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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
This one didn’t live up to the memory I had of reading it as a tween. It was an early book of L.M.M.’s; boy takes over teaching position for sick friend, boy hears beautiful violin playing from an orchard, boy falls rump over teakettle in love with violinist, and is dismayed to find she is a fiercely protected mute girl who has hardly been out of her house since she was small. From then on it is a pitched battle as the hero seeks a way to make Kilmeny whole, and to make her his. In this one the … I don’t want to say racism; perhaps ethnocentricity is a kinder word, or xenophobia… comes out more strongly than in most. It’s a slender book, sweet (as always), and wrapped up a little too neatly (as always) – and without the depth of charm that carries off any faults in the other books.
A sweet love story. Good, but I like pretty much everything else I have read by LMM better.
It was incredibly saccharine, which is not to my taste. Also, the plot was very basic- from the book blurb, you can guess most of the important events in the story.
It was incredibly saccharine, which is not to my taste. Also, the plot was very basic- from the book blurb, you can guess most of the important events in the story.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
fast-paced
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This sweet novella about a dashing, charming hero who comes to a little town on PEI to be a substitute schoolteacher and encounters a winsome, enchanting, and innocent young lady who is mute is an old favorite. I was delighted to find it on audio narrated by Grace Conlin, a long time most enjoyable narrator.
I hadn't read it in years so details were forgotten and I enjoyed the fresh re-read as Grace Conlin voiced young and eager Eric Marshall, magical Kilmeny and the rest of the various cast.
The original novella was published in 1910 and it was interesting to see how ideas about disabilities, religion, and race stood out to me as I listened in to Eric fall in love with Kilmeny and her innocent understanding grow to love him back, but deny him his heart's desire so her muteness wouldn't be the means of holding him back when he returned to the city to help run his father's prosperous business. Kilmeny is sweet, but her mother's dark, cursed story is a caution that affected all the Gordon plan even to that moment. I adored Eric for his steadfastness and patience to win his beautiful lady through it all.
I hadn't read it in years so details were forgotten and I enjoyed the fresh re-read as Grace Conlin voiced young and eager Eric Marshall, magical Kilmeny and the rest of the various cast.
The original novella was published in 1910 and it was interesting to see how ideas about disabilities, religion, and race stood out to me as I listened in to Eric fall in love with Kilmeny and her innocent understanding grow to love him back, but deny him his heart's desire so her muteness wouldn't be the means of holding him back when he returned to the city to help run his father's prosperous business. Kilmeny is sweet, but her mother's dark, cursed story is a caution that affected all the Gordon plan even to that moment. I adored Eric for his steadfastness and patience to win his beautiful lady through it all.
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is the second book of LM Montgomery that I'm reading (first being The Blue Castle) and compared to that, Kilmeny of the Orchard just falls flat. The issue that this book has is the fact that it is deeply rooted in fantasy, quite to the point that you would never expect real human beings to act this way. Perhaps, the author wanted to show us unbridled emotions and how they would transpire in actuality but all it felt like was reading a badly done romance book where the plot was only being pushed forward by the words that the author typed out, and not quite the actual storyline. All in all, for anyone looking for something romantic or perhaps an introduction to LM Montgomery's work, I'd definitely recommend reading The Blue Castle over this one.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Junger Student – rich kid – wird von seinem Freund gebeten, die letzten 1 ½ Monate seiner Lehrtätigkeit an einer Dorfschule auf Prince Edward Island als Krankheitsvertretung zu übernehmen. Kann man ja mal machen. Ist auch genau so langweilig, wie der Freund es beschrieben hat. Bis Eric, unser Student, in einem verwilderten Obstgarten eine junge Frau antrifft, die phantastisch Geige spielt – und bei seinem Anblick sofort entflieht …
Ein typischer Liebesroman: etwas überzeichnet, etwas kitschig, seiner Zeit entsprechend sehr sittsam, ziemlich vorhersehbar – und süß. Die beteiligten Personen sind alle irgendwie liebenswert menschlich – Kilmeny ist so perfekt, wie eine jugendliche Heldin sein muss, das kann auch ihre Behinderung nicht verderben; Eric ist der Traum aller Schwiegermütter und ihrer Töchter, sogar der "Böse" (Triggerwarnung: Rassismus!) ist im Grunde seines Herzens nicht böse, sondern nur bitter enttäuscht und zieht seine Konsequenzen, als ihm das deutlich wird.
Ein typischer Liebesroman: etwas überzeichnet, etwas kitschig, seiner Zeit entsprechend sehr sittsam, ziemlich vorhersehbar – und süß. Die beteiligten Personen sind alle irgendwie liebenswert menschlich – Kilmeny ist so perfekt, wie eine jugendliche Heldin sein muss, das kann auch ihre Behinderung nicht verderben; Eric ist der Traum aller Schwiegermütter und ihrer Töchter, sogar der "Böse" (Triggerwarnung: Rassismus!) ist im Grunde seines Herzens nicht böse, sondern nur bitter enttäuscht und zieht seine Konsequenzen, als ihm das deutlich wird.
Meh. Everything thing in this book is kinda flat. Characters, predictable (and not very charming) plot, everyone is so “perfect”, Kilmeny’s main quality is how beautiful she is and how much she desires to please Eric. Eric’s main “quality” is how much he can overlook her “flaw” of muteness because she’s just so beautiful. Every man who questions his judgement in his choice of Kilmeny is quickly won over by how gorgeous she is. Very exciting stuff. Haha. Definitely my least favorite of LMM’s works.