Thoughts & Things

Ten Reasons to Love Anne of Green Gables

I love Anne of Green Gables, and I have since I was a small child. I had numerous copies as a child, and still keep a couple as an adult (one as part of a boxset that I keep for reading, one with a fancy green velvet cover). I actually don't even remember the first time I read it. I read it more times than I can count. I remember religiously watching the cartoon as a child, and being absolutely in love with the CBC miniseries. I had the great pleasure of even getting to visit Green Gables when I visited PEI with my family as a preteen. There are so many reasons that I fell so in love with the story, and I wanted to share a few of those reasons today.

1. It's Canadian.
LM Montgomery is Canadian. Anne Shirley is Canadian. Green Gables is in Canada. Not only do Canadians (like me) have an unnecessary amount of pride in things that are Canadian, Anne of Green Gables represents the best parts of historical Canada. Anne of Green Gables also makes for one of our most enduring pieces of classic literature, which makes it even more dear.

2. Anne is a writer.
As someone who wrote all through childhood and adulthood, it's hard not to connect with an imaginative young girl who can put those ideas to paper with her friends, even (maybe especially) if their writing isn't always the best. I have read very few books starring young girls who write, so this aspect always touched a special place in my heart.

3. Anne is a dreamer.
While Anne did apply her dreaming to her writing, I see the two as a very separate thing. She didn't just dream up what to write down, she could dream anything. She could dream for a bright and optimistic future for herself in a dark world, she could dream up friends and family that she would have, and she could dream about mischief to get into (and then get into it). It's hard not to appreciate that kind of dreaming, especially as someone who grew up with her head in the clouds.

4. Education is important to the characters.
As a child, and as an adult, learning was always so important to me. It didn't matter if my education was formal or all on my own, I loved to learn. Bookish traits are not always present or appreciated in characters, and so I always find a special connection with characters who value their education. Anne eventually becoming a teacher, my ideal career path as a child, cemented my fondness for her.

5. Anne's friends and family are just as important as Anne.
As the titular character, Anne is obviously the main character. However, the full cast of characters is a big part of what has always brought me back to the book. Matthew and Marilla are wonderful. Gilbert is wonderful. And I always had a special fondness for Diana, as she was the bosom friend of my imaginary bosom friend.

6. Everything is so pretty.
Prince Edward Island is genuinely one of the prettiest locations I have ever been to in my entire life. Montgomery did an incredible job of bringing the location to life. You could absolutely envision Avonlea and Green Gables, and the sites just take your breath away. Visiting Green Gables even managed to live up to my very high expectations.

7. Plucky orphans make for good reading.
This is an indisputable fact. Plucky orphans solve mysteries, develop powers, go on grand quests, and ultimately make their mark on the world. All of this is despite the fact that they are orphans, and, in part, because they are plucky. Anne Shirley is one of literature's finest plucky orphans.

8. Novels starring women and girls make for awesome reading.
I love books by and about women. As a child I was really into "girl power" (it was the nineties) and as an adult I am a feminist, so it makes sense from that perspective. Outside of that, books that are by and about women are books that I connect to most strongly. Anne is a character that I see some of myself in, and Anne of Green Gables offered me one of the first relatable heroines I had ever read.

9. It adapts perfectly to other types of media.
While Anne of Green Gables is an incredible novel, it also made for incredible media of other types. The miniseries from back in the 80s is probably one of the best miniseries ever televised, and the cartoon from the early 2000s was one of my favourite things to watch as a kid. Anne is such a lively character that she deserves to be brought to life, and Green Gables is too stunning a place to not be presented by more than words.

10.It's a classic.
Being a classic doesn't necessarily mean a book is good. That said, Anne of Green Gables manages to have everything else on this list, and still be a classic. This is the book that taught me that classic literature didn't have to be boring, could be by and about women, and be so many other things than what people might have me believe.