Classics for Beginners discussion

This is the thread that gives information about L.M. Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. This thread can also include any discussions about the old and new versions of films about the book. This is also the spoiler thread. Please use this thread to discuss any aspect of the book that might be a spoiler to a first time reader.

Hi everyone!

I first read this book when I was about 12 yrs old, and fell in love with Anne and the people of Prince Edward Island. I was later thrilled when PBS aired Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea in 1985 and 1987.

It 's been a long time since I spent time with Anne, and am looking forward to the journey. I started reading the book last night and was as instantly enthralled as I was as a little girl. I hope you will enjoy the book just as much.


A little information for you, courtesy of Wickipedia:

Anne of Green Gables is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a children's novel since the mid-twentieth century. It recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan girl who is mistakenly sent to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged brother and sister who had intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm in the fictional town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island. The novel recounts how Anne makes her way with the Cuthberts, in school, and within the town.

Since its publication, Anne of Green Gables has sold more than 50 million copies and has been translated into 20 languages. Montgomery wrote numerous sequels, and since her death, another sequel has been published, as well as an authorized prequel. The original book is taught to students around the world.

The book has been adapted as films, made-for-television movies, and animated and live-action television series. Musicals and plays have also been created, with productions annually in Canada since 1964 of the first musical production, which has toured in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Japan.


Background:

In writing the novel, Montgomery was inspired by notes she had made as a young girl about a couple who were mistakenly sent an orphan girl instead of the boy they had requested yet decided to keep her. She drew upon her own childhood experiences in rural Prince Edward Island, Canada. Montgomery used a photograph of Evelyn Nesbit, which she had clipped from New York’s Metropolitan Magazine and put on the wall of her bedroom, as the model for the face of Anne Shirley and a reminder of her "youthful idealism and spirituality."

Montgomery was also inspired by the "formula Ann" orphan stories (called such because they followed such a predictable formula) which were popular at the time and distinguished her character by spelling her name with an extra "e". She based other characters, such as Gilbert Blythe, in part on people she knew. She said she wrote the novel in the twilight of the day, while sitting at her window and overlooking the fields of Cavendish.

I listened to this on my Kindle and I loved it. I admit I did cry on one part. I don't know how I got through girlhood without reading this.

Danielle, you never read this before? I thought every girl had read this at least once. Prince Edward Island bases much of its tourism on this book.

I knew a girl from Texas who had 10 days off and DROVE from Texas to PEI just to see the sites!

I, also, did not read Anne of Green Gables as a child. My first encounter with Anne was on PBS... and then I read the books. I can't imagine how I missed this. But the gift of the series is it is ageless and can be read and re-read at any stage of life.

Linda wrote: "I, also, did not read Anne of Green Gables as a child. My first encounter with Anne was on PBS... and then I read the books. I can't imagine how I missed this. But the gift of the series is it is a..."

So true. I still find it delightful many decades after first reading it.

This is an interesting article the mentions the author: http://mentalfloss.com/article/62592/...

It also talks about the books popularity in Japan, of all places!

That is so interesting! So, I read it as a girl and I really can't remember how I ended up getting (or wanting to get?) the first book of the series. But I loved it so much that I read all the others as well. However, I don't think the book is or at least was at the time widely famous in Germany. I don't think any of my friends read it. Or, let's say, I don't know about anyone who did. There might have been some that I read it and I don't know that but you get what I want to saÿ: it's not a book everyone knows about. So, I only realized that this was so popular when I started having international friends that love books as well and we talked about our childhood favourite reads. Also, I don't know whether the TV adaptations aired in Germany but I didn't know about them until very recently. And also only recently I learned about PEI having a significant tourism industry built around it. Part of me would love to go. Part of me thinks that I might just simply be very disappointed because I just can't be exactly the way I imagine it. Has anyone of you been there?

☯Emily wrote: "This is an interesting article the mentions the author: http://mentalfloss.com/article/62592/...

It also talks about the books popularity in Japan,..."

That is such an interesting article, thanks for sharing, Emily!! Some parts are quite impressive (Ane having played a role in Polish resistance), some funny (I can't stop smiling at the thought of a bunch of middle-aged Japanese ladies with pig tails dyed red hopping through a small Canadian town..) but some also make me a bit sad (all the merchandise and stuff). Why is it that we can't just enjoy what it is without having to make money out of it? Actually, it also makes me sad to know that LM Montgomery had such a tragic life and even committed suicide at the end (how desperate does one have to be to do that?) while also creating this inspiring little girl full of joy at life and full of love for others around her?

