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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
Re-reading Emily of New Moon is a decision I will never regret!
[b:Emily of New Moon|3562|Emily of New Moon (Emily, #1)|L.M. Montgomery|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563899327l/3562._SY75_.jpg|1223124] is often compared to [b:Anne of Green Gables|8127|Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)|L.M. Montgomery|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1615094578l/8127._SY75_.jpg|3464264] written by the same author, [a:L.M. Montgomery|5350|L.M. Montgomery|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1188896723p2/5350.jpg], but these comparisons do not do justice to Emily. Emily is far underrated in my opinion. I may be blaspheming at this very moment but I think Emily, might now even be my favorite fictional book character of all time and has risen a little above Anne for me.
To review this book is not possible but I can go on about Emily's character. I think I connected with her because I saw so much of me in her. Books are her friends and she loves her own company. I am in awe of her maturity (for a twelve year old), her perceptions of the world and her drive. To have such a female character written about in the 1920's is commendable. It speaks volumes of Montgomery's own personality as it is known that she based Emily from her own experiences and thoughts.
The kind of peace and bliss I felt after reading this book is indescribable. I wish young girls all over the world get a chance to come across Emily for they will learn a lot.
I found a lot of it quite sad - Emily's relations are very unfeeling toward Emily or her pain, and have little to no censoring of their opinions or how that may affect her. Her Aunt Laura loves her but is not the head of the house and has to defer in many cases to Aunt Elizabeth who is much harsher and less compassionate towards Emily and doesn't let on that she loves the girl at all until near the very end of the book. Love is a much more complicated issue in this book whereas I felt it was always very clear that Marilla and Matthew loved Anne even if they didn't always let her have her way it wasn't out of desire to hurt her, whereas in the case of Emily's relations I didn't get the same feelings. With the Anne books Marilla was always very no nonsense, sensible, down to earth type, and she steadied Anne's flighty nature while not squashing her ambitions or dreams, Aunt Elizabeth does so on several occasions. She is highly critical of Emily's writing and wanting to be a poetess/author and forbids her to write at all, and reads her things without permission. I guess one could almost say that AoGG is the ideal while Emily may be more the reality most will face. The adults of Emily's world seem much harsher and not as welcoming as the adults of Anne's.
Emily herself is a very interesting character. She's not quite as romantic as Anne, but she is imaginative and creative which I enjoyed. Her friends and adventures are fun and amusing, though there seems to always be a sort of underlining sorrow/solemnity to things. Teddy is a sweet boy who draws wonderfully well and is kind to Emily, but his mother drowns his cats because she doesn't want him to love anything more than her. Perry is a spunky boy who defends Emily and sticks up for her, but his Aunt Tom threatens Emily to marry him or she won't pay for his schooling. Ilse is brave and bold and defends Emily as well as befriends her, but she's argumentative and her father is cold and detached from his daughter because his wife ran away from them. It just seems like there's always this undercurrent of sadness in everything in the book.
I'm not sure, I think it's hard to not compare the two books as they both deal with orphans who are dreamers and writers and are similar in many ways. It's a decent enough read, if not my favorite of Montgomery's work so far.
Ho potuto apprezzare la prosa fresca e spontanea della mia amata Montgomery, i vari refusi fatti dalla piccola protagonista, il dialetto strascicato del vecchio Kelly, i battibecchi feroci tra le due amiche e le (interminabili) descrizioni di luoghi e fantasticherie.
Letto con le mie compagne di lettura e ricamo @beapog75 e @pestemary, completeremo sicuramente la trilogia.
“Stars are prismatic. Palpitating. Elusive. It is not often we find one made flesh and blood.”
“To love is easy and therefore common, but to understand, how rare it is.”
“If it’s in you to climb you must. There are those who must lift their eyes to the hills: they can’t breathe properly in the valleys.”
