Emily of New Moon: Read-Along: Final Discussion

Today is the final discussion of EMILY OF NEW MOON. I've enjoyed this sweet story so much and I've enjoyed discussing it with Amber on her blog Seasons Of Humility. Amber was our hostess with the mostest and did a great job of coming up with questions for the chapters each week and I also loved her observations about what we had read. I always have such a good time reading books with her. So today we are discussing chapters 25-31. If you've read the book join in. If you haven't read the book then I encourage you to do so! If you are a fan of the Anne of Green Gables series then I think you'll enjoy this 3 book series as well. Of course nothing could top Anne, but Emily now has a place in my heart as well and I look forward to reading the other two books.

OBSERVATIONS:

Oh Aunt Nancy and Caroline are something else with their talking about people and over-sharing too much. BUT, I'm glad that we finally heard the story of what everyone thought happened to Ilse's mother. Ack! Such tragedy and scandal!

And then when Emily falls over the cliff and Dean rescues her...why? Why is that girl always looking in places she shouldn't? First the well and now the edge of the cliff! Ack! So scary! Glad that Dean was there to save the day. But that whole relationship kind of creeped me out in spots, and I'll discuss that in the questions portion.

A new teacher! Hallelujah! While his methods may seem unorthodox at least he didn't ridicule or terrorize the students like Miss Brownell did. And I loved how he gave Emily the truth of her writings as well as encouraged her just a little. And the way he laughed at her description of him! ha!

And whew, Aunt Elizabeth! Should never have read Emily's writings, that kind of bit her in the butt when she read the not-so-nice parts about herself. Ack! It kind of made me sad though that that was the end of Emily writing to her father.

I thought it was interesting Emily getting sick and having the dream or the instinct or the premonition of what actually happened to Ilse's mother. I loved how it all turned out for Ilse's father to begin making up for the way he had treated Ilse. ha!

Oh so much more happened in these chapters! I enjoyed the whole book and have already started on Emily Climbs. I hope it is just as good!

FAVORITE QUOTES:

"Great-aunt Nancy and Caroline Priest were wont to colour their grey days with the remembered crimsons of old, long-past delights and merry-makings, but they went further than this and talked over any number of old family histories before Emily with a total disregard of her youth. Loves, births, deaths, scandals, tragedies-anything that came into their old heads. Nor did they spare details. Aunt Nancy revelled in details. She forgot nothing, and sins and weaknesses that death had covered and time shown mercy to were ruthlessly dragged out and dissected by this ghoulish old lady."
Oh my! Have you ever done that? Or known someone to do that? Forget that little "pitchers have big ears" I have to remind myself of that all the time with the grandkids. They always want to hear what the grown-ups are saying! 

"Gossip lies nine times and tells a half truth the tenth."
Oh if we could all just remember this instead of taking gossip as gospel!

"And I can pray in my mind--I'm sure God can hear thoughts as well as words. It is nice to think He can hear me if nobody else can."
What a scary predicament for Emily to be in, but very wise to remember that she can pray in her mind. 

"She liked to know the big dog was there. She was not so learned in lore of dogs as in lore of cats. But he looked very human and trusty watching her with great kindly eyes. A grey kitten was an adorable thing--but a grey kitten would not have sat there and encouraged her. "I believe," thought Emily, "that a dog is better than a cat when you're in trouble."
Amen! Dogs are loyal and cats are fickle!

"With nine out of ten people Emily was secretive and reserved, but Dean Priest was sealed of her tribe and she divined it instantly. He had a right to the inner sanctuary and she yielded it unquestionable. She talked to him freely."
Anne would have called him a "kindred spirit"

"Go home, Emily. I'm tired of you. I like you very well--you're not stupid and you're passably pretty and you've behaved exceedingly well--tell Elizabeth you do the Murrays credit--but I'm tired of you. Go home."
Bwahahaha! Oh my goodness! Have you ever wanted to tell company this? Of course nowadays I don't think people stay as long as they did back in Emily's time, but I'm sure I would have been ready to leave and if I were Aunt Nancy I'd definitely be saying GO HOME! ha! 

"but most of them came to it after they got used to never being used to anything." This cracked me up because some didn't like the change that Mr. Carpenter the new teacher brought!

"Emily went softly, and tried to mingle serpent's wisdom and dove's harmlessness in practical proportions, but their points of view were so different that there were bound to be clashes; they did not speak the same language, so there was bound to be misunderstanding."
This was after Elizabeth found and read all of Emily's letters. I liked that they made up and that Emily and Elizabeth had a sort of truce. 

1. What did you think of Emily's first meeting with Dean Priest (and the near-death experience that brought it about)?Ok, Dean...well if it were nowadays I'd be questioning a little girl spending so much time with an older man. Sounds kind of creepy to me. Especially when he kind of makes references to them getting together when she is older. Ewwww! And I can say that because my husband is almost 8 years older than I am, so I married an older man! BUT, I think that Dean is much much older than Emily and that is just too much! I like that they are kindred spirits, but I don't see a romantic future for them...at least on Emily's part. 

2. How would you feel about having Mr. Carpenter as a teacher? Do you agree with his teaching methods and how he critiques Emily's works?I probably would have had a hard time with Mr. Carpenter's teaching methods because I don't like change. Especially as a child I didn't like it. So it would have been hard never knowing what to expect from the teacher. As an adult I think it was great and hilarious! I loved the way he critiqued Emily's work. ha! Someone has to tell you the brutal truth sometime in your life. Ack! 

3. Were you surprised by the truth about what happened to Ilse's mother? How did this chapter ("When the Curtain Lifted") make you feel?A little far-fetched for me, but hey, it made for a good ending to that story!

4. Which scene in this book was the most adorable (or romantic) to you?I guess I'm not seeing too much romance or adorableness in the story. It is good, but Emily is too young for romance. I imagine that either Teddy or Perry or even Dean is going to end up with a broken heart before Emily settles on one or none of them. 

5. What was your favorite part of Emily's story? What are you hopes or predictions for what will happen to her in the rest of the series?I think Perry's parts cracked me up the most. Endearing parts featured Emily's writings to her father. I hope that Emily keeps writing and I hope that she does end up being able to go to school beyond the little school she's going to now. 

Well, there's the end of EMILY OF NEW MOON. I enjoyed it very much. I'll be continuing on with Emily's story in EMILY CLIMBS. If you've never participated in a read-along I hope that you will sometime! It is so fun to read the same book and discuss what you read.