This week's Booking Through Thursday:
How about a chance to play editor-in-chief? Fill in the blanks:
________ would have been a much better book if ___________.
Hm. The Emily trilogy (Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, and Emily's Quest) would've been much better books if Teddy Kent had been a well-developed, sympathetic character-- something closer to Dean Priest, but with less of a penchant for unrealistically flowery speeches. Oh, and if he hadn't done the unspeakable by proposing to Emily's best friend, Ilse. (And he probably would've gone right through with it, if Ilse hadn't run off at the last moment! . . . Now that makes these books sound pretty trashy. I promise, they aren't. (g))
I was going to say the books would've been better if Dean hadn't lied to Emily about her first book, but even then, L.M. Montgomery just beats you over the head with the whole "Emily and Teddy are meant to be" thing, from the first book onward, so there's really not much hope for an Emily/Dean pairing. I enjoy the books as they are, but I'd love them that much more if I could just like Teddy. (Ick. And that name. . . "Teddy" just doesn't sound very manly, does it? Not that I'm one who should make comments about names, I guess. (g))
How about another?
Little Women would have been a much better book if Jo and Laurie had gotten married. Or maybe it just would've been a very different book. ;o) I like Friedrich, too, but he never seemed like a "romantic" character. (Maybe it was the description of him as being bearded that made a very youthful me picture him as an almost grandfatherly figure.) I remember being mystified by the way that Alcott made me root for one couple, only to keep them apart at the last moment. Maybe she was trying to be realistic; for all we hear about "high school sweethearts", most childhood friends/sweethearts-type relationships don't end in marriage. It's been a long time since I read the book. Maybe I'd understand it better from an adult perspective.
One thing I'm pretty sure about-- It'd be awkward being in Amy's position and knowing that your husband had loved/wanted to marry your sister before he noticed you. I guess you'd just have to learn to live with it, but wow. So totally and completely unromantic! (g)
