Anne of Green Gables

1908, undated 1980s Bantam Seal edition (see below)
L. M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables
Original price $3.95, purchase price $2.08
OK condition paperback
B


Judging from the bookstore stamp in the front, I didn't read this series till my early 20s.  Oddly enough, much of the book is from the perspective of adults, 50-something Marilla in particular.  Even more than with Tom Sawyer, we see Anne from the outside.  So we're well aware of how unique she is.  Never mind that she seems like a more interesting version of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and that some of her mishaps sound like variations of Jo March's mishaps.  Oddly enough, a lot of these mishaps are Marilla's fault, usually due to mislabeling liquids.  Anne will suffer, sometimes get punished, and then Marilla will realize what happened and sort of apologize.  Maybe this book is actually about Marilla, despite the title.  Certainly, she's more transformed than Anne by the end, becoming kinder and generally more emotional.


I don't like how the second half of the book just rushes through four years, after spending the first half on Anne's first year at Green Gables.  (The first quarter covers a couple weeks.)  I understand that Montgomery would want to include (spoilers) Matthew's death, Marilla's eyes, and Anne's decision to not go to college, but I would prefer that she either make the book longer, maybe the length of Little Women, or just split it into two, with this book going up to perhaps "Where the Brook and River Meet," where Anne spends her last summer as "a little girl," and tell us more about her early teens, and then the sequel could cover her last year at the Avonlea school and her year at Queen's.  Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm had this problem, too, but I was less invested in the characters.  Even the best friend, Diana, is much more of an individual here.

It's never explicitly said when the story is set, although there are electric lights in town and puffed sleeves even in the country.  If you don't mind more spoilers, check out this link that's worked out the dates of the series:  http://avonlea.hu/cd/websites/hendricks_paul/kindreds/chronology.html .  I agree with their calculations, and think this book covers 1876 to 1881.  Montgomery herself wasn't born till 1874, but there are definitely autobiographical elements.

I remember watching the quite good 1985 series, starring Megan Follows as Anne.  I probably saw it on cable a few years after it came out.  This Bantam edition shows Megan on the cover, perfectly fitting the first physical description of Anne, and the back says that it's "now a major television miniseries."  I think I watched the show and then bought a couple of the books.  I can't remember if I watched the sequels.