Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. MontgomeryWhen I was 5, my mother went away on a trip. When she came back she brought me the well-known hardback trilogy of Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne's House of Dreams. Growing up I read them over and over again, and it wasn't until high school that I realized that I had been missing two books in between - Anne of the Island (pictured) and Anne of Windy Poplars. So, every once in awhile I pull out these two missing gems and reread them. Anne of the Island is a particular favorite - in it she nearly gets engaged to the man of her dreams Mr. Royal Gardner, but then has the startling (well, not for everyone else) revelation that she loves, and always has loved, Gilbert Blythe. Very romantic stuff. Sometimes you want to whallop Anne of the head - I mean, it's Gilbert Blythe, man! And after rereading these books you're a little disgruntled at her perfection. She is loved by basically everyone, and even her faults are attractive. Sort of drives you nuts.
But it's a fabulous series, and worth not just reading, but watching. Check out the 1985 TV series (do you guys remember those call-in charities during commercial breaks?) with Megan Follows which is definitely the best adaptation.
Book series: A
TV series: A (includes two DVDs - Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea)
If you like this series (and really, you know, you should) then you should enjoy some of Montgomery's other reads like The Blue Castle and Kilmeny of the Orchard.
5 comments:
I absolutely LOVE L.M. Montgomery! Our copies of the Anne of Green Gables series are ragtag at best. LOVE LOVE LOVE these books!
I'm going to echo Lori and say I love Anne of Green Gables too! I first read the series last year, but it's something I wish I could have read when I was younger, ah well, at least I know my children will grow up with Anne.
I'll definitely check out the miniseries that you recommend!
Thanks for the link. Mostly it seems my to-read list coincides with some of the books you've read. I started getting into reading again about last September so I have a long way to go, but my library here is small so there are many I have to decide if I should buy or not w/out knowing how good they'll really be. You inspired me to go back and give them grades bc I think they all felt very positive. But yeah, depending on the person I would recommend different ones. Hey what was the name of the book about the 12 dancing princesses? I know you read it and I read it to but I can't remember what it's called. It's the book I wanted my friend's daughter to read.
I've loved the movie adaptation you mentioned above since I was a small child, and didn't actually read any of Montgomery's books until college. I have so much fun revisiting Anne's story from time to time.
I haven't read any of these but they sound lovely! I'll check out the DVD's too.
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