I just finished reading Anne of Green Gables. My first experience with this story was with the movie, and recently I listened to it on CD. I felt like listening to it was the same as reading it, and certainly it was close, but reading it was much richer. I love the wholesome characters of this story; it transported me to another world. Montgomory's descriptive passages are vivid and poetic. It was a great joy to read this in the early spring afternoons, while Joseph slept. So many of the delightful times in the book are during springtime.
I do have some criticism, though. I felt like chapter 33, The Hotel Concert, didn't really fit in with the story. It seemed an unnecessary digression, and was really kind of flat compared with all the other chapters. Also, I didn't understand how when only Gilbert and Anne are doing Second Year work at Queens (enabling them to get a First Class teaching license) that Ruby Gillis and Jane Andrews will also be teaching the following year. Perhaps it is because I don't understand the Canadian Schooling System, but I do find this confusing. If anyone understands this, I would be grateful to know.
I absolutely recommend reading this book if you haven't yet. As far as editions go, I highly recommend the Junior Illustrated Library edition, illustrated by Jody Lee. It is so beautiful, and the illustrations draw one quickly into the beautiful, fresh world of Avonlea.
2 comments:
Anne of Green Gables...the whole book series...is some of my favorite reading. I hope to be able to get through them again sometime later this spring or summer. They seem like spring/summer reading to me, for some reason. They are such beautiful stories and I love the characters so much.
I agree that it is perfect spring and summer reading. The stories somehow have a quality that makes me feel like I am in spring and summertime light, and even though it is supperficially about a girl/young woman who gets into lots of scrapes, I really come away with deeper thoughts about how one should life one's life more meaningfully. It is quite a powerful thing in a story.
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