I have had the most lovely first quarter listening to all of the Anne books on Audible. I always knew that Anne's House of Dreams was just killer sad (the baby who dies! the death of sweet old Captain Jim! the move away from the little house on the shore!), but I forgot how devastating and wonderful Rilla of Ingleside is. And how absolutely TERRIFYING to look back on a WWI novel as the US picks a foreign war that is already having worldwide consequences.
Then.
I stuck my toe into the waters of LM Montgomery scholarship and WOW. I listened to Montgomery scholar and University of Prince Edward Island professor Kate Scarth's Great Courses lectures The Life and Works of L.M. Montgomery and The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables by Catherine Reid on Audible, and I found out that there's a posthumously published 9th book, The Blythes Are Quoted (published in the abridged form as The Road to Yesterday). Cannot even WAIT to dive into these. There's also a journal for Montgomery scholarship that looks so interesting, and I really want to read her memoir and journals.
A few years ago, I reread the Anne series and ranked the books like this:
1. Anne’s House of Dreams
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. Anne of Ingleside
4. Anne of Avonlea
5. Anne of Windy Poplars
6. Rilla of Ingleside
7. Anne of the Island
8. Rainbow Valley
After listening to them, I have revised my ranking:
1. Anne of Green Gables
2. Rilla of Ingleside
3. Anne's House of Dreams
4. Anne of Ingleside
5. Anne of the Island
6. Rainbow Valley
7. Anne of Avonlea
8. Anne of Windy Poplars
I loved reading about Anne and her friends setting up housekeeping, and I found myself just fascinated by the idea of making house the whole series through. I think I will dive into some hardcore Montgomery research and then revisit these texts again and see how my rankings hold up.
Anne influenced my ideas of wifehood and motherhood so much (and I really didn't realize how much until I listened to the whole series.) Thinking about LM Montgomery's real life and Anne's life together is so sad, you guys, and so intriguing. I am going to think more about all of this and write something more coherent. For now, let me just say that the existence of this scholarship is so exciting.
Also, I have been carried away, Anne-like, by the beauty of the morning just about every morning I am out running. Look at this pastel dawn with a full (I think) moon
I loved Anne as a young 'un, thought I'm not sure if I ever read past the first three books.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest joy was coming back to LMM as an adult. I read The Blue Castle for CBBC, and then last September I reread the first Anne book when I went to PEI. The writing is so good.
Note to me: read another Anne book ASAP
Note to you: go to PEI sometime! It is every bit as awesome and beautiful as LMM described it.
I loved Anne as a child and I have reread them in adulthood and I love her still. House of Dreams is my favourite - so dark and sad, but still, I love it. I also love Anne of the Island - so fun! Pretty much the flip of House of Dreams! I love her girl gang. Windy Poplars and Ingleside are my least favourite, although I love the birthday party they had for Gilbert's aunt, when she gets all mad because people know her age. I think of the quote "When we give a party, we GIVE A PARTY" from Susan, in response to the three cakes she makes. I think it every time Rob and I have a party. While I love those so much, I think I was more of an "Emily" and rereading the last two books (I don't think much of New Moon, but the subsequent two are excellent) I can see why I identified with her so much. Montgomery's life was so very sad and so very hard. There was a limited series podcast recently that I listened to (by recent, I mean in the last year). It was excellent and I recommend it, even if I can't remember what it was called, so this recommendation is useless.
ReplyDeleteForgot to say! One of the reasons I love love love House of Dreams is because it introduces us to one of the greatest characters of all time - Miss Cornelia! I love her so much. I use the phrase "Isn't that just like a man?" all the time.
DeleteMiss Cornelia is one of my favorite characters, too.
DeleteI have never read the series!! I think I may have read the 1st one as a child, but the memories are very fuzzy. I watched the series Anne with an E last year on Netflix and totally loved it. I'll need to add reading these to my future reading projects list! (Maybe when I finally finish Harry Potter, lol)
ReplyDeleteI obviously have a huge hole in my reading life, because I've never read the Anne books!!! I don't know how I missed them as a child, because I've always been a big reader. I'm officially putting Anne of Green Gables on my TBR RIGHT NOW.
