3 times. I think.) I love it even more.  
5. Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe

Of course I have to include this couple. Everyone knows Anne and Gilbert!  I love this one. Okay, by the way, in case anyone has seen Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel and not read Anne of the Island, Gilbert doesn't actually get engaged to Christine. That's a lie. Christine was already engaged and they both knew it. Gilbert never really looked at anyone except Anne. So yeah, another case of something L. M. Montgomery really likes to do. Gilbert loved Anne the whole time; Anne hated then friend-zoned him, then she realised she loved him the whole time. *Sigh* It's quite a lovely story, really. :)
6. Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, Persuasion, Jane Austen
Love, love LOVE Persuasion. I adore Captain Wentworth. I love the ending of Persuasion. Such a wonderful love story, at least in the end. :) 
7. Kilmeny Gordon and Eric Marshall, Kilmeny of the Orchard, L. M. Montgomery
Their story is such a sweet one, but not very well-known. This novel is actually quite different from L. M. Montgomery's others. It's a wonderful book. 

I know there are so many more wonderful couples in literature, but I had to choose favourites. 
Happy Valentine's Day! 

*For a lesser known love story by L. M. Montgomery, see this Valentine's Day blog post from my other blog.