Anne of Green Gables is perhaps one of those books that makes you feel good from inside and you would always crave for more yet be weirdly content with what you have. I remember the fondest memories of my childhood revolve around Anne of Green Gables. The three-hour-long experience Anne was so much fun to watch and provided a doorway to the world to which every child, especially girls wanted an escape. The perfect town of Avonlea & Green Gables is so lush and vivid that it makes you fall in love all over again and Anne’s top-notch fashion sense made her undoubtedly a fashionista of her time. In essence, Anne delivered the beauty of life in unexpected yet wonderful ways.
“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
Reasons to read Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery was first published in 1908 and has ever since been a classic children’s novel. The story is based in the 19th century on the life of Anne Shirley, a girl full of joy in reviving the life of those around her. It’s an underdog story as Anne is an orphan who had her rough share of life and is then sent to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who originally wanted to adopt a boy and not a girl. The novel addresses how Anne makes her way through life with the Cuthberts, in school, and within the town. The story of Anne can make one personally invested in the outcome of her journey.
Well, just like any typical story of the 90s, this one too had a budding romance but all for the right reasons. Hate to love kind troop between Anne and Gilbert can give butterflies to anyone craving for an old school love. Not intended to give any spoilers but by the end of the novel, Gilbert does something for Anne that completely melted Anne’s as well as my heart. Their newly discovered friendship provides numerous lessons about life offering a great insight into the novel.
One thing that Montgomery excelled at was the character of Anne. Her character has been crafted so well that it couldn’t stop you from falling in love with her. As the story moved forward all you could do is mesmerized by her inquisitiveness, imagination, purity, and passion for life. Unlike other novels, where the protagonist is all perfectionist- Anne wasn’t perfect and has experienced her own share of mistakes making her feel so much more real and authentic. Her character is so much charming and lovely as she has a completely different outlook on life.
The story of Green Gables felt so much comforting as a child that it makes one escape from the harsh reality of adult life. Anne of Green Gables cannot be read with a mindset of the modern age of drama where it is so much easy to be angry, stressed, unhappy, and anxious. The book is different than the realities of life, it is all about pearls and blossoms, simple yet resilient.
Anne has her own way to look at life, she finds unexpected joys in little things and is so much thankful to be alive. From the day she set foot in the town of Green Gables, she changes the lives of everybody in the town and gave them a new outlook on life. Though life can be ugly at times, Anne’s view of it makes one believe that life couldn’t be that hard to understand. She finds joy in little things of life that makes you escape from the ugly side of it. Her relationship with Cuthberts as well as Gilbert is so soothing to the mind and makes you see the brighter side of the problems.
The best part of this optimism is that it is tempered with Anne’s flaws, her mishaps, fiery temper, and frenemies. We all can relate to her how she talks back, screws up a lot, and wish to be an entirely different person with a different life and obviously a different hair!
Anne of Green Gables is actually the first part of the series by Lucy Maud Montgomery and is followed by eight subsequent books named- Anne of Avonlea (1909), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne’s House of Dreams (1917), Rainbow Valley (1919), Rilla of Ingleside (1921), Anne of Windy Poplars (1936), and Anne of Ingleside (1939).
The book had initially sold over 50 million copies and since its publication almost 110 years ago, the book is here to stay. It has been translated into almost 36 languages with around 7 television, film, and series adaptation. OTT platform Netflix has also released a series based on Anne of Green Gables back in 2017 starring Amybeth McNulty as Anne and Lucas Jade Zumann as Gilbert. The show also casts Geraldine James and Dalila Bela.
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