Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery
Girlebooks, 2009
Originally published 1908
Because English is not my first language, I always feel I am catching up on classics that everyone seems to have read. Whether its required highschool reading, or childhood books that are commonly known and read, or turned into TV series, but that never became a staple book in the Netherlands. Anne of Green Gables is an example of this. And I do feel sorry for my younger self, because this is exactly the kind of book I would have loved as a child. Luckily, I still loved discovering it now that I’m older (and I can hear my parents chuckle from here: you mean to say you do not still act like a little child at 24?)
Anne of Green Gables is the story of an orphan girl who is sent to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert by mistake, for Matthew and Marilla sent for a boy to help them at their farm, Green Gables. Anne Shirley quickly manages to capture Matthew’s heart, with her red hair, and her talkative, imaginative and romantic nature, and she is allowed to stay.
Together with the romantic descriptions of Prince Edward Island, Anne’s character is what truly makes this story. Anne is the kind of girl I would have loved to have as a friend as a child, or perhaps, I would have wanted to be Anne. Because Anne shares the imagination and romance that so many children feel, but combines it with clumsy, outspoken, but at the same time heartwarming, behaviour that somehow makes everyone love her. I admit, at first I wasn’t sure if I could go beyond feeling some sympathy for Anne, as the first part of the story has a pattern of Anne trying to be on her good behaviour, nevertheless making a mistake, and Marilla being disappointed in her, but I soon found her funny, quirky, and utterly loveable. Add to this her winning optimism, and who could help but love this girl?
“Oh, Marilla, looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them,” exclaimed Anne. “You mayn’t get the things themselves; but nothing can prevent you from having the fun of looking forward to them. Mrs Lynde says, ‘Blessed are those who expected nothing for they shall not be disappointed.’ But I think it would be worse to expected nothing than to be disappointed.”
What completely won me over was the last half of the book. Anne’s ability to continue learning, and her ultimate loss, selflessness, and taking on of such a responsibility.. I was in tears.
I am currently reading the second book, Anne of Avonlea, which I am enjoying, but I’m not sure if it is as good as this first book in the series. I really want to read the whole series, but I have a feeling I’ll need to alternate my reading of these books with others, so as to avoid irritation.
For the few of those who have not read Anne of Green Gables, I highly recommend giving it a try. Anne quite easily stole my heart.
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I never read this until last year, and also felt sorry for my younger self for having missed out! After I read it, by the way, I went and rented the movies, and they were charming as well.
Hi Iris: great post! English IS my first language, but I never read these books either, I strongly suspect our little library did not have them. I only know the stories from the lovely CBC tv series. Enchanting. Some day I should read them. Thanks, Ruby
It makes me sad when I’ve missed a book in my childhood that I know I would have loved more as a girl if I can’t seem to recapture even a sliver of that magic reading it when grown…so I was really happy to see that you still fell in love with Anne now.
LMM didn’t always want to write another Anne story — and the later volumes in the series weren’t written in chronological order — and I’ve never loved any of the others quite like the first (the fourth would be my next favourite); but I bet your idea of mixing them amongst other reads will ensure that you enjoy them more!
Anne was a vital part of my childhood and still remains one of my favourite fictional characters. Like you, I was never sure if I wanted Anne as a friend or if I wanted to be her, but what I did know was that I loved her (even in her sillier, out-of-character phases – see Anne of Avonlea). My favourite of all the books is Anne of the Island, when she leaves PEI for university. I’ll look forward to hearing what you think if you do continue reading the series!
I LOVE this book.
As someone who met Anne at a very young age (my mother passed on the love) it’s intriguing to see the response of someone meeting her for the first time as an adult. I’m so pleased that it was love for you too.
I don’t think that anb=t of the sequels quite live up to the original, but they are still well worth reading.
I loved this series as a child! I haven’t re-read them in years, though…I really need to fix that! I hope you continue at least through the third book, Anne of the Island; it’s my favorite in the series.
Oh, I loved this series so much. I really want to re-read them.
“Because English is not my first language, I always feel I am catching up on classics that everyone seems to have read.” <- I'm with you on this one. I'm still reading my way through Narnia and only recently read the likes of Winnie the Pooh and A Wrinkle in Time.
The Manga version of Anne of Green Gables was hugely popular in Portugal when I was a kid (www.youtube.com/watch?v=T83Cbw0sgWg), and it was such a great surprise when I found out it was a book!
Anne and I are busom friends. No other fictional character is as dear to me as Anne-with-an-E. I do hope you enjoy the rest of the series! Anne of the Island is always my favorite to reread.
I absolutely loved this series! I read it for the first time in high school and I really want to revisit it again before passing all the books on to my daughter.
I am one that absolutely loved reading these books as a kid. Such wonderful memories. I have red hair too, and I wanted to be as romantic (and ridiculous) as she was just because I loved her so much.
I will say I reread them all about 4 years ago and they were far from satisfying to me. I was so disappointed at how SILLY Anne was (although I still can’t wait to introduce my daughter to her….). By the way, the novels were not written in chronological order, so you don’t necessarily need to read them in order. And if there is only one other novel you read after AofGG, I’d suggest Rilla of Ingleside, which is about Anne’s daughter during WWI. It’s the most mature of the novels, the best written, I believe, and the most satisfying to read as an adult. It was written during the years of WWI or shortly thereafter so it’s a very interesting contemporary look at life for a young woman in Canada during those years.
I read Anne of green Gables for the first time a few years ago – alongside my daughter, probably about 11 or 12 at the time. I loved it, she found it too dull. I suppose in comparison to contemporary children’s fiction, it’s not exciting and action-packed enough.
I didn’t read Anne until I was 20 (21?) and loved her so much. I really wish my childhood self could have read her as I know I would have wanted to be friends with Anne (my real self is not as talkative as Anne). Hope you enjoy the other books as much; my second favorite after this one is the last, Rilla of Ingleside about Anne’s youngest child.
This is one of my favourite childhood books. And although I read the whole series, I still love this one the most. And whenever I go home to my parents I can’t resist pulling it off the bookshelf just to go back to my childhood! Btw, there was a Canadian tv series (or movie) which was pretty good.
I read the Anne series as a small child and re-read it again recently. I loved it even more as an adult! Anne is a great literary heroine, a strong young woman who has seen her share of adversity and overcome it. It’s a great lesson for my own little redheads.