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Heaven: January Book Group - Anne of Green Gables

SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
edited April 2021 in Limbo
January 2020's Book Group choice is Anne of Green Gables. This 1908 novel is one of my favourites, and from what people have already said, I think it's a favourite of lots of people on here too.
If you think it's not for you this article might change your mind. It does contain at least one spoiler for the rest of the series though.
I'll post some questions on the 20th.
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Comments

  • MiliMili Shipmate
    I've read it many times over and will definitely be joining the discussion after another reread.
  • I have several versions of this and live in Anne's Land, quite near the locations where Lucy M. Montgomery lived and wrote. Am happy to read it again.
  • MaramaMarama Shipmate
    I went to get my copy, and couldn't find it. Then I remembered that the eldest granddaughter took it home with her after starting it here. So I've gone out and bought another copy - this is a book I want to own, and granddaughter needs a copy too, to share with her younger sister.
  • TrudyTrudy Heaven Host
    Always happy for a reread of Anne, and if I don't get time to reread, I'll probably jump into the discussion anyway as it's a book I know so well.
  • I’m in. I loved this book as a child. Haven’t read it since. It will be lovely to revisit it.
  • I have read this book many times, and love it. Looking forward to discussing it!
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    I pulled it up on my e-reader and hope to finish in time to join you all! I've never read this book before.
  • @jedijudy that will make the discussion more interesting as most people read this through a haze of memory. We read it in a RL book group a couple of years ago, and those who had no rosy memories of it were a lot more critical. (The member who could not get hold of it but read instead “Kilmany of the Orchard” just about derailed the discussion as that book is u adulterated sugar and tripe - not a good recipe,)
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    edited January 2020
    My sisters had it when we were growing up - and from vague memory there were others in the series. I picked it up for something to read in a wet school holiday. Not one I'd go back to even if it rained the entire summer holiday. Otoh, we'd not mind going to the general area, it sounds a very pleasant part of the world.
  • Barnabas62Barnabas62 Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    We visited Prince Edward Island a few years ago and went to the museum. A lovely experience. We both love the books and the heroine.

    Although it is not for purists, we've found a recent Netflix series, Anne with an E, to be a very powerful reminder of the much loved characters in the original books. In particular, Amybeth McNulty's performance as Anne is remarkable and has won her awards. Although the series is more a reimagining, with some storylines not in the books, it has sent us back to re-read the original.

    Time and RL permitting, I will be joining you!
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Alas, I suspect that Barnabas Aus's health would prevent his joining us!
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    This morning I started rereading Anne. The first sentence almost made me give up. After that it became delightful.
  • SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
    So glad we are getting the new year off to a good start with lots of interest in Anne of Green Gables. The Anne with an E series almost sounds worth getting a Netflix subscription for.
  • I’ve never read this before, so I’m minded to join in. I had been saving it till I visited this part of Canada but that now looks unlikely.
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    As an ex English teacher: don't watch the video, read the book!
  • There are several movies and series that are centred on Anne's story and each has its own attraction. We meet people regularly who have seen them and are in love with the character. I agree with you that the book should be the foundation. :) Tree Bee, maybe reading it will convince you to come for a visit! You are most welcome.
  • SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
    I've always wanted to visit Prince Edward Island due to reading the books so many times. I also remember enjoying the BBC series years ago. They did quite a few of the books.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    As an ex English teacher: don't watch the video, read the book!
    Ahh-men!

  • NenyaNenya All Saints Host, Ecclesiantics & MW Host
    I made sure I could find my copy this afternoon and am planning to join in. :smile:
  • I have now devoured the book in one day! Now I’m starting to read the following books because after the first volume’s story, I want to know what happens next.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    I read all the Anne books multiple time when I was young. I have found my old copy of Anne of Green Gables - First Canadian Paperback Edition, 1968 - and have started to re-read it. It brings back so many memories!
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    I'm surprised the first paperback was as late as 68. Especially in Canada.
  • SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
    I finished it the other night and had to restrain myself from going straight on to the next book, even though I've read them all loads of times.
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    I really enjoyed the first book. Having gone on to the second, I'm not as impressed.
  • Take your time, Robert Armin. It grows on you. :)
  • The last couple in the series are the best.
  • I seem to recall the copy I owned as a 9-year-old was a paperback we actually bought at Green Gables Heritage Site, the PEI farmstead (now run by Parks Canada) that LMM used a model for the farm in the novel. I think that's also about the last time I read the book - it must have been before I was 10 because I remember borrowing and reading Anne of Avonlea from my school library the following year.

    I don't think I'm going to get a chance to re-read at the moment but looking forward to reading other people's impressions.
  • TrudyTrudy Heaven Host
    Ruth wrote: »
    I read all the Anne books multiple time when I was young. I have found my old copy of Anne of Green Gables - First Canadian Paperback Edition, 1968 - and have started to re-read it. It brings back so many memories!

