readingaway:lizziethereader:Weekly Bookish Question #220 (February 14th - February 20th):Is there a
readingaway:lizziethereader:Weekly Bookish Question #220 (February 14th - February 20th):Is there a book you hate (or really dislike) by an author you usually love? (follow-up question: How do you deal with that?)Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery. It was the first really horrendous work of hers that I’ve read. Some of her short stories were lackluster and at the time I’d read this book I hadn’t read Rainbow Valley (first use of the n-word in one of her works) or another book that was chock-full of racism. I noticed xenophobia in works I’d read earlier but just brushed it off as early 20th century british-canadian dumbassery. This one went beyond casual “oh the French” and into “this boy is Italian and his Hot Italian Blood makes him go nuts and attempt murder because Italians are dangerous” eugenics area. Since then I’ve read more widely and such ideas regarding blood and national/ethnic background have gotten more pronounced in the lesser-known works. Sometimes her work could be quite progressive for the period, in certain ways, or inncuous or like it’s conservative but in a way that I just have to shrug off. And then there’s stuff like the above. I should finish Pat of Silver Bush tonight and there’s been a lot of casually racist comments and attitudes, so I’m not particularly fond of this work. Oh wow, that sounds really really bad, I had no idea! I’m definitely not gonna put that on my reading list, then. -- source link
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