This instalment of the Dalek Game is for L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. I used to struggle with that book and the miniseries. My whole family loved it, but I do not like watching people inevitably humiliate themselves. I cringe for them, and it took a long time for me to get past Anne’s various outbursts (I had the same problem with the movie The Castle). In particular, I couldn’t stay to watch when she hits Gilbert with her slate. I also resented the “write what you know” message in both Anne and other books, such as What Katy Did (although, having since read actual Gothic fiction, the advice in both cases was extremely well placed).
A combination of aversion therapy and self-reflection eventually got me to the point where I now think the story beautiful – I read it out loud to my father a few years ago and by the end we were both in tears. My mother walked through the room from time to time and laughed at us.
Kathleen Jennings 
Nice rendering! But somehow I think that is one way the Doctor never stopped a Dalek :)
But Donna might have, given the chance…
I still have trouble reading the first part of Anne of Avonlea for that very reason…the cow incident makes me cringe so much!
Oh, I know! I can handle Green Gables now, but not Avonlea!
Our Anne is an acquired taste, even in Canada. My wife never cared for it when she was younger. Of course, I was never part of the original intended target audience. :) Montgomery also wrote some interesting supernatural short fiction that has been collected in one volume.
I’ll keep an eye out for that, thanks!
L. M. Montgomery just doesn’t get enough credit as a ghost / horror writer. She missed her niche, in my opinion.
I think Anne just might be able to tame a Dalek. :)
(I saw that you liked my post that linked to your Daleks. Just wanted to thank you for that and also tell you that I seriously love your art.)
And thank you, very much!
Anne and the Dalek look quite fitting together. Lovely work!
Heheh. Thanks :)
Now I want to see all the future books where Anne & the dalek get married etc.
It… doesn’t end well.
That’s exactly why I don’t like the first Anne book much. Too many humiliations. (Though I am a sucker for a good adoption story, which redeems it.) But I do like the others, as she grows into a good teacher and a thoughtful and compassionate person and writer. There’s a wonderful biography of Montgomery (The Gift of Wings, by Mary Henley Rubio) that is well worth reading.
Thank you – I will keep an eye out for that. I read a short terribly written one once: the sort that makes you think the subject was interesting but the author needed some remedial attention.
Loved this one!
[Probably because I also love Anne of Green Gables – but, shhh, don’t tell anyone!)
Your secret is safe with me.
Maybe because it is a guy and the story is about a girl, but I don’t have those cringing moments with the stories or miniseries. I LOVE Anne, with all her foibles and screw ups, because it is that same spirit that allows her to have such an active imagination and experience so many wonderful things as well. I’m hoping to re-read the books this summer as it has been too long.
I love it now, but I’ve always been sensitive to people embarrassing themselves!