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46th out of 48 books
—
12 voters
Against the Odds: Tales of Achievement
The common thread among the 18 stories in Against the Odds is the way people can resourcefully overcome obstacles to realize their ambitions and dreams. The "odds" are varied in these skillfully written tales. An obstacle to one's success or happiness may lie in one's own character or the prejudice of someone else. A potential employer may cast a suspicious eye on an indiv...more
Mass Market Paperback, 246 pages
Published
November 1st 1994
by Bantam Starfire
(first published 1991)
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A great collection of stories, each of which I liked. They were nicely varied, although the plots were the same, hinging on either stubborn, forbidding relatives or rich people and their unwillingness to help the main characters, or young people proving that they aren't like disreputable predecessors-sometimes both. It's hard to pick favorites but here they are:
The Fillmore Elderberries,
Bessie's Doll (though I'm little annoyed at Bessie for getting so cast down when the doll is sold),
At the B...more
The Fillmore Elderberries,
Bessie's Doll (though I'm little annoyed at Bessie for getting so cast down when the doll is sold),
At the B...more
Against the Odds is another collection of Lucy Maud Montgomery short stories and like many of the other anthologies, its stories all follow an overarching theme. While other collections have focused on stories of matrimony, orphans and lonely people, or on letters and journal writing, the common thread in Against the Odds is triumph over adversity through pluck and determination and often times a little cleverness. Because this was a common theme in Louisa May Alcott books and stories, I kinda f...more
This book, by the author of Anne of Green Gables, is a collection of short stories compiled in the early 1990s. All but one were previously published in newspapers or magazines, sometimes in more than one. And while they work together as a whole, I found them best ingested one or two stories at a time (which made them ideal commuting reading for a week).
I don’t know if Montgomery was capable of writing only one type of hero, or if that was merely the type she (or her publishers) preferred. But e...more
I don’t know if Montgomery was capable of writing only one type of hero, or if that was merely the type she (or her publishers) preferred. But e...more
Even though Montgomery always is a delight to read, this collection of short stories will never be among my favourites. First of all I find it a mistake to have a general theme of the book, that makes the stories too alike with no of the wonderful unexpected developments that Montgomery otherwise are so good at. And none of these stories stands out. They are too easily mixed up and soon forgotten. The only story that stands a little apart is How We Went to the Wedding. I think I would have liked...more
Feb 07, 2009
JG (The Introverted Reader)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
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These stories are primarily ones that never saw the light of day after being published in magazines in Montgomery's lifetime. There's a reason for that. I love reading more my L.M. Montgomery, but these are not my favorites. Maybe because they're grouped together by theme? The stories get very repetitive. And some of the stories showed up as scenes in her books. Fans of Montgomery should read these, but don't pick this up expecting to fall in love with it.
Fun! A lot of very similar tales, as always, but a couple of standouts. Although they were predictable, I found a lot of charm to "In Spite of Myself" (or whatever that story was called) and the final story about the strike. "How We Went to the Wedding," meanwhile, was a whole other adventure tale on its own. Ignoring if at all possible (cringe) the wildly ignorant stuff about "Indians," this was a good story and very different from anything else of hers I'd ever read. No wealthy benefactors or...more
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Few writers are able to write short stories quite like L.M. Montgomerey. Hers are complicated and hartwarming, just long enough for the reader to really fall in love with each character. The funny part is that many of the stories in this particular volume share enormously similar plots, which incidentally point at experiences from Lucy's own life story. I think I still prefer "At the Altar" for her short stories, but they are both wonderfully written and delightfully refreshing.
A pleasant collection of short stories. I wish the world was such a delightful place filled with good people whose problems could all be solved through cleverness or the intervening hand of some rich benefactor. The underlying racism, sexism, and social elitism that permeated the stories reminded of how far we have come.
I love reading and rereading L.M. Montgomery books. There is a certain wholesomeness to them without being cloying - or maybe I just have a high saccharine tolerance.
good short story collevtion--easy and fun to read--some funny, all happy, pleasant stories
Great escape reading. Love picking this one up every few years and re-reading.
Another short story collection by L.M. Montgomery.
Fun short stories by the author of Anne of Green Gables.
eh.
A compilation of L.M. Montgomery's magazine stories -- I reread through this to find the gem called "The Church at Putney" which is the best thing in the book. Also interesting was 'How We Got to the Wedding" which includes a very familiar scene that Anne fans will remember from Rilla of Ingleside.
These tales are more on the uplifting, inspirational side. They are good, but not as much my favorites.
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Lucy Maud Montgomery was a Canadian author, best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908.
The author of the famous Canadian novel Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery, was born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Nov. 30, 1874. She came to live at Leaskdale, north of Uxbridge Ontario, in 1911 after her wedding with Rev. Ewen Macdonald on July 11, 1911...more
More about L.M. Montgomery...
The author of the famous Canadian novel Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery, was born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Nov. 30, 1874. She came to live at Leaskdale, north of Uxbridge Ontario, in 1911 after her wedding with Rev. Ewen Macdonald on July 11, 1911...more
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