Emily Climbs: Emily Byrd Starr, #2 -- L. M. Montgomery

Leave it to L. M. Montgomery herself to explain why I love her -- and her creations -- so very much:

It was not, of course, a proper thing to do.  But then I have never pretended, nor ever will pretend, that Emily was a proper child.  Books are not written about proper children.  They would be so dull nobody would read them.

All of her friends are going away to Shrewsbury High School, and it looks like she's going to be left behind at New Moon.  But then she makes a difficult and heart-breaking deal with Aunt Elizabeth -- Emily will be allowed to go to school for three years if she vows to write no fiction at all during that time.

Emily Climbs follows our Miss Starr as she grows up (from almost-fourteen to seventeen) and begins to find her place in the world.  As you'd expect from a Montgomery heroine, she gets into scrape after scrape; despairs on occasion but always eventually throws her shoulders back, dusts herself off and tries again; is hounded by unfair gossip; discovers romance; saves at least one small child; and is occasionally is aided by the most unlikely people.  And as you'd expect from a Montgomery heroine, ultimately, she triumphs over all adversity.

Just like last time, I dog-eared practically the whole book.  Which of course, ended up being less-than-helpful.  But, for me, some of the highlights:

• Emily's musings on words and writing:  "Big words are never beautiful--'incriminating'--'obstreperous'--'international'--'unconstitutional'.  They make me think of those horrible big dahlias and chrysanthemums Cousin Jimmy took me to see at the exhibition in Charlottetown last fall."

• Her three-page diary entry refuting a city slicker's claim that nothing ever happens in Blair Water: "...Elder McCloskey, who thought it wouldn't do to say 'pants' in a story he was telling about a missionary, at prayer-meeting, so always said politely 'the clothes of his lower parts'..."

• The narrator's voice -- I quoted a bit earlier, but there are many other asides to the reader ("Remember that I am only Emily's biographer, not her apologist."), and I loved them all.

• Emily's adventures (of course), which I will not list because if you've read it, you'll remember and if you haven't, you should. 

• The fact that I came around about Teddy very early on.  I was so surprised by my abrupt emotional about-face, but there it is.  I rather love him now.  He and Emily totally belong together.  As do Ilse and Perry.  And I will be Very Put Out if it doesn't All Work Out.  I continue to be completely skeeved out by Dean.  AND HE'S A JERK ABOUT EMILY'S WRITING, ALL CONDESCENDING AND NOT WANTING HER TO SUCCEED.  I hadn't thought about it much until now, but I rather hate him.  Hence my use of the Caps Lock key.  Sorry about that.

• The Cousin Andrew plotline.

• OH MY GOD EMILY'S INADVERTENT EAVESDROPPING ON MRS. ANN CYRILLA AND MISS BEULAH POTTER!!!  I ALMOST DIED LAUGHING.  (Do you think LMM left the 'e' off of Mrs. Cyrilla's name because she's so horrible?)

• Emily and Aunt Ruth's relationship.

• Everything about the Perry and Emily alone at night misunderstanding, the Emily kissing a man on the street misunderstanding, and every other misunderstanding (and there are many) and embarrassment she endures.  Poor girl.  I certainly cringed with her, but never so much that I stopped enjoying myself.  I guess that this all falls under "Emily's adventures", but there are so many that it's worth mentioning twice.

• Horrible Evelyn Blake and the fact that Emily can be very catty.  "Evelyn is wearing her hair in the new pompadour style this year and I think it is very unbecoming to her.  But then, of course, the only part of Evelyn's anatomy I like is her back."

• The fact that Emily is a snob.  And that Ilse calls Emily on it.

• Emily's reason for feeling sorry for Evelyn Blake's failed exams.

• Miss Royal's interview.  I died.  Many times over.  Seriously.

• The beautiful parallel bits at the beginning and end:  Emily's first inkling of her feelings for Teddy early on in the graveyard, and her more breathtaking and so-gorgeous-it-hurts realization during the blizzard of just how much her feelings for him have deepened.  I love Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe, but nothing in their courtship -- not even the night that Anne thinks Gil is going to die -- touches this. 

I just requested a copy of Book #3 via BookMooch, but it'll be a while before it gets here.  Sad.

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Previously:

1. Emily of New Moon

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I read this book for the L. M. Montgomery mini-challenge.  My challenge post is here.

Comments

[babs]

If you think you are skeeved by Dean Priest now, just wait until the third one. Okay, maybe not helpful, but 'tis true.

