Well, my suspicions about the series were verified when one of the facebook group members posted a short clip from one of the first few episodes. There's content in it that is akin to showing how sexual predators groom children.
Wait, what?!
HOW DARE YOU!?
Needless to say, after reading this and this, with it's smattering of invented feminist rhetoric by someone who previously worked on Breaking Bad, I'll never watch it:
“Adapting Anne’s story really excites me,” says Walley-Beckett,[...] “Anne’s issues are contemporary issues: feminism, prejudice, bullying and a desire to belong. The stakes are high and her emotional journey is tumultuous. I’m thrilled to delve deeply into this resonant story, push the boundaries and give it new life.”
I'm already pissed because of this angle. I was searching the youtube comments to see how many other people were outraged, because it can't just be me and a ton of other homeschooling moms who don't want our beloved Anne to be treated thus. Seems there's a lot of disappointment with the series so far, but two comments summed it up:
"Angst of Green Gables."
"I think it's Anne of Green gables but they've taken out all the colour and fun and made it grim and edgy. It's the emo version."
Update 4/28: I recently found this eye-roll-worthy article. It really seems like they're desperately trying to justify what Walley-Beckett is doing with the material, which should raise some alarm. When something is beautiful, you don't have to make excuses for it.
Beauty doesn't need to explain itself; it just IS.
Also, after reading this passage, my BS meter went straight through the roof:
What this means in practice is that the cheerful novel has, in Walley-Beckett’s hands, become much darker. Extrapolating from asides in the text, Walley-Beckett has fleshed out minor characters; given major ones back stories; drawn out themes of gender parity, prejudice, isolation and bullying; and emphasized the trauma of Anne’s childhood.
[...]
Walley-Beckett did not use a writer’s room for “Anne,” writing all seven scripts herself, and told me with no little pride that she was “almost completely off book.” To flesh out what she hopes will be an at-least-35-hour series, she filmed new histories for Matthew and Marilla that explain how they wound up emotionally remote and unmarried; reimagined one of the novel’s many spinsters as one-half of a long Boston marriage; conjured an entire character, the Cuthberts’ young farmhand, Jerry, from a few of Montgomery’s sentences; sent Marilla to a progressive parenting group in which “feminism” is complimentarily defined; aged Anne from 11 to 13; and accentuated Anne’s abusive upbringing while taking countless other liberties with the plot.
[...]
Viewers familiar with the books and previous adaptations may feel when watching “Anne With an E” that the emphasis is on the wrong syllable, while also finding something provoking and substantive in the new pronunciation. Walley-Beckett’s series is recognizably “Anne of Green Gables,” but with a grimmer feel. Anne still, for example, smashes a slate over the head of her future husband, Gilbert Blythe, when he has the temerity to call her “Carrots,” but this is no longer foreplay; it’s the culmination of many weeks of bullying, including by an older boy who calls her a “talking dog” because she is an orphan.
No longer foreplay?! WTF?! She's NINE!
[...]
And yet at the end of “Anne of Green Gables,” Anne quits college and returns to the farm to care for an ailing Marilla, never becoming the writer she wanted to be as a child. This is, perhaps, a disappointing ending (and one that presages a string of follow-up novels in which Anne eventually becomes muted by family life), but it is an honest one: We still live in a world where a woman’s intellect does not preclude her from accruing vast domestic responsibilities.
There it is. "Muted by family life." Now, I really really want to finish all of the Anne books just to freaking prove this article wrong.
UGH.
I'm sorry, but this just REEKS of invented feminist rhetoric. Any time you happen to use the words "extrapolate, sophisticated, contemporary, and quintessentially" in the same paragraph whilst writing about a work meant for children, I want to vomit. You're just trying too hard. They're trying to make a ball-buster out of a fiery, but positive, 9 year old girl by just PLUCKING THINGS OUT OF THE AIR. They're trying to turn Anne into an anti-hero. She wasn't written as an anti-hero. She was written as THE HEROINE, and a VIRTUOUS one at that! Part of me is just really annoyed that I used to have anything to do with that movement. It's just ridiculous, that's what.
Anne is not a Millennial. I think they're trying to turn her into one. Everything gives everyone PTSD lately. Back then, when people suffered greatly, THEY KNEW HOW TO DEAL WITH SUFFERING. They didn't sink into the depths of despair and stay there. They moved ON.
