books: anne of green gables et al

[seperis]

Still favorites. I always liked them for combining both the most romantic and best parts of nineteeth/early twentieth century small towns and communities with realistic assessments of what they were like; loving something without glazing it in impossible idealism. It always makes me more than a little amused when people talk about the nuclear family and it's singularity and above-all-ness; I can't imagine it working at any point in history when community was so necessary to survival, much less social interaction.

It also reminds me it's a fairly modern luxury to be able to socialize only with people you like; I'm not entirely sure, when reading, whether it's altogether a good thing. Being able to restrict your social interactions that much, and quickly eliminate on the basis of not quite simpatico instead of required social interaction means never really developing both the ability to get along with people and also miss the opportunity to know people who make take time and effort and skill to deal with, and I'm pretty sure it's worth the effort.

It was also a hell of a lot harder to end a friendship when you are pretty much going to see them forever until you die at every social event; that's pretty good motivation to get over yourself and move on and fix what you can--which surprisingly isn't as hard as it sounds. I like happy endings, though.

Anne of Windy Poplars is both my least and most favorite depending on mood; I'm not a huge fan of epistolary writing at the best of times, and I always manage to forget that it's the eternal exception to the rules. Her letters to Gilbert are always hilarious, and I always faintly wish there'd been a volume of his to her; he always struck me as one to have just as many odd adventures and fall into as many odd scrapes.

Currently at Anne's House of Dreams. I skipped about a bit to get to my favorite bits, and Miss Cornelia is not be missed.

Comments

[cofax7]

Hmm, yes. I think of the Anne books as comfort-reading colored with a gloss of nostalgia, but there's a lot of hard-headedness in them. Marilla's failing eyesight and the cold narrative eye on Rachel Lynde's marriage, and poor consumptive Ruby Gillis. But then you get the glorious descriptions of the landscape, and the ridiculous romanticism on top.

Oddly enough, I didn't discover them until I was out of college: I think they were out of print in the US for most of my childhood. Although the miniseries certainly re-invigorated American interest. (I've always thought it was a shame Megan Followes didn't go on to a marvelous career; she's still doing one-off character roles in other people's tv shows.)

Anyway, I just downloaded a bunch of these and read them on my Kindle within the last few months--they're marvelous reading for stressful times--but I'm cranky that Windy Poplars isn't available electronically. Boo, I say.

(Look! I has an icon!)

[silentcs]

oh man, the scene in Anne of Avonlea with the jersey cow still makes me laugh. I usually reread at least one of that series every year, or The Blue Castle or Emily of New Moon. I love reading about the family hierarchies and how being a Murray or a Stirling etc comes with certain expectations and inherited social grudges (valid or otherwise).

I couldn't read Windy Poplars the first time I tried - epistolary fiction needs to catch me in the right mood - but when I managed, it was completely worth the time it took me to get there.

Now I feel like I should re-visit Miss Cornelia as well...

[meredyth]

My copies of the Anne books are some of my most treasured possessions. They are tattered and broken, but I love them dearly.

I always wanted to be like Anne, and while I definitely lived in her world of imagination, I did finally realise that I would never have her nobleness, or her innocence and degree of kindness.

One thing that had always confused me is why my copies included anne of windy willows, not poplars.

[watersword]

I desperately want a book of Gilbert's letters to Anne. If I thought I could not make my Yuletide writer hate me for all eternity, I would SO request that.

[fox]

The late-80's movie hit me exactly in the target audience - I was ten or eleven, so you can imagine. Read all the books in some sort of land-speed record, though naturally I got more out of the later ones in subsequent rereads when I was in a position to have the faintest idea what was going on. :-) Within the past few years I have successfully identified the exact type to be Fox's Favorite Character in a given setting - your Remus Lupins, your Aral Vorkosigans, aaarguably your Sam Seaborns, certainly your Commodores Norrington and roughly half the cast of Lord of the Rings - by testing him against the Anne Shirley Criterion: "I think I'd like it if he could be wicked, and wouldn't."

I needs me an icon! ~twirl~

[laurajv]

Oh, House of Dreams. I have trouble reading that one in places because of [spoiler].

When I was a kid, I loved Anne of the Island beyond all things, but as an adult I find myself drawn to the last book, Rilla of Ingleside. I'm not quite sure why the change, except that I find Rilla very appealing as a character -- very much Anne's daughter, but also Gilbert's, and I like watching her grow up, even though it's a painful growing up.

[omglawdork.livejournal.com]

Siiiiigh. God, I love those books. Just reading about you reading them made me happy. :)

[eatsyourface.livejournal.com]

I tore through the Anne series last week! I agree with you; I always wished there was a book from Gilbert's POV. I would've loved to see his perspective more in general; he seemed like he had such a sense of humor.

Miss Cornelia is fantastic. During and after I finished the series, occasionally her pet phrases would pop up into my head (usually "Isn't that just like a _____") and her first meeting with Anne and Gilbert was lovely.

I don't typically like books like these (give me explosions and magical explosions, please) but Anne of Green Gables + sequels just had this charm to them.

[loriel-eris.livejournal.com]

Oh Anne. *happy sigh* I love these so much.

I have to admit, when I read these the first time (maybe about the same time as you did?), my reading comprehension was pretty damn good, and yet I almost still missed the main (sad) event of House o' Dreams; it was so very hidden in the language and I didn't have my 19th Century decoder ring. (Trying to be suitable vague so as not to spoil folks.) But god, I was in floods of tears at the end of Green Gables.

Also. I have to ask the obvious question - you do know that there is a book 7 & 8? I discovered these by a sheer fluke.

I also have a soft spot for Emily series.

[goss.livejournal.com]

*g* I suspect reading those books at a young and impressionable age might have had something to do with my eventual career choice as a teacher.