Anne of Green Gables

I first read this book when I was 11 and now I’ve reread it at 31. Twenty years later and this story is as beautiful as ever. I love how sentimental it is and I adore all of the characters. The setting is basically a character too. All the gorgeous descriptions of green gables and the haunted wood and the lake of shining waters and lovers lane; it all really added to the mood of the story.

Some things I didn’t notice back when I first read the book; there is a LOT of telling. A lot of events are told in the form of glossing, rather than a full scene of the events, or the events are told by a character (usually Anne) after the events have already taken place.
Because of this weird quirk, the pacing was a little off. A lot of time is covered in this book. Anne is 11 at the start of the book and nearly 17 at the end. The majority of the book is spent during years 11-13. Her later teen years went by in such a flash it was tough to keep up with. Entire years were covered in 2 pages or less.

I still give the book 5 stars because of all the intense emotions it gives me. Despite the quirky glossing style and the wonky pacing, this is a lovely story with riveting characters. ( )

Anne Shirley is a orphan girl mistakenly sent to the Cuthbert's farm on Prince Edward Island in Nova Scotia rather than the orphan boy they requested for help on their farm. Full of imagination and big, dramatic words, eleven year old Anne is kept by the Cuthbert's and raised through her 16th year this book. This was a charming and funny children's book and Anne was an engaging protagonist, prone to getting herself in trouble but just as likable as ever in spite of her mistakes and temper. Full of details that brought the countryside and inhabitants of the fictional Bolingbroke to life I found this to be a much more enjoyable than I expected for a children's book written over a hundred years ago.
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At my wife's suggestion (she loved these books when she was young, and I had never read them), I read this aloud to the family. I liked it but didn't love it. Marilla comes around in the end, but I pretty quickly applied to her the nickname "crusty old shithead," which I don't suppose my wife will forgive me for any time soon. The main value to me of reading this book to the family, besides the intrinsic value of the activity and increased cultural literacy, is frankly that I like exposing my son to books traditionally considered "girl" books, and I like to do expose my daughter to things generally pigeonholed as "boy" books. I also like making them listen to things that require a little more focus to get through (compared to, say, Captain Underpants), and this fit the bill. I'm glad I read it but don't know that I'll go out of my way to read more books in the series. ( )

This is one of my all-time favorite books that I've read at least a dozen times throughout my life. It's also one of my comfort reads. ( )

It took me until the last 100 pages to get into this story. I guess I just couldn’t relate to young Anne, but could appreciate her as she aged. I am not sure. In any case, I’ll be reading the next one in the series to see what happens next. ( )