LM Montgomery committed suicide?

[Emancipation 2]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-isl...ry-suicide.html

[SpiritAlight 1]

Wow.

Thanks for posting that Emancipation.

It sheds light on people that are sensitive and have trouble living in the world/society as it is.

[Emancipation 2]

Yep.. it shouldn't surprise me.. her diaries were so full of pain and feeling out of place in the world. I was reading in the article where it said she was devastated about WWII and had she just hung on a few more months.. she would have seen victory.. What a message.. hang on.. the sun comes with the morning..

[thetreble 19]

I have deep love for LMM. As an English literature degree holder, she was an author from my childhood who I adored. I'm so glad this finally came out. As E said, she was full of pain in some of the years of her life.

[antda 13]

Hi Emancipation,

Thanks for sharing that article with all of us. Not surprising really, that she died of suicide, as many authors and/or those who have made artistic and creative contributions towards society often die a tragic death such as this. Their lives have ended, yet their work continues to live on....

I have often wondered if it is some "requirement" that authors and artists be "depressed" in order to create the work that they are famous for. Oh how the fine line between "genius and insanity" gets blurred along the way! Nobody seems to understand the "creative mind" at all, and it's sad that the creative artistic ones have to suffer through their entire lives with such "pain".....

As a Canadian, I remember growing up and reading the "Anne of Green Gables" series which LM Montgomery wrote, and was famous for. Good ole Anne, always getting herself into trouble, yet finding her way out of it in a hilarious and amusing way. Anyone here remember reading about when Anne tried to dye her carrot-red hair to black and it turned green instead?...lol....

"Anne of Green Gables", a classic in Canadian literature, indeed! Oh the sights of Canada that brings (especially of PEI)! A definite requirement for any Canadian (and for anyone else) to read, indeed!

Ant (Hmmm...maybe it's time for me to re-read my boxed set of "Anne" books again...)

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-isl...ry-suicide.html

Edited September 22, 2008 by AntandD

[Emancipation 2]

Ant (Hmmm...maybe it's time for me to re-read my boxed set of "Anne" books again...)

tee hee.. her published journals are FAARRR more interesting IMO.. much seedy stuff in there

Edited September 22, 2008 by Emancipation

[antda 13]

Hi Emancipation,

What? There's more of LM Montgomery to read? What are the titles of her journals called? I'll definitely have to find a copy of those to read sometime (that is, if I can find a copy of that around here in the USA, as I'm lucky if I even find an "Anne" book around here..luckily I brought my set over when I moved...lol...).

Ant (In search of Anne and LM Montgomery...)

tee hee.. her published journals are FAARRR more interesting IMO.. much seedy stuff in there

[Emancipation 2]

http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Journals-L-...l/dp/0195415124

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Selected_...L.M._Montgomery

Edited September 22, 2008 by Emancipation

[antda 13]

Hi Emancipation,

Thanks for the links about LM Montgomery's journals. I'll definitely have to look into reading them sometime, as they sure do sound interesting and informative. That's a lot of reading to do, in 4 volumes of writings. Wow, she sure was a writer, publically and privately, indeed. Hmm...I'll start by looking for volume 1 somewhere....Time to take a trip to the bookstore and/or library for me!

Ant (In search of Anne and LM Montgomery...)

http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Journals-L-...l/dp/0195415124

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Selected_...L.M._Montgomery

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Actually, my favourite LM Montgomery is The Blue Castle. It is not an Anne book. Montgomery did not have a particularly happy marriage and I have often wondered if this story contains her wishes for what she wanted from her own marriage - and never got. I suspect her writings were often her escape from the rather dull and gruelling life as the wife of a staid minister and rather unpleasant man. The Blue Castle is a romance set in Muskoka and absolutely wonderful.

Edited September 23, 2008 by Kathryn41

[thetreble 19]

The Blue Castle is a great read, Kat. I might re-read that myself and get some of her journals.

Ant- As a poet and as someone who always wrote from the time I was small, I don't think you need to be depressed in order to write something life-changing. It seems many authors do suffer from depression because they really live inside their own heads and I believe over-analyze everything in their lives. As I grow older though, I find that to be more angst than anything. I'm growing much farther away from it now than when I was 19 or 20 and was incredibly introspective. I literally breathed and lived to write. I'd spent most of my classes at university writing unless they were, of course, about writing or literature. haha

Now with a full time job and a husband, I can't really do much of those things any more. You look at someone like Sylvia Plath who also committed suicide. Same thing-she lived inside her own head not much to the worlds notice.

[Emancipation 2]

I asked my Japanese friend what that might do to the "image" of Anne.. When I heard the news yesterday I was a little taken aback because the whole story of Anne is all based on this "ideal" and this perfect picture image of the Island and all it's beauty. This bit doesn't seem to reconcile with it. My friend doesn't really think it will change anything (she's also an english major and has studied all the works of LM, so she's familiar with the depression etc).

Somewhere I read yesterday was pointing out the fact that she was a strong woman trapped in a man's era and that probably some of her depression came from having to act a certain way, and not being able to truly express herself fully. Interesting though, she never saw the dawn of womens' rights and I wonder how that might have changed her perspective.

