Book Friday – Anne of Green Gables
13 November 2009
No worries. Anne of Green Gables isn’t going to become the new theme for my blog or anything, it’s just on my mind recently. I’m using the book—or the play, actually—in the book I’m currently working on. I was in Anne of Green Gables in 7th grade (I played Bessie Wright, who FYI isn’t in the book or the movie. Tells you just how good of an actress I was). Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to save my play book, so I read the real book a couple months ago and then watched the movie this week.
There’s seven or so books in the Anne series. I’ve only read the first three thus far. Here’s my review in short:
Anne of Green Gables: Excellent.
Anne of Avonlea: Total snooze. I kept thinking, “So … where’d the plot go, and can I please have it back?”
Anne of the Island: Again, excellent.
A couple things stood out to me while reading Anne of Green Gables. One is that I’d always thought of the story as a romance, probably because I saw the movie a dozen times before reading the book and the movie varies in the Anne/Gilbert storyline. In the book though, Anne totally ignores Gilbert. She’s holding a major grudge and will barely even speak his name. The most contact we get between the two is when he walks her home at the end. Yet somehow, there’s still a decent amount of romantic tension.
The other thing is the idea that a little belief can go a long way. Particularly with a child. Anne is an orphan who comes to live with an old maid, Marilla, and her brother, Matthew. Everybody warns them against bringing an orphan to come live with them, but Anne flourishes under their care and grows into an amazing, intelligent young woman.
Yes, it’s a classic, but it’s also awesome. And you can pick it up at Half Price Books for like a $1 back in the children’s/teen section. Totally worth a try.
Comments
I loved Anne of the Island because it’s where everything finally comes right for everyone…and Philippa is such an awesome character. :)
Posted by Erica Vetsch on 13 November 2009
The back-and-forth continues through the series. I didn’t much like Windy Poplars, because it was all letters back and forth between Anne and Gilbert. Then you get into family life . . . Rilla of Ingleside’s one of the best for straight-up romance, though, if memory serves. =)
Posted by Roseanna White on 13 November 2009