Anne of the Island was certainly as delightful as the previous books, if a bit more serious a volume by necContinuing the saga of Ms. Anne Shirley...
Anne of the Island was certainly as delightful as the previous books, if a bit more serious a volume by necessity. I am greatly enjoying watching Anne grow and her opinions change over time. While there is a bit of gloominess to discovering your childhood views of how things would be are in fact in error, there are more wonderful discoveries to be made about the actuality of adulthood. Anne is only just beginning to discover that in this book, and I look forward to seeing her come upon them in future volumes.
This book had Anne at college and discovering the wonders of being independent. It had her experience the death of a peer, and incidences of animal cruelty that only truly make sense for the time it was written. Those.. didn't age well. Anyway, Anne discovered what she truly wants and how at odds that was with what she thought she wanted. In short, she grew up a lot in this book. And went to several weddings to boot.
While some of the shine was necessarily lost in this volume it is still very much an enjoyable book. I love the characters, and Avonlea, far too much to leave off finishing this series....more
While the first book retains the timeless charm of childhood, Anne of Avonlea proved itself to be every bit as charming as Anne of Green Gables was.
While the first book retains the timeless charm of childhood, and rewards rereading for that charm, Anne of Avonlea shows us Anne as she begins her journey into adulthood and the trials and tribulations associated with such maturity. She begins the book full of ambition - wishing to do the very best to lift up all around her and to improve herself in the process. As the book goes on, she begins to realize that such ambition may be a touch misplaced. One can do more good at home for a time, and by moving slowly than rushing headfirst into things.
Not that there isn't plenty of rushing and the associated hilarity that comes from the scrapes Anne Shirley finds herself in. Though they are a touch less 'tragical' than they used to be, and she is full of more good humor yet.
It's difficult to not find joy in Avonlea. By the end of this second book I find myself fully attached to not only Anne but all the characters in the town itself. I look forward to returning, and to growing as Anne does, and learning more about being a good person and finding the good in all around us....more
Anne of Green Gables is a book that I remember loving as a child. I remember my mother reading it to me when I was around Anne's age, and later rerea Anne of Green Gables is a book that I remember loving as a child. I remember my mother reading it to me when I was around Anne's age, and later rereading it myself. This reread, as an adult, was an equally pleasurable experience. To say it's quaint isn't quite enough. Avonlea has a timelessness about it, and the lessons of the book endure no matter how old you get. There's a place for you in Green Gables and Avonlea, and all your friends are waiting.
The book itself is something simple. It's about Anne (always with an e) Shirley being adopted and raised by an older couple in a small community on Prince Edward's Island. It's about the trials and tribulations of growing up and trying to be good, and the way everyone relates to one another. The book is a bit of a blueprint for growing up, for adjusting and fitting in without losing yourself. It's about how even if you may be old and grey you're still not too old to learn how to be better. How there's good in all of us. As long as we aren't a Pye, I guess.
I loved rereading this book, and I'm looking forward to continuing the series. The writing might be a bit clunkier than I recalled at times, and I'm still not sure what curling up 'Turk-style means, but... well. It really is the timeless classic it claims to be, and I might have to get a copy for my friends and their kids. It's such a delightful book....more
I can say now, with some confidence, that the first time I read this book I truly didn't understand it. It was a soap opera to me, uninteresting and uI can say now, with some confidence, that the first time I read this book I truly didn't understand it. It was a soap opera to me, uninteresting and ultimately unimportant. Over the years this book nagged at me endlessly, as did the guilt of not fully finishing it or understanding it. I wanted to get it. Fortunately, a friend who had similar lingering Gatsby guilt told me of her transformation. How she listened to it on tape and loved it, the beauty of the prose, of the story... In the end she said, there was one part that made her think of me.
Fine, then, I thought. Here's my excuse for picking it up again.
I read it in two days.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's prose is simply gorgeous. He writes with the ebb and flow of the tide and pulls you effortlessly into the story. The plot moves like a dream, the impressions more powerful than the people themselves. By the end of the book you're as shocked as Nick, as off-balance as he has been throughout the whole of it. Did you truly understand Gatsby any better than he did? Did anyone?
There is little I can say about this book that others haven't already, but I want to end my review with this:
I called up my friend after having finished reading the book, and after saying hello announced that I was done.
"You really finished it?" She asked.
"I did," I answered. "I really enjoyed it."
"I've never wanted to attend a literary character's funeral as much as I did after reading that book," she said with a sigh.
Hilary "Fox"
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