Discussion 3 ~ Emily of New Moon Read-Along

Welcome to the third discussion of the Emily of New Moon read-along! ♥ If this is the first you've heard of the read-along, you can learn more about the schedule in this invitation post.

Today we're going to discuss chapters 18-24. If you've already read them, you can share your thoughts in the comments section or in your own post! (Feel free to use the image above, linking back to the Emily of New Moon read-along tag.) If you still need to catch up, you're welcome to check in whenever you're ready. :)

Hope you enjoy the discussion!

~ ~ ~

Emily of New Moon: Chapters 18-24

Discussion format: your favorite quotes, general impressions, and five questions to answer for each week's reading

Favorite Quotes

• "I'm in a scrape and I've been in it all summer. You see"—Emily was very sober—"I am a poetess." "Holy Mike! That is serious. I don't know if I can do much for you. How long have you been that way?"

• "Of course, it was trash. Father Cassidy knew that well enough. All the same, for a child like this—and rhyme and rhythm were flawless—and there was one line—just one line—'the light of faintly golden stars'—for the sake of that line Father Cassidy suddenly said, 'Keep on,—keep on writing poetry.'"

• "A queer feeling came into me and I thought 'What would I feel like if I was stuck before a big crowd of people like this? And besides the honour of the school is at stake,' so I whispered it to her because I was quite close. She got the rest all right. The strange thing is, dear Father, that now I don't feel any more as if I hated her. I feel quite kindly to her and it is much nicer. It is uncomfortable to hate people."

• "'I love Revelations.' (And I do. When I read the verse 'and the twelve gates were twelve pearls' I just saw them and the flash came.)"

• "A certain thing happened at New Moon because Teddy Kent paid Ilse Burnley a compliment one day and Emily Starr didn't altogether like it. Empires have been overturned for the same reason."

• "Everybody who has ever lived in the world and could string two rhymes together has written a poem on spring. It is the most be-rhymed subject in the world—and always will be, because it is poetry incarnate itself."

• "The air seemed to be filled with opal dust over the great pond and the bowery summer homesteads around it."

• "Aunt Nancy says the way to be healthy is to eat just what you want and never think about your stomach."

• "I can bear it when other people have a bad opinion of me but it hurts too much when I have a bad opinion of myself."

General Impressions

As you can see, I had a lot of favorite lines in this section...and there are so many more I could have included! I don't know if this will horrify you, but I've been underlining and writing in my used copy of the book. (I know!) But I enjoy doing that, especially for a read-along, as it makes it much easier to find lines I liked or remember my impressions. :) Anyway, if you looked at my copy, you'd see a good amount of "Ha!," "LOL," smiley faces, and exclamation points in the margins for this group of chapters.

I suppose it would make sense to start with Father Cassidy, as chapter 18 is all about Emily's encounter with him. I absolutely love his sense of humor, which is balanced so well with his kindness and respect for Emily. Yes, he does poke fun at her, in a sense, but he encourages her and speaks her language (as the narrator notes on page 194 in my copy). He listens to her and appreciates the gravity of her request to save the bush and of her passion for poetry. And he even writes her a letter, which means so much to her! He serves as an example to me of caring for children and their interests. :)

I also enjoyed seeing Lofty John humble himself (to some degree) and Aunt Elizabeth laugh some more and stand up for Emily at the Christmas gathering. Progress!! Speaking of progress, it's lovely to see Emily growing and maturing in her perspective of others (like in that third quote above regarding her archenemy Rhoda). But Emily still has plenty of growing left to do.

In the Teddy vs. Perry competition, I found it funny that Emily noted in one of her letters, "Teddy's [Christmas gift] was a little the nicest." She seems to be aware whom she favors of the two at this point in time. ;) Which explains why she really doesn't like Teddy complimenting Ilse (fifth quote above). LOL.

But oh my goodness! Perry's aunt Tom asking Emily to marry him when they're older...that scene was both unnerving (at the beginning) and hilarious (when Perry shows up). Perry telling Emily, "Ilse is better looking of course, and I don't know why I like you best but I do"...oh boy! But Emily's retorts are great, capped off by Perry's threat to knock Teddy's head off again. ;)

And then we end up at Wyther Grange. When Aunt Nancy asks Emily for a visit, it totally reminded me of Anne (in Anne of Green Gables) winning over Diana's great-aunt Josephine. (I confess that even though I've read the book, the images from the 1980s adaptation are ingrained in me!) Anyway, Aunt Nancy is quite a character, as is Caroline. Aunt Nancy says some absolutely hilarious things, like "The Murrays have keep-your-distance eyes" and "I never held with inflicting kisses on defenseless creatures simply because they were so unlucky as to be my relatives." LOL.

But as funny as Aunt Nancy can be, I don't really see her being a good influence on Emily, and I don't really care for how she treats poor Caroline, even if Caroline dishes it back some. While Emily notes the similarities between their friendship and hers with Ilse, I feel like there's an extra layer of meanness with these adults. Still...they do keep each other company and stick together, so there's that, I guess! I'm not sure what to think about Emily breaking the Jacobite glass... It was an accident, so I'm glad she wasn't punished severely, but perhaps there should have been some consequence? While Aunt Nancy's response isn't really instructive, it is funny, and I can't blame her for being relieved! ;)

One last note: It was interesting to see the reference to Gothic romances at the beginning of chapter 23. Yep, there seems to be a flavor of that in Emily's story, and it's fun to see the author mentioning that genre!

Discussion Questions

Answer any or all five of these questions in the comments section or in your own blog post!

1. What are your impressions of Father Cassidy? What do you like or not like about how he interacts with Emily?

2. If you could pick a line from these chapters that resonates with you the most—that makes you think, That's me!—what line would it be and why?

3. How did you feel about the Murray Christmas gathering described in chapter 20? How is it different from or similar to some of your own family Christmases (from childhood or more recently)?

4. What was something fashionable when you were younger that you really wanted, like Emily's desire for bangs? Have your tastes changed since then?

5. If you were invited to visit Wyther Grange for a while, would you want to go? What might you think of the place and its occupants?

Join us next Sunday for our last discussion! 

(Chapters 25-31)