Her journals are quite good. There was a lot in there that seems obscure and a load of deep sorrow, but gives a great insight into her life. Amazing the work she produced irregardless of the depression she struggled with. She obviously was an intelligent and strong woman in her day.

[antda 13]

Hi Kathryn41,

Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll definitely have to check out "The Blue Castle" by LM Montgomery too. Yes, writers do write to escape dull and boring lives....

It's interesting too, that she would set this book in Muskoka, Ontario instead of PEI. If I remember correctly, didn't she spend some of her life in Ontario too?

Ant (In search of a "Blue Castle"...)

Actually, my favourite LM Montgomery is The Blue Castle. It is not an Anne book. Montgomery did not have a particularly happy marriage and I have often wondered if this story contains her wishes for what she wanted from her own marriage - and never got. I suspect her writings were often her escape from the rather dull and gruelling life as the wife of a staid minister and rather unpleasant man. The Blue Castle is a romance set in Muskoka and absolutely wonderful.

[antda 13]

Hi Mandy,

Hmm....I guess you're right too, in saying that one doesn't necessarily be depressed to write. However, yes, it's more evident that writers and artists do suffer or have suffered from some sort of depression and/or mental illness and "go iniside of their heads" to find that analytical and creative side in them. Maybe it is this "different mindset" that others do not understand of, and hence they are categorized negatively because of that. Personally, I think that depression/mental illness is more so a "personality trait" than something to be looked down upon by the rest of society. After all, look at all the people that have suffered from such, and look at the great ceative and other contributions they have made for the rest of the world, who doubted them before in the first place.

That's good that were able to grow from how you were before, and learn from those experiences through your writings. People change over time, as life changes over time, for the better mostly. Don't worry, eventually you'll write again (and for fun too, not just for school), and if not then you can look back on your writings and realize how far you've come in life from your younger years. After all, writing can be done at any age, and at any circumstance in life. It just need a little bit of time and inspiration to do, (and some pen and paper or a computer) that's all....

As for Sylvia Plath, I'll leave that for another post/message thread, as this is the LM Montgomery (Canadian) thread. And yes, Sylvia Plath is/was a great author too, and offers similar insight from an American prespective. Anyone out there ever read "The Bell Jar" too? Then there's also other such great women authors....(oh gee, this warrants for a separate off-topic message thread...)

Ant (In search of works by "great depressed women authors"....)

The Blue Castle is a great read, Kat. I might re-read that myself and get some of her journals.

Ant- As a poet and as someone who always wrote from the time I was small, I don't think you need to be depressed in order to write something life-changing. It seems many authors do suffer from depression because they really live inside their own heads and I believe over-analyze everything in their lives. As I grow older though, I find that to be more angst than anything. I'm growing much farther away from it now than when I was 19 or 20 and was incredibly introspective. I literally breathed and lived to write. I'd spent most of my classes at university writing unless they were, of course, about writing or literature. haha

Now with a full time job and a husband, I can't really do much of those things any more. You look at someone like Sylvia Plath who also committed suicide. Same thing-she lived inside her own head not much to the worlds notice.

Edited September 23, 2008 by AntandD

[antda 13]

Hi Emancipation,

Interestingly enough, I remember years ago when I went to PEI for a trip, and someone mentioned there that the Japanese had an "idealized" image of Anne and PEI too. Maybe it's a cultural thing with the Japanese? Then again, it's good exposure for the rest of the world to know Canada and it's culture through this way, even if it is "idealized". All in all, PEI is a beautiful part of Canada, with it's red clay sand, shorelines, nature, and yes, even "Anne". So to everyone out there, I recommend that they should take a trip that that beautiful part of PEI, Canada.

Hmm...it would make sense that women would be more depressed if they feel "trapped" in a "man's world" of that time before. But it is through writings such as LM Montgomery's, that women are able to express themselves at that time when they were restricted to do so. Maybe she was "ahead of her time", of the women's movement, as her works were published before that historical era for change for women in society? I agree, she was an intelligent women, ahead of her time, and contributed greatly to society, indeed!

Ant (LM Montgomery="Intelligent and Ahead of her time...")

I asked my Japanese friend what that might do to the "image" of Anne.. When I heard the news yesterday I was a little taken aback because the whole story of Anne is all based on this "ideal" and this perfect picture image of the Island and all it's beauty. This bit doesn't seem to reconcile with it. My friend doesn't really think it will change anything (she's also an english major and has studied all the works of LM, so she's familiar with the depression etc).

Somewhere I read yesterday was pointing out the fact that she was a strong woman trapped in a man's era and that probably some of her depression came from having to act a certain way, and not being able to truly express herself fully. Interesting though, she never saw the dawn of womens' rights and I wonder how that might have changed her perspective.

Her journals are quite good. There was a lot in there that seems obscure and a load of deep sorrow, but gives a great insight into her life. Amazing the work she produced irregardless of the depression she struggled with. She obviously was an intelligent and strong woman in her day.