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The Anne Books


tropaka

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Since the Little House books got there own thread, I thought I'd start a thread on the Anne Bookes (Anne - with an e). Reading them later on in life I picked up much more of the humour L.M. Montgomery injected into them - especially the humour relating to different denominations.

I was surprised to hear that she apparently took her own life, although I knew that her husband suffered from depression and that she didn't like being a minister's wife. Her last home was only a few blocks from where I live now (nice large house over a river).

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I loved those books! When my parents were naming my sister I insisted that her middle name be Anne spelt with an "e." I read the whole series twice...but I haven't read them since I was 11. Time to reread

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I love the Anne books. The Megan Follows movies are very good (well, the first two anyway), but not as wonderful as the books. I did not know that Montgomery possibly took her own life.

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Well, I thought I'd heard that some fundies are in love with these books as well, which doesn't make sense; like Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anne Shirley was as much of a feminist as the times (and reading audience) would allow.

Always laugh over Anne getting Diana drunk. Anne cracking her slate over Gilbert's head. Anne dying her hair black/green and having to have it shaved off.

I do wonder why some fundies find this appropriate, unless it's because Anne ended up having a whack of kids (8? including the first).

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I have just read the first one this summer, they are unknown in France... I bought the boxed ones with 8 books.

I liked it very much, the reading level is perfect for my English skills :lol:

I would have enjoyed them very much as a little girl I guess, but I don't know if they have ever been translated in French, unlike the Little House books who were translated in French in the 70' after the success of the TV version.

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I just re-read the books, how funny! I had such a crush on Gilbert Blythe when I was little. The Anne series was huge in Germany in the 80's thanks to the Japanese cartoon version, which I watched religiously.

Anne was very independent for her time, and many of the women in the books are very strong and what would be considered feminist by fundie standards. Miss Cornelia always makes me laugh. Fundies being fundies, though, they probably ignore the parts they don't like and only focus on everyone always going to church, the girls wearing dresses, and Anne giving up her job to marry Gilbert.

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It's probably another case of poor reading comprehension, which seems to afflict most fundies.

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I reread this series this year. It was free on amazon for my kindle and I was unemployed. One thing the fundies miss is the the importance of educating Anne so she can make a living. It was important to them that Anne be given the education necessary to support herself in her adult life. The Cuthbert sacrificed and saved so they could send her to college. There independent Anne theme continues after she is married.

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Anne had 7 children, including the first, who died within a day of birth from what sounded like a congenital birth defect. In "Anne of Ingleside", there were references to knowing that Rilla would be the last baby; given that Gilbert was a doctor, I always assumed that he was privy to unspoken birth control measures. Which means that they were totally evil in that sense.

Anne also had Susan living with them from the end of her second pregnancy, and it was Susan who cooked and cleaned. Anne, from what it sounds like, sewed and did gardening, and wrote, and pretty much had her time free to do whatever she wanted or needed to do. Another "evil" stroke for Anne.

Susan considered Anne's son Shirley to be HER baby, and no one really argued with that. Anne tucking him into bed was a special occasion. Score a point for Anne - Michelle Duggar would approve.

I love those books, and pretty much have them memorized. :oops:

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I always felt like I should love these books because Anne and I were both very imaginative children but I just couldn't get into them in the same way I did with the Little House books. I did read the whole set though. One of my favourite parts was where Anne scares herself by imagining that the woods are haunted and then has to walk through them. It's the sort of thing I would do.

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I loved these books too. Having red hair I identified with her loathing of her hair color :-p

I'm surprised with the approval of Anne too. She went to a college for chrisssakes! She also turned down proposals.

My favorite book was Anne of Avonlea. I loved the neighbor that moved in with the parrot that cursed, and Anne falling through the roof of the chicken coop.

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I have just read the first one this summer, they are unknown in France... I bought the boxed ones with 8 books.

I liked it very much, the reading level is perfect for my English skills :lol:

I would have enjoyed them very much as a little girl I guess, but I don't know if they have ever been translated in French, unlike the Little House books who were translated in French in the 70' after the success of the TV version.

