Rating: Summary: Anne and Gilbert FINALLY get married and set up house Review: "Anne's House of Dreams" is my least favorite of L. M. Montgomery's novels in the Anne of Green Gables series, which does not mean it is not a first-rate novel. For me, I guess it was a bit anticlimactic for Anne and Gilbert to finally get married! But then I read the books in the order they are numbered and not the order in which Montgomery wrote them, in which case I would have skipped "Anne of Windy Poplars" and would therefore not have been bothered by all that time between the engagement and the wedding. The newlyweds move into their House of Dreams and start their life together. For the first time Anne is more of an observer than a participant, as the two main characters of the book turn out to be the storytelling Captain Jim and the tragic but romantic figure of Leslie Moore. The most fascinating part of the novel is that the only way you can tell Anne is about to have a baby is that she stops going outside and Marilla shows up (and I have to admit I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that her son's first name is James rather than Matthew!). Perhaps no other aspect of Montgomery's work gives us as good an indication that she is writing about another time. After this point the emphasis will be more on Anne's children and their friends than our beloved red-haired orphan, so "Anne's House of Dreams" is very much a transitional book in the series. It is nice to say that if this is the "low" point in the series, other writers should be so lucky with their high points.
Rating: Summary: Anne and Gilbert FINALLY get married and set up house Review: "Anne's House of Dreams" is my least favorite of L. M. Montgomery's novels in the Anne of Green Gables series, which does not mean it is not a first-rate novel. For me, I guess it was a bit anticlimactic for Anne and Gilbert to finally get married! But then I read the books in the order they are numbered and not the order in which Montgomery wrote them, in which case I would have skipped "Anne of Windy Poplars" and would therefore not have been bothered by all that time between the engagement and the wedding. The newlyweds move into their House of Dreams and start their life together. For the first time Anne is more of an observer than a participant, as the two main characters of the book turn out to be the storytelling Captain Jim and the tragic but romantic figure of Leslie Moore. The most fascinating part of the novel is that the only way you can tell Anne is about to have a baby is that she stops going outside and Marilla shows up (and I have to admit I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that her son's first name is James rather than Matthew!). Perhaps no other aspect of Montgomery's work gives us as good an indication that she is writing about another time. After this point the emphasis will be more on Anne's children and their friends than our beloved red-haired orphan, so "Anne's House of Dreams" is very much a transitional book in the series. It is nice to say that if this is the "low" point in the series, other writers should be so lucky with their high points.
Rating: Summary: Anne's House of Dreams Review: 1,000 words can't describe how much I love this book. This book is where after agonizing along with Anne she finally gets married to Gilbert. They settle into a place called Four Winds. Through the story of there first years of marriage they experience their joy over Jem their first born and the pain of losing a child. They make life long friends that are as pleasant as Diana Barry and Rachel Lynde. L.M. Montgomery makes the charecters come alive. They go through things that we can relate to today. Her excellant writing makes this easy to read whether you are 10 or 100. I highly recommend that if you enjoy this book you need to read the first four books. Then there is three more books. If that isn't enough there are two movies. I hope that you enjoy this series as much as I have.
Rating: Summary: A good in-between book Review: Admittedly, Anne's House of Dreams IS a pretty good book. Anne and Gilbert finally get married (FINALLY, after we've been waiting for the last four books) and go to Four Winds Harbor to spread their wings. They live in a cute little "house o' dreams" (hence the title) and meet all sorts of new people: Captian Jim, Miss Cornelia, Leslie, Owen Ford, etc., who are all, by the way, wonderfully characterized, as is L.M. Montgomery's signature. The only real problems that I had with this book was that it had lost the flair of the other "Anne" books, and wasn't quite ready for the mischevious tinge that the following books, which are mainly about the Blythe children, bring with them. Like I said, kind of a bridge between the real Anne books and the books about her kids. I also missed the presence of the Avonlea people like Marilla, Diana, Mrs. Lynde, and so on. But for the most part, it met my expectations. You've got to remember that it had some pretty high standards that it's predecessors had set to live up to.
Rating: Summary: This one is my favorite of the Anne books (after the first). Review: Although I loved and still love all the Anne books - I discovered them as a teen-ager and am still re-reading them every now and then - I especially love to re-read Anne's House of Dreams.
There are so many elements to make a good story! There is the romantic aspect of Anne and Gilbert setting up house together, then there are some of my very favorite characters - Captain Jim and Miss Cornelia. They certainly don't make them that way anymore! Between the four of them (five including Leslie) there are so many thought provoking discussions, and we get a fascinating view of life "on the harbor" for those times.
But what really sends this book way over the five star category is definitely Miss Cornelia! This is a character that not only is living and breathing throughout the book, you wish she would pop up in your living room! Wouldn't I love to meet her! If you like strong, independent women, and you thought that they were only a character of fiction (surely a hundred years ago women were meek and timid?), well, this book was written quite some time ago, and Miss Cornelia could almost put Gloria Steinhem to shame! Miss Cornelia is the strong, independant woman that you thought did not exist in those days - she owns her own house and fields, she manages very, very well, thank you very much, will not get married because she doesn't want a man telling her what to do, and certainly does not need a man to help her self-esteem! She also thinks that men were only put on this earth to enslave women, and the world would be much better off without them "believe me!") I love her favorite phrase "isn't that just like a man", it became part of my mental thinking process.
Certainly better than anything written today!
Rating: Summary: Joyce Review: Although most of the book was a bit iffey, the description of the death of Anne's first baby was incredibly powerful and real. Anne's anguish at reading what should have been a joyful congratulatory letter from her friend brought me to tears, and the episode lifted the book out of its mediocrity, transcending time and geography.
Rating: Summary: Aspiring Anne Review: Anne and Gilbert finally have what they've been waiting for. A cozy liitle house of dreams; wonderful, funny, and mysterious friends; challenges, and decisions regarding their new life; and each other. Through Anne's venture into the life of the tragic Leslie Moore, their wonderful times with old Captain Jim, and a warm companionship with interesting Miss Cornelia, Anne and Gilbert have started a happy life together. However, even their house of dreams cannot keep pain out, and when it strips Anne of motherhood, their happy old life doesn't seem like it can return. Yet through it all Anne is, as always, a shining and loving woman, who we know will always be young at heart!
Rating: Summary: a must Review: Anne Blythe and her husband, Gilbert have moved 60 miles away from her beloved Green Gables to a small house in Four Winds Point. Anne meets the tragic Leslie, and the humorous Miss Cornelia and has many new adventures in the fifth of a wonderful series.
Rating: Summary: a good story with all the essential elements for success Review: Anne has now moved to her house of dreams with Gilbert and started her new life as Mrs Blythe.Though this story doesn't contain as many adventures as Anne of Green Gables,Avonlea,the Island,it is still a very enticing story with love,family,birth and death.I always think we can learn a lot through Anne as her story as everything we meet in life.
Rating: Summary: One of the most beautiful works of LMM Review: Anne's House of Dreams really helped me quench my thirst for, as Anne would say, "wonderful romance". Not only is their romance in Anne and Gilbert's life, but in Leslie, Anne's sad, tragedy-ridden friend, and Owen Ford, an aspiring writer, and even Miss Cornelia, the "man-hater". This book is a wonder and a true helper to my own life.
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