I am so glad that I was home when I read Chapter 25 where Matthew attempts to buy a dress for Anne and comes home with (view spoiler)[twenty pounds of brown sugar and "not good sugar either." (hide spoiler)] I laughed and snorted loudly in my bedroom!

It does seem that Anne takes her hatred of Gilbert a little to the extreme. It is not as if he constantly teased and tortured her. I was very disappointed in her ungratefulness at his timely rescue of her when her boat sank.

☯Emily wrote: "It does seem that Anne takes her hatred of Gilbert a little to the extreme. It is not as if he constantly teased and tortured her. I was very disappointed in her ungratefulness at his timely rescue..."

I never felt that she did really hate him. I think that in the beginning she impulsively disliked him because of him teasing her and then she was just too proud to change her behaviour. She just didn't know how to do that and she maybe also did not want to admit that she overreacted a bit. And then this just dragged on and making a small step towards him became immensely difficult. I remember that for a long time I found it hard to admit that I was wrong and to say sorry because I felt like loosing my face, so that I rather kept my head high pretending that all was just right the way it was while actually feeling quite bad from the inside. It took me a lot of effort to change that.

I love Matthew! He might be my favourite person in the whole story. Sometimes I'm sad for him that he didn't find a nice, loving girl who took him for what he was and saw his good heart and founded a family with him. He would have been a good father. (I mean, good for Anne that hadn't happened because who would have changed Marilla's opinion then?)

☯Emily wrote: "It does seem that Anne takes her hatred of Gilbert a little to the extreme. It is not as if he constantly teased and tortured her. I was very disappointed in her ungratefulness at his timely rescue..."

I think it was the humiliation of the situation -- needing to be rescued, and then to have him be the rescuer -- that dictated her behavior in that scene, but it does say that she realized later that she had forgiven him. I also think she kept the "feud" alive so as to challenge herself academically. He gave her a reason to excel and do better not only in school, but out of it as well.

Nina wrote: "☯Emily wrote: " it also makes me sad to know that LM Montgomery had such a tragic life"

I haven't read the whole series, but I've read that the books got more bitter as Montgomery's marriage worsened.

Another interesting article...


10 Things You Might Not Know About Anne of Green Gables
By Linda Rodriguez Mcrobbie | April 1, 2015

Lucy Maud (without an e, thanks) Montgomery’s classic bildungsroman, Anne of Green Gables, was published to massive—Harry Potter levels—success in 1908, spawning a whole series of sequels, a bustling tourism industry for the Canadian island where the books were set, and a worldwide enduring love affair with the feisty Anne “with an ‘e’” Shirley.

Montgomery finished Anne in 1905, and it took her six tries to find the novel a publisher. That sixth publisher, the Page Company of Boston, Mass., was very lucky: The original book was a runaway bestseller, selling 19,000 copies in the first five months and sprinting through 10 printings in its first year alone. The following year, it was translated into Swedish, the first of at least 20 different languages Anne would be published in. More than 50 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide, and it is probably still the most widely read Canadian novel in the world.


Continue reading

Phil wrote: "Nina wrote: "☯Emily wrote: " it also makes me sad to know that LM Montgomery had such a tragic life"

I haven't read the whole series, but I've read that the books got more bitter as Montgomery's m..."

I wouldn't necessarily say that the books get bitter, they remain positive and full of admiration for the miracle of nature and human beings and all that, but (view spoiler)[ Anne turns into a more traditional woman of the time. As a girl she is very strong and independent and is portrayed equal of the boys at school. Even lateron she first also gets a very good education, going to college getting scholarships and all. But then she doesn't study any further after college, starts teaching while preparing for marriage and eventually gets married, has many children and takes care of her family. I don't mean that in a negative sense, if that is what someone wishes to do, this is great. It's just that as a girl, she seems to show to girls of the time that there could be another path. That a girl could be smart and strong, studying, being successful at it etc. The young Anne doesn't seem to dream of becoming a housewife and mum. (hide spoiler)]

Anne was a favorite for three generations in my family, I even named my daughter Rilla. I earned money babysitting to buy every book in the series and had a hard time waiting for the next to arrive. If any of you have Netflix there is a new version named "Anne With An E". The producer has added scenes that are not in the book and has ( in my opinion) given a darkness to the story, not as upbeat as I like to think of Anne.

I'm glad you enjoyed the book, Karen!