Lastly, I am not a 5 year old. 5-year-olds wouldn't be able to handle Anne in her entirety (because of the vocabulary and other things that a typical 5-year-old wouldn't understand), but they'd definitely be attracted to her innocence and ability to be childlike. This show won't be worth my viewing.
Recently, this excellent article was published in response to the "extracurricular" content in the new series.
Ah well, enough ranting. On to the books! I'm sure I'll read the rest of them some day, but for now, I'm just focusing on the first two. PS, I LOVE these editions that were published by Aladdin!
I'm going to do the regular format for this review, but I'm sticking initial reactions and notable quotables to each book to avoid confusion.
Anne of Green Gables
Lucy-Maud Montgomery
440 Pages, Reading time: 4 days
Back cover reads: When Anne Shirley arrives at Green Gables farm, she surprises everyone. First of all, she's a girl. Marilla Cuthbert and her brother, Matthew, had specifically asked for an orphan boy to help around the farm. And Anne (spelled with an e, of course--it make s it much more distinguished) is not just any girl. She has bright red hair and a wild imagination and can talk a mile a minute. But her sweet disposition and quick wit convince her reluctant foster parents to let her stay.
She soon finds her place, making a friend in her neighbor Diana Barry and attending the local school, were she spurns the advances of the popular and handsome Gilbert Blythe when he commits the ultimate sin of making fun of her hair. But trouble always seems to follow Anne. She manages to ruin a perfectly good cake with an unwanted ingredient, hosts a terrible tea with dire consequences, and even ends up dyeing her hair green. Luckily, she never makes the same mistake twice.
With a temper as fiery as her hair, but a big heart, Anne changes the lives of Marilla and Matthew and just about everyone she meets.
Initial Reaction: Now, I've nothing but the movie to go off of, but you have to understand that those actors ARE the characters for me. It was so great to delve deeply into each one. The movie does a great job, but it falls far short of the character development that Montgomery gives to the reader. We really get inside the heads of the Cuthberts and find out how amazing Rachel Lynde is. The movies are very true to the books. If it isn't said by the original character in the movie, it's said by someone else. Also, I love that the book begins with Rachel Lynde.
This was the first book in a very, very long time to actually make me cry. And I couldn't even help it because I knew it was coming. I started crying at the end of chapter 36 because I knew what was right around the corner. Oh, how he loved that little girl.
If I liked Marilla before, I love her now. She's such a choleric/melancholic. I really enjoyed getting to know her more through the book. In the movie, Colleen Dewhurst does a fabulous portrayal, but she doesn't come off as stiff and cold as Marilla does at first in the book. I think that this is largely due to the fact that we can see the character. Marilla finally comes around to Anne, and when she does, it's a beautiful thing to read. I also love the glints of her sense of humor that we get to see.
I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't as much sentiment between Anne and Gilbert in the books; they play it up a LOT in the movies. However, I'm sure they took great care in pushing what needed to be pushed given their 3 hour time limit. I was turning the pages praying that Anne would finally forgive him, but satisfaction wasn't mine until the last few pages.
Notable Quotables:
"Anne's beauty-loving eyes lingered on it all, taking every thing greedily in; she had looked on so many unlovely places in her life, poor child; but this was as lovely as anything she had ever dreamed" (45). This is one thing that I really love about the book, Anne does not dwell too much on her past, and neither does the narrator. Her positive outlook really lends a sense of hopefulness to the book. She keeps moving forward, regardless of what is behind her (except for the incident with Gilbert), and she rarely wallows in self-pity. This is evident on page 58 when she is explaining herself to Marilla. "Anne finished up with another sigh, of relief this time. Evidently she did not like talking about her experiences in a world that had not wanted her."
"My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes" (54). Said when Anne was 11. Bahahah.
"She looks exactly like a gimlet" (67). Bahahahah! This line in the movie always made me laugh.
"God always wants little girls to say their prayers" (71). LOVE. I might make some art out of this for the nursery of Smalls turns out to be a girl.