I think Emily Climbs is my favorite one of the LMM Emily books. Seems to hold together better than one and three.

As for the deepening of the relationship between Teddy and Emily, I think I agree with you slightly. But, the scenes in the miniseries with Anne and Gilbert on the bridge, when he proposes twice, is up there on my romantical moments on tv.

[Noel]

Oh yes, I am an Emily girl all the way. I even wrote a letter from myself (age 14) to myself (age 24). Should be an interesting read...

I read this essay, on Montgomery forcing all of her characters to end up in happily-ever-after marriages, instead of being true to their callings. But I say to hades with anti-Victorianism. When did being conventional become so hideous? What is decreed must be, and be Emily+Teddy so.

[web]

Oh, you have some suffering in store in book three! Enjoy.

[Sarah]

I'm so glad you're enjoying Emily Climbs. Reading your review reminds me of just how much I love the Emily books. On the off chance that you are, as I am, someone geeky enough to read literary criticism for fun, I'm going to recommend "The Fragrance of Sweetgrass" by Elizabeth Rollins Epperly (professor at University of Prince Edward Island when she wrote it). She's written essays about most of Montgomery's works and she had some fascinating things to say about Emily that got me thinking... just thought I'd mention it

[Kelly]

I loved Anne of course, but never read the Emily series. It sounds wonderful, and what an AWESOME review!

[Janssen]

I love this series so very very much. I probably read it five times when I was younger. Time to break them out again.

[beth]

I just want you to know that I found the entire trilogy at the flea market last week.

I forced my husband to buy them for me ON THE SPOT.

They were priced at $6. My husband felt they were overpriced.

"I don't care what they're priced at," I said, "PAY IT. Bookshelves of Doom told me to read these books and I WILL."

[barbara]

$6 for a trilogy is not bad. I think each one was about $6 when they came out, so that's less than half off.

Of course, I found the middle one at a library sale (it's old), so I had to buy the last one even though I have a copy in PA. Probably one of the rare times I've ever bought a book twice.

[Shoshana]

I just found the letter I wrote to myself at age 11 to age 21 (I wrote it right after I read Emily Climbs). It's hilarious. I address myself as "oh, dear 21" a lot, and think that once you're 21 you can no longer have dreams.

[Gina]

Babs beat me to it, but I have to repeat it (with a slight alteration): If you think Dean is being a jerk about Emily's writing NOW . . .

I also second what Noel said (and it sounds rather like something Ilse says in the next book!).

"The fact that I came around about Teddy very early on." Told ya. ;-)

Excellent point about Mrs. Ann-without-an-e Cyrilla! I never thought of that!

[babs]

Woo, validation from another post. I may swoon. But yes, exactly. Though the guy who plays Dean Priest in the tv show, which is Canadian of course, is like hottish.

[babs]

And the tv. show is worth watching, but different enough.

[Gina]

I'd heard there was a TV show, but I was afraid to find out what they'd done with it. I know changes always have to be made in adaptations, but I hate it when they make really drastic changes *cough*RoadtoAvonlea*cough*. But this one was good, huh?

[Aljay]

'Emily Climbs' is definitely my favourite of the three. I don't want to spoil anything, but the third had too much angst. I loathe Dean.

Still, Emily will always trump Anne in my book.

[Emily]

I love this series, and not only because my name is Emily (although that is why I picked them up in the first place). New Moon is my favorite, though. And I agree with Aljay about #3 having too much angst. Which is odd, b/c I love lots of super angsty books, but somehow Victorian + Angst doesn't work for me the way modern angst does.

[Gina]

It is very angsty. Though I hate to say it, sometimes I think that book is the clearest reflection of Montgomery's own state of mind for much of her life. When you read her journals, there's that same sense of stifling despair.

(Not to scare anyone away from it! The despair in "Emily's Quest" is at least tempered somewhat by occasional lighter moods.)

[babs]

I can't remember that much about the tv. series. I remember it being different enough that it was slightly distracting, but some of it works well. Also, I haven't read the books in years, so my memory of what's right and what's not is super hazy.

It's not as bad as the latest Anne series where she's torn between Gilbert and somebody else and Green Gables is on fire and other very, very upsetting things happen. But, nothing is. I had to watch parts of Anne of Green Gables, pt. 2 to exorcise it from my memory.

[Vongorb]

I love fiction, novels and poetry; even though I am an 'old girl'of 73 and I have just read Emmily of New Moon. These reviews will have me looking for the other books now.