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A review by gizmo_gadget
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Read this after watching Anne with an E (one of The Best shows). I expected to be somewhat disappointed, but I have to say my disappointment exceeded expectations. The only event that was treated with acceptable emotional depth was Anne’s arrival home + the exploration around Marilla and Matthew’s emotional adjustment to this change.
I probably should have predicted this level of disappointment, because the novel was appropriately trope-ish coming of age for the time period. So I can’t complain too much. But ughhnhhhhjhgh! Anne lost most of her character depth. Where, for the first chunk of the book, she was able to world build and think out loud through (quite literally) pages of flowery dialogue, each plot point in the book was treated as almost a fable of growing up - with Anne gaining some adult sensibility through unfortunate happenings. This was practically spoon fed to the reader, with each chapter marking another hit to Anne’s belief system. So she stopped being wondrously imaginative, and she started to see sense in Marilla’s fear of the silly and the unknown and accompanying conservative values.
By the end quarter (?) of the book, she is a shell of her former self, and that’s commended by everyone around her, with the added bonus that she’s apparently become the second prettiest girl of her age in town. This is commented on an excessive, stupidly consistent amount. It would be amusing commentary on the wool-headedness of societal pressures if it was taken with even the smallest grain of salt.
So, rather than accepting some of her ‘flaws’ as human and unique, Anne becomes the ultimate conformity success story. The end of the book is a play by play of her continuous successes, weaved through with disappointing dialogue that i read in the voice of my nana (20th century prim, soppy and airy). The huge emotional events at the end are treated decently, in part. The exploration of Anne’s grief is short and out of character, but sweet. It just doesn’t have any impact whatsoever, when in the original tone of Anne, it should be heart-wrenching.
I probably would have given this book a lower rating if I hadn’t already become attached to the characters very strongly in the show adaptation. However, overall, still worth the read for the metanalysis of Why The Fuck Montogomery Munted Anne.
I probably should have predicted this level of disappointment, because the novel was appropriately trope-ish coming of age for the time period. So I can’t complain too much. But ughhnhhhhjhgh! Anne lost most of her character depth. Where, for the first chunk of the book, she was able to world build and think out loud through (quite literally) pages of flowery dialogue, each plot point in the book was treated as almost a fable of growing up - with Anne gaining some adult sensibility through unfortunate happenings. This was practically spoon fed to the reader, with each chapter marking another hit to Anne’s belief system. So she stopped being wondrously imaginative, and she started to see sense in Marilla’s fear of the silly and the unknown and accompanying conservative values.
By the end quarter (?) of the book, she is a shell of her former self, and that’s commended by everyone around her, with the added bonus that she’s apparently become the second prettiest girl of her age in town. This is commented on an excessive, stupidly consistent amount. It would be amusing commentary on the wool-headedness of societal pressures if it was taken with even the smallest grain of salt.
So, rather than accepting some of her ‘flaws’ as human and unique, Anne becomes the ultimate conformity success story. The end of the book is a play by play of her continuous successes, weaved through with disappointing dialogue that i read in the voice of my nana (20th century prim, soppy and airy). The huge emotional events at the end are treated decently, in part. The exploration of Anne’s grief is short and out of character, but sweet. It just doesn’t have any impact whatsoever, when in the original tone of Anne, it should be heart-wrenching.
I probably would have given this book a lower rating if I hadn’t already become attached to the characters very strongly in the show adaptation. However, overall, still worth the read for the metanalysis of Why The Fuck Montogomery Munted Anne.