L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (All Aboard Reading/Level 3)

Rating:
Summary: Anne of Green Gables
Review: Anne of Green Gables is about a mischivous and imaginative girl named Anne who was adopted by the old Cuthberts in Canada. It is set in the 1800's at the land called Green Gables. This exciting story is about all the perils Anne has to go through while growing up. She thinks she is ugly and because of that she thinks she will be lonely, but she gains the freindship of a girl named Diana. Anne may end up living almost the life she's always dreamed of. If you enjoy reality books with a bit of fun then I reccomend this excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: Anne of Green Gables
Review: What a wonderful treat this book was. I wasn't fortunate enough to have read it as a child, but upon discovering it had earned a place in the BBC's Top One-Hundred Books list, decided to give Anne of Green Gables a read. The story revolves around a young orphan girl named Anne Shirley, recently adopted by the Cuthbert family who live at Green Gables farm. Throughout the book Anne has many amusing adventures and the reader is allowed to experience the joys and heartache Anne encounters whilst growing up.

The way in which LM Montgomery portrayed the character of Anne within the novel was the literary equivalent of a large slice of chocolate fudge cake. Without being too large or overly sweet, it was delicious in its warmth. It was not unusual for Anne to begin a speech that would eventually last for two or even three pages. Far from being dull or tedious however, I found myself being drawn in to Anne's vivid world of fun and eccentricity. All too often in children's books central characters are two-dimensional or lacking a certain oomph necessary to bring the story to life. This book is quite the opposite. It is true that the other characters had great difficulty getting a word in edgewise when Anne launched into one of her frequent monologues, but still I felt a longing to have had a friend like her during my own childhood. I think a lot of readers (particularly children) would easily be able to relate to Anne, as the awe and enchantment she feels towards her surroundings is a pleasure to behold, and her tendency to rename the landmarks around her home is captivating (the dull-sounding `Barry's Pond' for example, becomes `The Lake of Shining Waters'). Anne has a habit of looking at the romantic aspects of her life and exaggerating them beautifully. Another feature of the book I enjoyed enormously was the humour value the author introduced into situations: "Anne, are you killed?" shrieked Diana. "No Diana, I am not killed but I think I am rendered unconscious." A lot of entertainment comes from Anne's loathing of her classmate Gilbert, the origin of such bad feeling stemmed from the time he took advantage of our heroines insecurity about her long red locks, and addressed her as `Carrots.' I felt that too many characters were introduced as Anne's school friends however, and it was often difficult to distinguish between the personalities of Jane, Josie, Ruby and Diana. Nevertheless, this was more than made up for by Anne's individuality, which as I mentioned previously is exceptionally warm-hearted.

A further side of LM Montgomery's writing I greatly appreciated was her talent in bringing across the splendour of the landscape and scenery of the small island off the coast of Canada, where the novel is set: "October was a beautiful month at Green Gables... the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in the aftermaths." As the book follows Anne's life over a four-year period, the description of the outside world is most useful in conveying the changing seasons. Often when reading a book, I imagine the setting to be a place well known to me, but so effective was the depiction here that I felt the author had managed a whole new world within my mind.

The story is not all games and fun however, and I felt that Montgomery was able to address many important issues in the account of Anne's background, both before and during her stay in the orphan asylum. During Anne's stay with the Cuthbert family too, her moral upbringing and Christian values are heavily featured within the story, and this is largely why the book was looked so favourably upon at the time of its original publication in the early twentieth century. In conclusion, I would whole-heartedly recommend Anne of Green Gables to old and young alike, and those who have enjoyed the book may also like LM Montgomery's further novels following Anne in later years. The author clearly possessed a great talent and Anne Shirley is a character that will remain in my heart for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: A warm-hearted orphan in a beautifully written novel
Review: What a wonderful treat this book was. I wasn't fortunate enough to have read it as a child, but upon discovering it had earned a place in the BBC's Top One-Hundred Books list, decided to give Anne of Green Gables a read. The story revolves around a young orphan girl named Anne Shirley, recently adopted by the Cuthbert family who live at Green Gables farm. Throughout the book Anne has many amusing adventures and the reader is allowed to experience the joys and heartache Anne encounters whilst growing up.

The way in which LM Montgomery portrayed the character of Anne within the novel was the literary equivalent of a large slice of chocolate fudge cake. Without being too large or overly sweet, it was delicious in its warmth. It was not unusual for Anne to begin a speech that would eventually last for two or even three pages. Far from being dull or tedious however, I found myself being drawn in to Anne's vivid world of fun and eccentricity. All too often in children's books central characters are two-dimensional or lacking a certain oomph necessary to bring the story to life. This book is quite the opposite. It is true that the other characters had great difficulty getting a word in edgewise when Anne launched into one of her frequent monologues, but still I felt a longing to have had a friend like her during my own childhood. I think a lot of readers (particularly children) would easily be able to relate to Anne, as the awe and enchantment she feels towards her surroundings is a pleasure to behold, and her tendency to rename the landmarks around her home is captivating (the dull-sounding 'Barry's Pond' for example, becomes 'The Lake of Shining Waters'). Anne has a habit of looking at the romantic aspects of her life and exaggerating them beautifully. Another feature of the book I enjoyed enormously was the humour value the author introduced into situations: "Anne, are you killed?" shrieked Diana. "No Diana, I am not killed but I think I am rendered unconscious." A lot of entertainment comes from Anne's loathing of her classmate Gilbert, the origin of such bad feeling stemmed from the time he took advantage of our heroines insecurity about her long red locks, and addressed her as 'Carrots.' I felt that too many characters were introduced as Anne's school friends however, and it was often difficult to distinguish between the personalities of Jane, Josie, Ruby and Diana. Nevertheless, this was more than made up for by Anne's individuality, which as I mentioned previously is exceptionally warm-hearted.

A further side of LM Montgomery's writing I greatly appreciated was her talent in bringing across the splendour of the landscape and scenery of the small island off the coast of Canada, where the novel is set: "October was a beautiful month at Green Gables... the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in the aftermaths." As the book follows Anne's life over a four-year period, the description of the outside world is most useful in conveying the changing seasons. Often when reading a book, I imagine the setting to be a place well known to me, but so effective was the depiction here that I felt the author had managed a whole new world within my mind.

The story is not all games and fun however, and I felt that Montgomery was able to address many important issues in the account of Anne's background, both before and during her stay in the orphan asylum. During Anne's stay with the Cuthbert family too, her moral upbringing and Christian values are heavily featured within the story, and this is largely why the book was looked so favourably upon at the time of its original publication in the early twentieth century. In conclusion, I would whole-heartedly recommend Anne of Green Gables to old and young alike, and those who have enjoyed the book may also like LM Montgomery's further novels following Anne in later years. The author clearly possessed a great talent and Anne Shirley is a character that will remain in my heart for years to come.