ReplyDeleteoh, oh, oh! What a great idea to listen to all of the Anne books. I have the abridged audiobook set (narrated by Megan Follows!!!), which is a wonderfully cinematic experience, but woefully incomplete. Off to Audible I go!
ReplyDeleteTerrific ranking, too. My own is much less thoughtful...Anne of the Island reflexively tops my list because of the "Book of Revelation." I need to, like, actually separate the merits of each Anne from the outcomes of each Anne. Hmmn.
I really look forward to reading your thoughts about LM/Anne's life together + how Anne influenced your ideas of wife/motherhood. Anne absolutely set my ideals of female friendship and the power of community to support kids who have lived through awful things. I find myself turning to her often now.
I think I've only read the first one--I generally prefer reading on Kindle or physical books to audiobooks, but I think I might try out the audio books for this one. They sound like such a joy! Did you listen to the first one with Minnie? I might try it in the car with my kids.
ReplyDeleteI love all the Anne books! Anne of Ingleside is the only one I’m kind of meh on - LMM recycled a lot of her previous short stories into it and it’s always felt a bit disjointed to me, and the whole random Anne worries Gilbert doesn’t love her subplot I always found weird. But it’s meh to me in a “I still really love it it’s just not as good as the other IMO way.”
ReplyDeleteI read all the books as a tween and loved them. I tried to reread Anne of Green Gables a few years ago (maybe early COVIDish?) and was so annoyed with Anne. Should I try again? I just feel like her non-Anne stuff resonates with me more.
ReplyDeleteI grew up vacationing in PEI every summer. I second the recommendation for The Blue Castle and also recommend Jane of Lantern Hill. They were two of my favorites growing up. The Emily of New Moon series is also good. The main character has many similarities with to Anne.
ReplyDeleteI am in the same boat as Jenny, I didn't read these books as a kid and Why? I think Mini and Curly read the first book - for sure Mini (she's more of a reader). I think Kay read the first one but I didn't even know that there was a whole series and I bet the Netflix show would be a great incentive to watch together if she reads the books. Thanks for showcasing these here. Oddly enough, my book club is reading Anne of Green Gables for March, but I'll be in Florida and won't be there for the discussion.
ReplyDeleteI read several of them a billion years ago, but have not revisited them. Perhaps it’s time?
ReplyDeleteIt’s been several years since I’ve read them all but here’s my list:
ReplyDelete1. Anne of Green Gables
2. Rilla of Ingleside
3. Anne's House of Dreams
4. Anne of Ingleside
5. Anne of the Island
6. Anne of Windy Poplars
7. Anne of Avonlea
8. Rainbow Valley
I love Rilla and Anne’s married life, too. The Blythes Are Quoted is good for filling in some gaps, but I remember it being more adjacent than centered on Anne.
I’ve read Rainbow Valley a couple of times but don’t remember loving it as much as the others. However, I’m always happy to revisit any of the Anne books. Maybe this is the year I should reread them all again.
I know what you mean about falling down the rabbit hole of L.M. Montgomery research. I’ve read most of her novels and as many of her short stories as I can get my hands on, including lesser known ones scholars have been collecting (I had to ILL those). I have her biography and plan to read it soonish. The juxtaposition of her life and her books is interesting. I think her difficulties in real life are what helped her write the Emily books and a bunch of her short stories. I look forward to hearing more as you do some research on her, if you care to write about it here.
I love Anne too. I've read the books several times, both as a child and as an adult, but I never thought before about rating them.
ReplyDeleteAnne of Green Gables
Rilla
Anne's House of Dreams (Miss Cornelia)
Anne of Ingleside
Anne of the Island
Anne of Windy Poplars (Rebecca Dew - I love her)
Rainbow Valley
Anne of Avonlea
I didn't know until recently that they weren't written in order. I thought that was interesting. I never really cared for Emily of New Moon. Anne for me all the way.
I adore Anne of Green Gables, but I don't read past the third book these days. I just don't love the other books as much! I have at least 5 different copies of AoGG - one of my new hobbies is buying pretty AoGG editions!
ReplyDelete