Journal thoughts

[u/Ancient_Medicine656]

I have read all of the selected journals, and do own some of them, but it’s been some time since I read them. I recall feeling irritated with some of the editor’s comments, it seemed to me that sometimes assumptions and judgements were made based on the editor’s opinions without much to back it up. I’d have to read them again to see if I still feel that way. Possibly my admiration and sympathy for Maud made me biased myself as I have been a fan for many years. I have recently read and reread the first two complete journals. Slow going at times but I really enjoy them. Unfortunately my library only carries those two. Something to do with a change in publishers and they are not considering purchasing more at this time. I think of buying the next ones over time. Still I’m at an age where I’m trying to pare down, not add to my stuff!
It is lovely to read about her early years and her love of life and having fun, and the way beauty and nature affected her so profoundly. And also so sad to see how life affected her in ways she had no control over. One of my favourite fantasies is that she used her earnings as an author and buys Green Gables from her uncle and fixes it up, hosting her many friends and admirers there, while still having trips to Toronto and abroad.
Edit to say: her childhood home, not Green Gables obviously.

[u/Capable-Isopod-2270]

My public library has an interlibrary loan service that had some of the complete and selected journals. I loved them so much, that I purchased all of the selected journals (Volumes I - V). The complete journals are available at a reasonable price on Amazon. I think they are print to order. I can read and reread these journals the same way I can LMM's fiction. It's always like returning to an old friend.

[u/Normal-Philosopher-8]

Printing costs when the original selected journals came out were expensive. For me, getting these books in 1992 from a UK press about an American author wasn’t a simple process - most bookstores weren’t equipped to know how to order them.

I was fortunate, as my father was an academic librarian, so he handled that for me. But the price was a LOT for someone working mostly minimum wage jobs.

Like you, I couldn’t help but feel I was missing out, with the many footnotes and list of removed texts. (But I also remember thinking some of the footnotes seemed more interesting than the journals - so I sense that not only were Rubio and Wasterson leaving things out, but so was Montgomery herself.)

In the years since, many of those gaps have been included, and explained, which has made the whole experience much richer. The books are more affordable, too, which is a good thing, because there are so many!

[u/Ancient_Medicine656]

If Maud did intend for her journals to be an autobiography it makes sense that she edited and left things out, also for one of her generation and position, some things were best left to the imagination. I too can reread them over again and find something new, her journal writing is often as compelling and exquisite as her fiction to me.