Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery's masterpiece, is celebrating its 100th anniversary of its publication this year. In order to properly celebrate, I purchased the new edition of the book, which was published by the Modern Library. Although I still long for the annotated edition of the book, I am quite excited about the Modern Library edition, which includes a reading group guide and an introduction by Jack Zipes.

While I thoroughly enjoyed rereading the book, I was amazed/ flabbergasted at the sheer amount of words that Anne speaks. She has speeches that go on for pages, and I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Marilla, who was quite taken aback at Anne's chatterbox ways. I was also a little horrified at Anne's recalcitrance when it comes to Gilbert Blythe (who I still have a literary crush on after all of these years). The fact that she breaks a slate over his head and then refuses his overtures of friendship for years is disconcerting. However, this is all part of Anne's charm, and even though she seemed a tad overwhelming when I revisited her, I still have a great fondness for her and for the books.

Prince Edward Island, the book's setting, has a website dedicated to luring tourists to the island to celebrate the anniversary. PEI attracts a great number of visitors who are taken with Anne and want to see the places mentioned in the book. For more information on the 100th anniversary, visit the PEI website or check out this article from a July issue of Newsweek. I also urge you to read (or reread) the books and check out the first two Kevin Sullivan movies (done in the 1980s), which star Colleen Dewhurst, Megan Follows, and Jonathan Crombie (DO NOT watch Sullivan's third Anne movie, in which Anne dresses up like a nun and gets involved in World War I - it is wrong on so many levels). With all of the madness found in today's world, Anne provides a welcome glimpse into a time when you could have a "bosom friend" and find "kindred spirits" if you looked hard enough.

ETA: After I first posted this blog, I found two more articles on Anne of Green Gables and its 100th anniversary. The first is from Slate.com, which talks about the book's complexities and its defiance of typical children's literature/ young adult literature. The second article is by author Margaret Atwood and talks about the book's (and L. M. Montgomery's) background.