"Marilla felt more embarrassed than ever. She had intended to teach Anne the childish classic, Now I lay me down to sleep. But she had, as I have told you, the glimmerings of a sense of humor-which is simoly another name for a sense of the fitness of things; and it suddenly occurred to her that that simple little prayer, sacred to white-robed childhood lisping at motherly knees, was entirely unsuited to this freckled witch of a girl who knew and cared nothing about God's love, since she had never had it translated to her through the medium of human love" (73). This. Marilla won me over with this. It was so touching.
"Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those delightful and popular people who pride themselves on speaking their mind without fear or favor" (91).
"I'm really very healthy for all I'm so thin. I believe I'm getting fatter, though. Don't you think I am? I look at my elbows every morning when I get up to see if any dimples are coming" (131). Oh, to live in a world where skinny wasn't the norm.
"Oh, Marilla, looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them" (133).
"'I am sorry to see a pupil of mine displaying such a temper and such a vindictive spirit,' he said in solemn tone, as if the mere fact of being a pupil of his ought to root out all evil passions from the hearts of small imperfect mortals" (158). Bahahahah!
"'Mrs. Barry had her table decorated,' said Anne, who was not entirely guiltless of the wisdom of the serpent" (247). I love that Montgomery assumes we know to what this sentence alludes.
"At that moment Marilla had a revelation. In the sudden stab of fear that pierced her very heart she realized what Anne had come to mean to her. She would have admitted that she liked Anne-nay, that she was very fond of Anne. But now she knew as she hurried wildly down the slope that Anne was dearer to her than anything else on earth" (264). Oh, love.
"When she pronounces my name I feel instinctively that she's spelling it with an e" (270).
"He had recourse to his pipe that evening to help him study it out, much to Marilla's disgust. After two hours of smoking and hard reflection Matthew arrived at a solution of his problem. Anne was not dressed like the other girls! [...] But surely it would do no harm to let the child have one pretty dress-something like Diana Barry always wore. Matthew decided that he would give her one; that surely could not be objected to as an unwarranted putting in of his oar. Christmas was only a fortnight off. A new nice dress would be the very thing for a present. Matthew, with a sigh of satisfaction, put away his pipe and went to bed, while Marilla opened all the doors and aired the house" (277-78). Matthew is a straight up Melancholic/Phlegmatic. I love him.
"For Anne, the days slipped by like golden beads on the necklace of the year" (349). Gorgeous.
"'Well now, I'd rather have you than a dozen boys, Anne,' said Matthew, patting her hand. 'Just mind you that-rather than a dozen boys. Well now, I guess it wasn't a boy that took the Avery scholarship, was it? It was a girl--my girl--my girl that I'm proud of'" (417). And this is where I start bawling, because I know what's going to happen in a few pages.
"'We are going to be the best of friends,' said Gilbert, jubilantly. 'We were born to be good friends, Anne. You've thwarted destiny long enough. I know we can help each other in many ways'" (439). Oh, how he loves her.
Great words: raiment, tempestuous, perturbation, inculcate, superfluous, qualm, dudgeon, dejectedly, rigmarole, grimly, inveigled, spasmodic.
Anne of Avonlea
210 Pages, Reading time: Would have been less than a week under normal circumstances
Back cover reads: Anne paused to throw her arm about a slim young birch at kiss its cream-white trunk. Diana, rounding a curve in the path, saw her and laughed.
"Anne Shirely, you're only pretending to be grown up. I believe when you're alone you're as much a little girl as you ever were."
"Well, one can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once," said Anne gaily. "You see, I was little for fourteen years and I've only been grown-uppish for scarcely three. I'm sure I shall always feel like a child in the woods."
Initial Reaction: Wow. This one was definitely not as good as the first book. It has it's charm, but you can definitely tell that Anne is growing up. Comparing it to the movie, several things are taken from the book and changed a little for the movie, but it still stays true to the spirit of the books. It ended on the up-tick, which I like, and it did make me hungry to keep reading the rest of the series. It took me over a week to read it because I couldn't find the time.
Notable Quoteables:
"Mr. Harrison was certainly different from other people... and that is the essential characteristic of a crank, as everybody knows" (8).
"Mrs. Lynde looked upon all people who had the misfortune to be born or brought up elsewhere than in Prince Edward Island with a decided can-any-good-thing-come-out-of-Nazareth air. They might be good people of course; but you were on the safe side in doubting it. She had a special prejudice against "Yankees." Her husband had been cheated out of then dollars by an employer for whom he had once worked it Boston and neither angels nor principalities nor powers could have convinced Mrs. Rachel that the whole United States was not responsible for it" (13). First: Bahahahaha. Second, I love that Montgomery allude to scripture and assumes that we know where it's coming from.
