I love this book and have always loved the old Disney movie
with Megan Follows. I think that some of
Anne's sentiments shaped my world view.
Like the thought about how if she really wanted to pray, she'd go out in
a big field and look up at the sky and just feel
a prayer. And her habit of naming
natural places. In my hikes in the hills
above Vsetin, I've names the parts of my two favorite trails, things like
"The Meadow at the Top of the World," "Giants in the Mist,"
"The Sacred Grove," "Deer Crossing," "Escher's
Woods," and, of course, "Green Gables." I totally agree with Anne that there's more
"scope for the imagination" in nature.
I love the character of Anne: the funny and over-dramatic things she says,
the scrapes she gets in, her unique way of looking at things. I was in love with Gilbert when I was
younger. I love Marilla and Mathew and
Diana. I quote Anne regularly. It's a great book.
Reading now, being used to the style of today's novels,
some of it does feel a little clunky—the long (though pretty and
character-driven) descriptions of nature, people talking to themselves in a way
that feels awkward, since it's the style now to use internal thoughts instead
of internal dialogue, the slightly rushed feel toward the end, etc.
Despite the old-fashioned style, it's withstood the test of
him. I love it.
And it's such a beautiful thing to have a warm, mostly
happy, non-violent, loving book.
In all honesty, if I were reading it for the first time
today, I might only give it a 4.5 because of the above-mentioned
characteristics. But it's too much a
part of my life and childhood to not love it with all my heart.
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