Here's the first one in French: http://www.amazon.ca/Anne-Maison-aux-pi ... 148&sr=8-1 My sister did a book report on it in grade 4 since we went to a French school. The language might be slightly different because it was translated for a French Canadian audience, but you should still understand it...and perhaps your children/future children would like it? They've all been translated, and I don't see why they wouldn't ship internationally, but I've never tried.

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I love love love Anne of Green Gables! I read them over and over until I was in my mid 20's and lost a box of books during a move. I'm going to buy the series again, my daughter is 7 and she'll be reading them in a couple of years, well, that's my excuse, haha!

I don't understand fundies liking them, either, as others have said, Anne was quite progressive for the time. The only thing that I can think is that the life in Avonlea and Glen St Mary that most people seemed to live is what they imagine everyone living, everyone seemed healthy and lived long lives, there was a lot of food, and most people had everything that they needed.

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I read th efirst book as a child a few years back my mother gifted my youngest with the whole set so o fcourse I had to read them all! We actually went to PEI and went to all the places mentioned, I fell in love with the Green Gables house and told Hubby the size of the kitchen with its pantries was perfect for me! A lot of the houses on PEI have not been modernized so many still have a Kitchen area and the Scullery/pantry areas which I find wonderful as I tend to live more in the Kitchen/Dining area of our home then the Living Room!

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I loved these books so much as a kid, and even as an adult. I think fundies like them because they are vaguely olde timey and Victorian, though I think they were rather progressive for their time.

I didn't read Emily of New Moon books until I was an adult, but I liked them just as much (maybe more?) than Anne of Green Gables.

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Here's the first one in French: http://www.amazon.ca/Anne-Maison-aux-pi ... 148&sr=8-1 My sister did a book report on it in grade 4 since we went to a French school. The language might be slightly different because it was translated for a French Canadian audience, but you should still understand it...and perhaps your children/future children would like it? They've all been translated, and I don't see why they wouldn't ship internationally, but I've never tried.

Thank you for the link ! I didn't know it had been translate into French and French Canadian is not really different so there is no problem with that...

I'm going to buy the first one for my youngest who is 11yo, my other daughter is almost 17 so I don't think she'll be interested ;)

As for me, I like to read in English because I want to improve my English level and I love the English language !

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Maybe the fundies love them because Anne was a heathen who becomes Christian the instant she hears about Christ from Marilla/Matthew. Also, the fears of adopting in the first book seem similar to Gothard(?)

I don't know. She is definitely not a stay-at-home daughter, and it's implied (if not stated) that she was sympathetic to the suffragettes.

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Well, I thought I'd heard that some fundies are in love with these books as well, which doesn't make sense; like Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anne Shirley was as much of a feminist as the times (and reading audience) would allow.

Always laugh over Anne getting Diana drunk. Anne cracking her slate over Gilbert's head. Anne dying her hair black/green and having to have it shaved off.

I do wonder why some fundies find this appropriate, unless it's because Anne ended up having a whack of kids (8? including the first).

I laughed at those scenes, and one thing I would love to make as a homebrewer is currant wine because it's what Diana had.

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Based on the wikipedia entry on L.M. Montgomery, she's a terrible role model for fundie girls. She wrote and sold stories, earning her own money, and she gave away pieces of her heart before finally picking a husband. She didn't seem in a hurry to be married, but realized she had to (“marriage was a necessary choice for women in Canada.â€) and settled for a headship. Her marriage might not have been round the clock fun and fellowship, definately not somethng you want fundie girls to realize is a possibility.

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I read the Anne books and the Emily of New Moon series as a young teen, but I haven't read them since. They've been on my reread list for a while now.

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I loved loved loved the Emily of New Moon books, and also the Story Girl books. The Anne series never grabbed me quite as much.

The "Longtime" stories by Hesba Brinsmead are wonderful. The are 19th century pioneer stories for children set in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney when they were first being settled. I must reread them and buy them for my daughter, they deserve much more recognition than they get.

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