savageknight 's review for:

The Blythes Are Quoted by L.M. Montgomery

3.0

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This newly-discovered final book by LM Montgomery is certainly a little... bizarre. I find it was an interesting experiment for her - bringing together various tales of certain citizens of Glenn St. Mary's interspersed with poems and reflections by Anne and Walter with some minor commentary by the rest of the family. But... where's the "catch"? Where's the hook that pulls you in and makes you want to care about the characters and what's going on? The one thing all the stories have in common is the constant referrals to the Blythes (hence the title of the book). Seriously, though... it becomes too much. Anyone who has had to put up with kids/ friends/ colleagues who are constantly saying things like "well HE/SHE said this" or "HE/SHE said that" on a daily basis knows how insane it can quickly become.[return][return]Unlike some of the characters who -constantly faced with that type of comment about the Blythes- shouted "I don't care what they say/think!" I could only shrug my shoulders and think how all those links-back to the Blythes was unneccessary. [return][return]The short stories themselves ranged from cute/ entertaining to downright morose/ depressing. I believe this is what has made the majority of the scholars gasp at. That someone like LM could concievably become so depressed later in life that she would stoop to "spoil" the world of Anne with such petty and vindictive human emotions and failings.[return][return]Anne and her family is what I really cared about and wanted to know more of. This book, outside of giving us glimpses of Anne and Walter's poetry and some of the emotional turmoil they are going through does not do much to advance that (outside of hints of how further along in time the stories take place as we're entering WW II and Anne's kids have kids...)[return][return]In the end, it was an "okay" read.