Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18675 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 312 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781402714511
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
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Customer Reviews

The imaginative Anne Shirley comes to live at Green Gables
In 1985 when I stumbled upon Kevin Sullivan's wonderful production of "Anne of Green Gables" with Megan Follows as Anne, Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla, and Richard Farnsworth as Mathew, it was my introduction to the Lucy Maud Montgomery's red-headed orphan. Like millions of others, I fell in love with the production and then proceeded to read this novel, the other seven books in the Anne Series, and then "The Chronicles of Avonlea," "The Story Girl," the "Jane of Lantern Hill" books, and every other thing written by Montgomery that I could get my hands on (and this was before all of those paperback collections of Montgomery's short stories were published).

In 1904 Montgomery had written down an idea for a story in her notebook: "Elderly couple apply to orphan asylum for a boy. By mistake a girl is sent them." In what must be heartening for many would be authors, Montgomery's manuscript for "Anne of Green Gables" was rejected repeated by publishers before it was finally accepted. The book was a bestseller from the moment it was published in June 1908 (I have a 19th impression printed in September 1910), although a critic in "The New York Times" complained that, "there is no real difference between the girl at the end of the story and the one at the beginning of it." Readers of the book would quite happy with that fact, because the reason we love this story is not that the talkative, red-haired orphan girl with her big green-grey eyes changes during the story, but that Marilla and Mathew Cuthbert, the elderly sister and brother who wanted to adopt a boy and got a girl instead, have changed profoundly.

Mark Twain described Anne Shirley as "The dearest and most moving and delightful child since the immortal Alice," and nobody has been able to top that statement. Supposedly Montgomery's description of her famous literary creation was based on a photography of Evelyn Nesbit, the notorious American beauty who was the mistress whose husband, Harry K. Thaw, shot and killed her love, Stanford White, in the first scandalous murder trial of the 20th century. I suppose there is something archetypal about stories about orphans, that allows young readers to identify with such characters and explains why generations of children have responded to such stories. But what sets Montgomery's creation apart is her ability to provide of laughter and tears, what with her vivid imagination and her great desire to be loved. You laugh over Anne's over wrought apology to Mrs. Rachel Lynde and how her introduction to Gilbert Blythe ends with her breaking a slate over his head. But then there are the wonderfully touching scenes when Marilla apologizes for refusing to believe Anne about her broach, when Mathew goes to town to get Anne a dress with puffed sleeves, and when the Reaper whose name is Death comes to visit Green Gables. There are just so many wonderful moments in this novel, which is the best in the series. When you read the rest of the books in the series, this is the one you will keep coming back to again and again to read once more your favorite parts (I just did).

I have two daughters and despite my best intentions I have never been able to persuade them to read "Anne of Green Gables." But given how long it took me to get around to them they still have at least a decade to beat me to the punch in relative terms, and I have the Sullivan productions on DVD so that I can use the same hook that worked so well one me. Once they do I am sure they will be just as captivated by all of the others who love the Anne-Girl and who have traveled to Prince Edward Island to see all of the sites that Montgomery translated into the world of Anne Shirley.

My favorite memory is when we went to "Green Gables." You go in through the front door and follow the way around the first floor and then up the stairs to the second floor. As I was at the bottom of those stairs the young woman watching the door had momentarily stopped the line entering the site. In this case that person who had to wait was a young Japanese girl, who looked to be about eight years old, and who was shivering in delight at the fact that she was standing on the threshold of Anne Shirley's Green Gables. That is how beloved Lucy Maud Montgomery's creation is almost a century after she was first set down on paper.

The classic is great, but the editing mistakes are annoying
I love Anne of Green Gables but found myself being pulled out of this book by all the editing mistakes (misspelled words, etc.). I definitely recommend the story, but not this edition of it.

Are you the kind of person who likes excitement?
Are you the kind of person who likes excitement? If so, you'll love this book.
This story takes place in Prince Edward Island, Canada around 1908. The main character, Anne Shirley, a red-headed, orphaned girl, is an exciting and imaginative 11-year-old who is adopted by two farmers, Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla. But Anne has a little problem: Marilla and Matthew had wanted a boy to help around the farm.
Now, Matthew likes Anne at once. He says that he wants Anne to stay to keep his sister company and that he would go back to the asylum and get a boy himself.
Marilla tells Matthew she isn't suffering from loneliness. You see, Marilla doesn't like Anne and doesn't trust her.
For example, one morning, Marilla asked Anne is she had seen her amethyst brooch, and Anne said, "Yes." Then Marilla asked if she had touched it, and again

Anne said, "Yes." Then Anne asked why she was being asked these questions.
Marilla said the brooch wasn't on the pin cushion any more, and accused Anne of taking it. Anne didn't take the brooch. She told this to Marilla, but Marilla called Anne a liar and told Anne that she couldn't go to the picnic until she confessed.
Anne really wanted to go to the picnic, so she made up a "reasonable" confession, saying it slipped out of her hand and fell into the Lake of Shining Waters.
Since she had told "the truth," Anne asked if she could go to the picnic, but the answer was no. Marilla went downstairs angrily and said she was going to go tell Mrs. Peter Blewett to take Anne away to her house first thing Wednesday morning, the day of the picnic.
Marilla had a big surprise when she put on her shawl. Matthew saw the brooch on it and told Marilla. She had to tell Anne that she could go to the picnic after all.
This book was so good that I cried at the end. Fortunately, there are other books in this series about exciting, imaginative Anne. They include Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside, and Christmas with Anne. As an older, adopted child myself, I am looking forward to reading them all.