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Lisa's Reviews > Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)
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Which books changed me as a reader?
One would like to answer that Tolstoy or Dostoevsky or Dickens or Lagerlöf or Proust determined my path as a lifelong reader. But I doubt that is the case for most of us. They are more often the effect of falling in love with an entirely different kind of book, a root cause leading all the way to tackling Ulysses.
One of the most inspiring books I read as a young girl was the seemingly endless series of Anne (with an "e"), who has all the odds against her, and yet grows up to be a loving, caring, independent and determined woman who consistently follows the path her heart and brain dictate to her, even or especially when it goes against the narrow conventions of her conservative environment. She doesn't win the hearts of her community by being sweet and subdued and grateful, though. She wins them by showing bravery and creativity!
She taught me to love the poem "The Lady of Shalott", and I learned it by heart with her! She taught me small town prejudice and the value of education to stand above pettiness. She taught me that love can exist in the strangest of places, and I think I loved her in the same way her shy stepfather Matthew did. She taught me that one can be wrong and still get it right.
Lucy Maud Montgomery taught me the power of storytelling to change the hearts of adolescents who are reading and living in the world of fiction. For I have grown up in rural Canada a century ago. Yes, I have, several times! Just like I grew up in an English boarding school with Sarah Crewe, admiring A Little Princess the most when she was starving.
...
On either side the river lie
long fields of barley and of rye
...
One would like to answer that Tolstoy or Dostoevsky or Dickens or Lagerlöf or Proust determined my path as a lifelong reader. But I doubt that is the case for most of us. They are more often the effect of falling in love with an entirely different kind of book, a root cause leading all the way to tackling Ulysses.
One of the most inspiring books I read as a young girl was the seemingly endless series of Anne (with an "e"), who has all the odds against her, and yet grows up to be a loving, caring, independent and determined woman who consistently follows the path her heart and brain dictate to her, even or especially when it goes against the narrow conventions of her conservative environment. She doesn't win the hearts of her community by being sweet and subdued and grateful, though. She wins them by showing bravery and creativity!
She taught me to love the poem "The Lady of Shalott", and I learned it by heart with her! She taught me small town prejudice and the value of education to stand above pettiness. She taught me that love can exist in the strangest of places, and I think I loved her in the same way her shy stepfather Matthew did. She taught me that one can be wrong and still get it right.
Lucy Maud Montgomery taught me the power of storytelling to change the hearts of adolescents who are reading and living in the world of fiction. For I have grown up in rural Canada a century ago. Yes, I have, several times! Just like I grew up in an English boarding school with Sarah Crewe, admiring A Little Princess the most when she was starving.
...
On either side the river lie
long fields of barley and of rye
...
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Inyourpants
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Jan 26, 2019 02:06AM
It was the Famous Five for me, and completely agree with this review :)
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Inyourpants wrote: "It was the Famous Five for me, and completely agree with this review :)"Thanks, Inyourpants! The Famous Five are a fond memory for me as well.
Oh, as a young girl I had started with Anne and then read almost everything L.M.Montgomery wrote. I loved her books dearly. Funny though, when I came back to her short stories a year ago, it sounded different, a bit silly even. I realised that I used to be far too romantic as a young woman, and that was L.M. Montgomery fault!! :-D
Monika wrote: "Oh, as a young girl I had started with Anne and then read almost everything L.M.Montgomery wrote. I loved her books dearly. Funny though, when I came back to her short stories a year ago, it sounde..."It is one of the most interesting things that we can do to revisit our young reading selves, I believe. We can see emotions that were long forgotten.
Such a beautiful review. For me the magic book which I read and reread countless times was The Lion, the Witch snd the Wardrobe. I learned so much about character from CS Lewis! And of course it made me love fantasy as genre.I have no idea how I missed reading the Anne of Green Gables books. Perhaps it’s not too late to give them a try.
Auf mich übt Anne seit jeher die gleiche Faszination aus, auch wenn ich den letzten Teil der Buch-Reihe reizlos finde. The Lady of Shalott kann ich zwar nicht auswendig rezitieren, aber ich liebe sie nicht minder, lese sie regelmäßig oder höre die musikalische Interpretation von Loreena McKennitt zu gern.
Renata wrote: "Such a beautiful review. For me the magic book which I read and reread countless times was The Lion, the Witch snd the Wardrobe. I learned so much about character from CS Lewis! And of course it ma..."It is never too late to discover a book, Renata! Thank you!
Antje wrote: "Auf mich übt Anne seit jeher die gleiche Faszination aus, auch wenn ich den letzten Teil der Buch-Reihe reizlos finde. The Lady of Shalott kann ich zwar nicht auswendig rezitieren, aber ich liebe s..."Oh ja, höre ich auch gerne, Antje, und denke an Anne :-)
Those books that have marked our reading life, when young, remain a treasure.
Delightful review, Lisa - such a joy how Anne inspired you as a reader and as model how one can grow into a openminded person and strong woman. I'd love to hear from our children which books will have marked and changed them within a few decades...
I'm glad to see this one getting your seal of approval, Lisa. My daughter loved Anne (with an "e"), too. After seeing what an appealing character she was from the TV series, I was happy she chose Anne as a role model. You gave such compelling reasons why Anne was so important to you as well!
Wonderful review, Lisa, and all the ways Anne inspired you. Somehow I never read these, though many of my friends did—I think now I must, even though it won’t be quite the same in middle age.... For me those great early life influencers with similar independent-minded heroines were Charlotte’s Web, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Thank you.
Kalliope wrote: "Those books that have marked our reading life, when young, remain a treasure."Yes! And we all have different entry points into the world of reading.
For I have grown up in rural Canada a century agoThat line sums the value of reading up perfectly, Lisa. We get to roam the world and travel through time and carry other loads than our own — all through the mirror of the printed page, which is a much safer mirror than the one in Shallot!
Ilse wrote: "Delightful review, Lisa - such a joy how Anne inspired you as a reader and as model how one can grow into a openminded person and strong woman. I'd love to hear from our children which books will h..."Oh yes! We'll have to remember to ask them! Right now, it always seems to be the last book they read :-)
Have you read the rest of the series?
Manybooks wrote: "Have you read the rest of the series?"Yes, all of them, several times, in different languages :-)
Steve wrote: "I'm glad to see this one getting your seal of approval, Lisa. My daughter loved Anne (with an "e"), too. After seeing what an appealing character she was from the TV series, I was happy she chose A..."Yes, and the TV series is nice too. I loved it.
Lisa wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "Have you read the rest of the series?"Yes, all of them, several times, in different languages :-)"
Is it worth reading in German? I heard it was quite abridged.
Lovely review, Lisa - and thank you for the nostalgic journey you took me on! :)
Jaline wrote: "Lovely review, Lisa - and thank you for the nostalgic journey you took me on! :)"You are most welcome, Jaline!
Caterina wrote: "Wonderful review, Lisa, and all the ways Anne inspired you. Somehow I never read these, though many of my friends did—I think now I must, even though it won’t be quite the same in middle age.... Fo..."Oh, I love your picks too, Caterina!
I was formed by "The Little Engine that Could".
Fionnuala wrote: "For I have grown up in rural Canada a century agoThat line sums the value of reading up perfectly, Lisa. We get to roam the world and travel through time and carry other loads than our own — all ..."
It is what makes reading so much more valuable to me than all my other interests - through reading, I get to do what I CAN'T do.
RK-ïsme wrote: "I was formed by "The Little Engine that Could"."Lovely one!
This book reached me as a little girl. I will never forget that day.
Beautiful review, Lisa!
