Monday, March 3, 2014

Musing Mondays - March 3

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

My Musing:




Today, I am spreading the word about a new book for lovers of Anne of Green Gables. In Anne's World, Irene Gammel, a professor and Canada Research Chair in Modern Literature and Culture in the Department of English at Ryerson University, and Benjamin Lefebvre, who has held postdoctoral visiting fellowships at the University of Alberta, the University of Worcester, and the University of Prince Edward Island, prove there are startling new facets to uncover about Lucy Maud Montgomery's feisty, imaginative red-headed orphan: her disabilities and her creator's depression; her modern fashions and her ruthless tourism; her long archival life in libraries and her postmodern digital presence.

This seems similar to some degree to Little House, Long Shadow by Anita Clare Fellman, which discussed Laura Ingalls Wilder's impact on American Culture. You can read my chapter discussions of this book at http://lauralittlehouseontheprairie.blogspot.com/2014/01/little-house-long-shadow-book.html

Both Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne Shirley are characters from my childhood. One thing that has always fascinated me about the two is that one is a fictional character and the other is a real person brought to life through children's fiction, but that they both remain popular today, decades after readers were first introduced to them. Laura and Anne have similar qualities: both are impulsive and feisty, both get into their share of trouble, neither girl liked her appearance much.

The essays featured in Anne's World cover such topics as:

  • How Anne of Green Gables Became a Candian Icon,
  • Feminist Narrative Ethics in Anne of Green Gables,
  • Re-reading Anne of Green Gables through a Clinical Approach,
  • Learning with Anne: Early Childhodd Education Looks at New Media for Young Girls,
and more.

Does this book sound interesting to you? I'm thinking of picking it up soon.

5 comments:

JC Jones said...

I never read either one as a child or an adult. I was too busy going into space through my books. That may be why I made my living as a pilot. That was as close as I could get to space travel.

Anonymous said...

Interesting! I really enjoyed the first Green Gables book, although I never got too caught up in the rest of them. I'll keep this in mind!

Gigi Ann said...

I'm not sure this book would interest me, however, I loved the Anne with an 'e' stories. I also loved the movies based on Anne of Green Gables. It is one of very few movies that I can watch over and over. I never read any of the Wilder books, but again I did watch the TV show years ago based on her books.

Anonymous said...

I read the whole series of Anne of Green Gables as a child and passed the love onto my daughter who did the same. I also loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books but my daughter pointed out the author's surname was a huge spoiler! Thanks for a great post.

Cheryl said...

Thanks for stopping by, everyone. BMM, I actually enjoyed the small screen version of the first three titles as opposed to the books. I felt how they handled Anne'a relationship with Gilbert and Morgan Harris in the movies played out better than how Montgomery plotted it out.

Cleopatra, I never even thought of that point. Your daughter is very smart.

Thanks again for the comments.