I love books madly, deeply, truly. I could never pick just one darling as my very favorite- but Anne of Green Gables, the series would be on my mythical top-list. I re-read the Anne series (all 8 books, yes! 8 books!) every few years...usually in the fall, for some reason. (I know why, really, it's because of the Sullivan film series, all that autumn splendor in Canada!)
I think I love Anne because she was written so real. She is lovable and smart; true, but she has comical flaws and makes mistakes. I love that the story isn't about Anne changing, but about how she changes those around her. In later books, you can see that Anne hasn't changed at all, she's just learned to not say everything out-loud. I think the person who changed the most in the books, is Marilla. Because of Anne, she gets the chance to have her heart completely thawed out and to become a mother, really. Others who are changed by her include, off the top of my head; Mrs. Lynde, Mr. Harrison (of swearing parrot fame), Katherine with a K, Anne's beautiful but troubled friend Leslie, little Elizabeth Grayson whose father finally came for her because of Anne....I could go on and on.
As someone trying to become a writer, I love the Anne series because somehow, using some magic I want to learn, L.M. Montgomery made the characters in the series so alive that I think about them and talk about the things that happened to them. The series is really funny, so many hilarious things happen, I am always telling Sky about funny incidents when they come to mind. Montgomery's characters are so alive, that I feel like I know them, and talk about them as if they were old friends. Sky has seen the Sullivan series a hundred times at least, but sadly, he hasn't felt the need to read the series...so, I fill him in on all the great stuff he has missed.
The last two books, in particular have much history woven into them. The last book, "Rilla of Ingleside" is about World War I -and most importantly, about what life was like for the families left behind at home, waiting for their boys to come back. I really recommend this book as great historical fiction for homeschool studies. -Don't even get me started on how the heathen movies "back to green gables" and whatever the other one was called....didn't even take place during the correct war of Anne's lifetime. grrr..... I haven't even seen them, they seemed to be such blasphemy. I'm getting mad just thinking about it....huff....
If you haven't read the Anne Series - do it! And yes, you have to read all eight. The last one is really sweet and hilarious and sad. I think the best and saddest thing about Anne is that she is probably who we'd like to be like, and who the author probably wanted to be- the best of her, I think. L.M. Montgomery was Anne, I suspect, the inner Anne- whose life somehow didn't follow the charmed route Anne's did, and that makes the series bittersweet. I know that parts of her life where intermingled with Anne's, and that Anne was some of what she was and some of what she wished she could attain to. When I read about Anne's feelings towards Gilbert, and for her children, I hope that Montgomery experienced those feelings as deeply as Anne did.
Here is the list of Anne Books, (many people don't realize that there are books #7 and #8)
- Anne of Green Gables
- Anne of Avonlea
- Anne of the Island
- Anne of Windy Poplars
- Anne's house of dreams
- Anne of Ingleside
- Rainbow Valley
- Rilla of Ingleside
*this is my first post in the April A-Z challenge, there's a handy button on my sidebar if you want to join up!