From the Bookshelf of Classics for Beginners…

Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)

L.M. Montgomery

Start date: July 1, 2017

Finish date: July 31, 2017

Discussion: Current Group Read

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The Prince
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Jul 13, 2017 Danielle The Book Huntress rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 19th-century, children-s-classics, favorite-characters, small-town-slice-of-life, kindle-book, heroine-i-adore, children-s-book, favorites, redhead, adoptive-or-inherited-parents

It's hard to believe I had not read this book until now. I thought I had read most of the children's classics (except Laura Ingalls Wilder and Old Yeller), but I guess not. I am so glad that this was nominated as the July read for the Classics for Beginners Group. It lit a fire under me to read this finally. This was a fantastic book.

I have a list of singular heroines and I'm adding Anne to my list. Anne is so lovable. Even with all her flaws, or maybe because of them. She is prone to making mis It's hard to believe I had not read this book until now. I thought I had read most of the children's classics (except Laura Ingalls Wilder and Old Yeller), but I guess not. I am so glad that this was nominated as the July read for the Classics for Beginners Group. It lit a fire under me to read this finally. This was a fantastic book.

I have a list of singular heroines and I'm adding Anne to my list. Anne is so lovable. Even with all her flaws, or maybe because of them. She is prone to making mistakes, she talks a lot, she tends to in her head and forgets what she's doing (that sounds familiar to me), and she's a huge dreamer. The last trait is what I believed helped her to survive a very sad childhood. Anne is a young girl who never lost hope and hope keeps a person alive.

Anne has the power to change people's lives, and it's evident in this story. The way she causes Matthew to love her is so effortlessly done. He picks her up at the train station, a shy man who in his own words, doesn't know how to talk to or deal with girls or women, and she has him eating out of the palm of her hand by the time they get home, just by her easy way of talking to him and allowing him to listen. It's beautiful. In fact, that was my favorite thing about this book, Anne's relationship with Matthew.

Marilla is a difficult nut to crack. She doesn't want to keep Anne at first, but Anne works her magic on Marilla and the next thing she knows, she's living with them instead of the boy they wanted to help work on the farm. Marilla is very hard on Anne and is sparing with praise, but it's evident as the story progresses how deeply she loves Anne. I was actually very touched at the reveal on how Marilla came to love Anne. I knew that Matthew adored Anne from the beginning, but Marilla tempers her reaction to Anne in every way, out of her sense of duty. The show of love that occurs between a found family always gets me.

In my opinion, Anne is very easy to love. She is a person of very strong emotion, and nothing really can temper that. While she seems to take the trauma of her past in stride, what's going on daily in her life always impacts her deeply. She loves fiercely and dislikes the same way. She's one of those people who will never mislead a person about where they stand with them. That's refreshing. Even when she's tough on others, such as Gilbert Blythe, her rival. It takes her a long time to forgive him for what happens that he inadvertently causes, but Gilbert still has feelings for her. I liked that her ongoing rivalry with Gilbert is an ongoing motif of Anne's school life through this book. Also her friendship with Diana. Diana and Anne have one of those friendships that ideally every child should have. As life changes, your friendship continues through life.

The island of Prince Edward and Green Gables is another character. Green Gables is a magical place through Anne's eyes. She has such a unique way of viewing the world, although it does get her in trouble sometimes. I loved her exploits, they made me laugh, but also they showed how Anne changes lives just by being herself. The current events of the time play out in the periphery, such as the political status of the country and the way that the roles and opportunities for women are changing.

Life is hard, and LM Montgomery doesn't pretend otherwise, but there are so many "pockets of joy" as my sister phrases it, throughout our lives, and we just need to calibrate ourselves to take those in.

This book entertained me, enchanted and charmed me and made me cry like a baby. If you have read this, although you probably have, I highly recommend reading this book sooner rather than later. ...more

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Jan 26, 2019 Mindy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, 2019-goals

I can’t believe I waited until now to read this book. My childhood self would have positively adored everything about this story. Of course, I’ve seen the beloved PBS miniseries. I believe the miniseries did everything they could to match the whimsical tone. Anne and her childish mishaps are so endearing and understandable. If you’ve ever been a daydreamer of a child, you’d have related to her rambling, passionate speeches about everything under the sun. This book is so darling.

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