"The remembrance of her own neglected childhood was very vivid with her still" (47).
"(Rachel Lynde can put a whole sermon, text, comment, and application, into six words, and throw it at you like a brick" (54). Bahahahahah!
"Everything that's worth having is some trouble," said Anne (56).
"Everybody else in Avonlea, except Marilla, had already forgotten quiet, shy, unimportant Matthew Cuthbert; but his memory was still green in Anne's heart and always would be. She could never forget the kind old man who had been the first to give her the love and sympathy her starved childhood craved" (97).
"Both girls laughed over the old memory...concerning which, if any of my readers are ignorant and curious, I must refer them to Anne's earlier history" (188). Heh.
"...it is still not pleasant to have faces made at you. And Davy makes such terrible ones. Sometimes I am frightened he will never get his face straightened out again. He makes them at me in church when I ought to be thinking of sacred things" (126, from Paul Irving, 9 years old). Dawwwww.
"Anne thought Gilbert was a very handsome lad, even though he didn't look at all like her ideal man. [...] If Gilbert had been asked to describe his ideal woman the description would have answered point for point to Anne, even to those seven tiny freckles whose obnoxious presence still continued to vex her soul" (130).
"In Gilbert's eyes Anne's greatest charm was the fact that she never stooped to the petty practices of so many of the Avonlea girls- the small jealousies, the little deceits and rivalries, the palpable bids for favor. Anne held herself apart from all this, not consciously or of design, but simply because anything of the sort was utterly foreign to her transparent, impulsive nature, crystal clear in its motives and aspirations" (130).
"Mr. Harrison was certainly different from other people... and that is the essential characteristic of a crank, as everybody knows" (8).
"Mrs. Lynde looked upon all people who had the misfortune to be born or brought up elsewhere than in Prince Edward Island with a decided can-any-good-thing-come-out-of-Nazareth air. They might be good people of course; but you were on the safe side in doubting it. She had a special prejudice against "Yankees." Her husband had been cheated out of then dollars by an employer for whom he had once worked it Boston and neither angels nor principalities nor powers could have convinced Mrs. Rachel that the whole United States was not responsible for it" (13). First: Bahahahaha. Second, I love that Montgomery allude to scripture and assumes that we know where it's coming from.
"The remembrance of her own neglected childhood was very vivid with her still" (47).
"(Rachel Lynde can put a whole sermon, text, comment, and application, into six words, and throw it at you like a brick" (54). Bahahahahah!
"Everything that's worth having is some trouble," said Anne (56).
"Everybody else in Avonlea, except Marilla, had already forgotten quiet, shy, unimportant Matthew Cuthbert; but his memory was still green in Anne's heart and always would be. She could never forget the kind old man who had been the first to give her the love and sympathy her starved childhood craved" (97).
"Both girls laughed over the old memory...concerning which, if any of my readers are ignorant and curious, I must refer them to Anne's earlier history" (188). Heh.
"...it is still not pleasant to have faces made at you. And Davy makes such terrible ones. Sometimes I am frightened he will never get his face straightened out again. He makes them at me in church when I ought to be thinking of sacred things" (126, from Paul Irving, 9 years old). Dawwwww.
"Anne thought Gilbert was a very handsome lad, even though he didn't look at all like her ideal man. [...] If Gilbert had been asked to describe his ideal woman the description would have answered point for point to Anne, even to those seven tiny freckles whose obnoxious presence still continued to vex her soul" (130).
"In Gilbert's eyes Anne's greatest charm was the fact that she never stooped to the petty practices of so many of the Avonlea girls- the small jealousies, the little deceits and rivalries, the palpable bids for favor. Anne held herself apart from all this, not consciously or of design, but simply because anything of the sort was utterly foreign to her transparent, impulsive nature, crystal clear in its motives and aspirations" (130).
"The next day, Mirabel Cotton was kept in at recess and 'gently but firmly' given to understand that when you were so unfortunate as to possess an uncle who persisted in walking about houses after he had been decently interred it was not in good taste to talk about that eccentric gentleman to your deskmate of tender years" (139-40). Bahahah.