    Is that this edition, Ruth? This is the one I had as a child, probably bought in 1974 before our first family trip to PEI.
  • That's the one I had too.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    Yes, that's the one, and unlike a lot of other old paperbacks it's holding up well.
  • NenyaNenya All Saints Host, Ecclesiantics & MW Host
    The last couple in the series are the best.

    I clearly need to seek them out.
  • EigonEigon Shipmate
    I couldn't get on with Rilla of Ingleside (I wanted to slap her!) - though she did improve as the book went on.
  • I think she was intended to be slap worthy at the start.
  • TrudyTrudy Heaven Host
    I adore Rilla — a couple of times in the last few years I’ve reread it cover to cover on Remembrance Day, bawling my eyes out over Dog Monday every time.
  • When I first read Rilla I remember thinking it was the most profound anti-war book I had come across. I was about 17 then, so I have read more now, but it still shows how pathetic war is in a powerful way.
  • TukaiTukai Shipmate
    edited January 2020
    I read this book years ago with my then 8 year old daughter. I think we must have read page and page about. she enjoyed it , and (even though I am a man) I liked it well enough to keep going then. Prompted by my wife, I have re-read it this month , and stand ready fro discussion.
  • EigonEigon Shipmate
    Completely agree about the anti-war message in Rilla - that was very good.
  • SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
    I'll pop some questions up on Monday. So glad we have lots of people interested in discussing this book (and maybe its sequels)
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    Currently on book 4, and still interested. But haven't come across a Rilla so far.
  • You won’t come across a Rilla for a while yet.....
  • TrudyTrudy Heaven Host
    See, I don't think Rilla is an anti-war book, except accidentally. What strikes me re-reading it now -- and, don't get me wrong, I love the book -- is how completely Montgomery bought in to the British/Canadian/Empire pro-war attitude. Rilla and the entire Blythe clan and Glen St. Mary community are 100% behind King and Country, and even when the whole horrible thing is over, they never have a minute's question or doubt that it was all worth something -- that their boys died in some glorious sacrifice that would make a better world possible. It's devastating to me to read those final pages of the book, with Jem's stirring speech about What It All Means and everything, and realize that the children of those returned soldiers might be just of age to go back to Europe in 1939 and do it all over again .... So it is an anti-war message to me as a post-WW2 reader, but I don't think LMM intended it as an anti-war book. The only pacifist in the novel gets pretty rough treatment.
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    @Ruth, when you said the last two books are the best which did you mean? This series is longer than I first thought!
  • @Trudy you are tight. I guess I meant tat to me it was an anti-war statement, probably precisely because it was not written that way....

    @Robert Armin the last two books are, IIRC Anne of Ingleside And Rilla of Ingleside.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    @Ruth, when you said the last two books are the best which did you mean? This series is longer than I first thought!

    That was Lamb Chopped. My favourites when I was young were Anne of the Island and Anne's House of Dreams, about when she goes to college and the first year of her marriage, because I thought they were so romantic. I don't know if I'd think the same way now, but I'm thinking of rereading them all to find out!
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    Wow, autocorrect gave me the UK spelling of "favorite"!
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    Ruth wrote: »
    Wow, autocorrect gave me the UK spelling of "favorite"!

    An accurate autocorrect! ;) Praise the Lord!
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    Ruth wrote: »
    @Ruth, when you said the last two books are the best which did you mean? This series is longer than I first thought!

    That was Lamb Chopped. My favourites when I was young were Anne of the Island and Anne's House of Dreams, about when she goes to college and the first year of her marriage, because I thought they were so romantic. I don't know if I'd think the same way now, but I'm thinking of rereading them all to find out!

    Thank you for putting me right. @Lamb Chopped, which two books did you reckon were best? I'm nearly at the end of book 4 now, and want to know if I should keep going.
  • SarasaSarasa All Saints Host
    edited January 2020
    Here you can find a list of the books in reading order, complete with a brief synopsis. I think Rilla of Ingleside is one of my favourites, though I've never thought of it as being intentionally anti-war.
  • You may need a breather in between the "Anne" books. It's a long while since I read most of them but I think that they need to rest with you inbetween. The three "Rainbow Valley" books, also by L. M. Montgomery, are a delightful read. My favourite of all of her books is "The Blue Castle".
  • I suppose I should have said three. Anne's House of Dreams is very good just in terms of plot; Anne of Ingleside--well, it's rather over-full of babies and toddlers for my liking, but it's not bad. Rilla of Ingleside is maybe the best in terms of characters and plot. I'm sorry, folks, but Anne's quaint "philosophy" rather wears on me after a while--while I like her, I like her best when she is not chattering endlessly, endlessly, endlessly on!
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