"...They found a road leading into the heart of acres of glimmering beech and maple woods, which were all in a wondrous glow of flame and gold, lying in a great purple stillness and peace" (140).
"It seems irreverent, like running in a church" (140). BOOM. They knew what reverence looked like in the early 1900s
"My name (Anne) just smacks of bread and butter, patchwork and chores" (148).
"I think people make their names nice or ugly just by what they are themselves. I can't bear Josie or Gertie for names now but before I knew the Pye girls I thought them real pretty" (148). This is so true. I wouldn't dare name any of my children Anna or Becky or Shawn-Patrick. *shudder* Sorry to all the Annas and Beckys and Shawn-Patricks that I know out there who are great, but there are three specific ones that have turned me off the names
"Pride and sulkiness make a very bad combination, Anne" (155). Yeeeaaaaahhhh. I need to work on that.
"...they sat on the front door steps and listened to the silver-sweet chorus of the frogs" (158).
" 'Was the storm bad at White Sands, Gilbert?'
'I should say so. I was caught in the school with all the children and I thought some of them would go mad with fright. Three of them fainted, and two girls took to hysterics, and Tommy Blewett did nothing but shriek at the top of his voice the whole time' "(163). Bahahah! What great imagery! I suspect that Tommy Blewett is a relation of the gimlet-compared Mrs. Blewett of the first book. Bahahahaha!
"Dora will make a good , reliable woman but she'll never set the pond on fire" (177). From the mouth of Rachel Lynde. Bahahaha!
"I shall never forget the thrill that went over me the day you told me you loved me. I had such a lonely, starved heart all through my childhood. I'm just beginning to realize how starved and lonely it really was. Nobody cared anything for me or wanted to be bothered with me. I should have been miserable if it hadn't been for that strange little dream-life of min, wherein I imagined all the friends I loved and craved. But when I came to Green Gables everything was changed" (181-182). Anne reflecting a little on her past. I still really enjoy the fact that Anne/Montgomery don't make a it a point to dwell on the darker details of Anne's past.
"The mail carrier was a rather grumpy old personage who did not at all look the part of a messenger of Cupid" (196). Heh.
"But somehow I wouldn't want Fred to be tall and slender... because, don't you see, he wouldn't be Fred then" (204). Find someone who feels this way about you. I've been blessed enough to find him.
"For a moment Anne's heart fluttered queerly and for the first time her eyes faltered under Gilbert's gaze and a rosy flush stained the paleness of her face. It was as if a veil that had hung before her inner consciousness had been lifted, giving to her view a revelation of unsuspected feelings and realities. Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps...perhaps... love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath" (210). Yes. *sigh*
"...They found a road leading into the heart of acres of glimmering beech and maple woods, which were all in a wondrous glow of flame and gold, lying in a great purple stillness and peace" (140).
"It seems irreverent, like running in a church" (140). BOOM. They knew what reverence looked like in the early 1900s
"My name (Anne) just smacks of bread and butter, patchwork and chores" (148).
"I think people make their names nice or ugly just by what they are themselves. I can't bear Josie or Gertie for names now but before I knew the Pye girls I thought them real pretty" (148). This is so true. I wouldn't dare name any of my children Anna or Becky or Shawn-Patrick. *shudder* Sorry to all the Annas and Beckys and Shawn-Patricks that I know out there who are great, but there are three specific ones that have turned me off the names
"Pride and sulkiness make a very bad combination, Anne" (155). Yeeeaaaaahhhh. I need to work on that.
"...they sat on the front door steps and listened to the silver-sweet chorus of the frogs" (158).
" 'Was the storm bad at White Sands, Gilbert?'
'I should say so. I was caught in the school with all the children and I thought some of them would go mad with fright. Three of them fainted, and two girls took to hysterics, and Tommy Blewett did nothing but shriek at the top of his voice the whole time' "(163). Bahahah! What great imagery! I suspect that Tommy Blewett is a relation of the gimlet-compared Mrs. Blewett of the first book. Bahahahaha!
"Dora will make a good , reliable woman but she'll never set the pond on fire" (177). From the mouth of Rachel Lynde. Bahahaha!
"I shall never forget the thrill that went over me the day you told me you loved me. I had such a lonely, starved heart all through my childhood. I'm just beginning to realize how starved and lonely it really was. Nobody cared anything for me or wanted to be bothered with me. I should have been miserable if it hadn't been for that strange little dream-life of min, wherein I imagined all the friends I loved and craved. But when I came to Green Gables everything was changed" (181-182). Anne reflecting a little on her past. I still really enjoy the fact that Anne/Montgomery don't make a it a point to dwell on the darker details of Anne's past.
"The mail carrier was a rather grumpy old personage who did not at all look the part of a messenger of Cupid" (196). Heh.
"But somehow I wouldn't want Fred to be tall and slender... because, don't you see, he wouldn't be Fred then" (204). Find someone who feels this way about you. I've been blessed enough to find him.
"For a moment Anne's heart fluttered queerly and for the first time her eyes faltered under Gilbert's gaze and a rosy flush stained the paleness of her face. It was as if a veil that had hung before her inner consciousness had been lifted, giving to her view a revelation of unsuspected feelings and realities. Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps...perhaps... love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath" (210). Yes. *sigh*
Great words: demure, furtively, dubiously, averring, latent, animadverted, raiment, tremulous, lissome, extricate, indignantly, coquettish, predilection, discrepancy, waylaid, pervaded, peregrination, erstwhile, superfluous, plenishings, congenial,
Regarding both books:
Promote Virtue? Yes. The many, many characters, but especially Anne, are completely aware of their faults and are sincerely trying to be good Christian people.
Transcendentals? The book is just imbued with beautiful description. The people of Avonlea are, for the most part, Christians, but all strive to know the truth and be genuinely good. The characters are also acutely aware of their faults, and they strive to overcome them.
Overcome human condition? Yes. there are several struggles represented in the book. The main one being Anne's darker, sad past. However, she doesn't dwell on it. She moves forward and remains positive. She does also not give in to the feminine stereotypes of the times. Anne is a splendid role model for any reader because of her great and positive outlook. Even though she has a temper, she sincerely tries to keep it in check.
Attitude toward Catholicism? None, but I'm not really a fan of this one: "When I carried it in I was imagining I was a nun-of course I'm a Protestant but I imagined I was a Catholic- taking the veil to bury a broken heart in cloistered seclusion" (177, emphasis mine).
There is also a scene in Green Gables where Anne is asking Marilla why there aren't any ministers who are women. They're all Protestant, so they do things differently, but it'll be a great teaching moment when I read this with my kids.
There is also a scene in Green Gables where Anne is asking Marilla why there aren't any ministers who are women. They're all Protestant, so they do things differently, but it'll be a great teaching moment when I read this with my kids.
Paganry? None
Swearing? Nope
Violence? Nope
Appropriate age? I'd definitely say that the first book is appropriate as a read-aloud for age 7+. The second book is a tad bit calmer. It still has that adventurous air, but it's a bit more dry, because Anne is more grown up than the first book. I'd say that a good independent reading age for this would be 9+. There are a LOT of big words, though, so a dictionary would be useful to have on hand.
Writing Style: She is sort of Dickensian in some places. The first sentence of the novel is 14.5 lines long! She does an amazing job of showing us that Anne is a chatterbox, giving her paragraphs upon pages of dialogue without taking a breath in the first half of the book.
An excellent example of description: "Anne reveled in the drive to the hall, slipping along over the satin-smooth roads with the snow crisping under the runners. There was a magnificent sunset, and the snowy hills and deep blue water of the St. Lawrence Gulf seemed to rim in the splendor like a huge bowl of pearl and sapphire brimmed with wine and fire" (216).
An excellent example of description: "Anne reveled in the drive to the hall, slipping along over the satin-smooth roads with the snow crisping under the runners. There was a magnificent sunset, and the snowy hills and deep blue water of the St. Lawrence Gulf seemed to rim in the splendor like a huge bowl of pearl and sapphire brimmed with wine and fire" (216).
Final Summation: Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea are charming books that start off a classic set. I think that my viewing of the movies as a child really made me biased toward the series in a good way. As an adult, I enjoyed these first two books, but I'm pretty sure I would have loved them even more as a kid. I can't wait to read them aloud to mine. There fore, Anne of Green Gables is
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