Anne of Green Gables is Turning 100

Anne of Green Gables (Modern Library Classics) turns 100 years old this April.

I feel like I haven’t scratched the surface of what Anne of Green Gables means to me (and actually – it’s larger than that – it’s Lucy Maud Montgomery who is the obsession, not just her most famous book). I will be obsessed with Lucy Maud Montgomery until I die. The fact that her journals have been published are a great great gift – and this October a biography is coming out (written by the editor of the journals – I’ve corresponded with her, lovely woman). Her success is something an author can only dream of. She was successful during her lifetime – Anne was a huge hit – but nothing could have prepared her for the posthumous MANIA of today.

Margaret Atwood has written about her fellow Canadian’s work on the dawn of this important centennial anniversary here.

An excerpt from the piece that made me cry – and made me think: Yes. Yes. THAT is the magic of the book … THAT is what, after so many readings, still gets me:

There’s another way of reading Anne of Green Gables, and that’s to assume that the true central character is not Anne, but Marilla Cuthbert. Anne herself doesn’t really change throughout the book. She grows taller, her hair turns from “carrots” to “a handsome auburn”, her clothes get much prettier, due to the spirit of clothes competition she awakens in Marilla, she talks less, though more thoughtfully, but that’s about it. As she herself says, she’s still the same girl inside. Similarly, Matthew remains Matthew, and Anne’s best chum Diana is equally static. Only Marilla unfolds into something unimaginable to us at the beginning of the book. Her growing love for Anne, and her growing ability to express that love – not Anne’s duckling-to-swan act – is the real magic transformation.

Oh, and 2 days ago I was contacted by someone at Nowpublic – asking them if they could use one of my photos (the poster for Anne of Green Gables on the wall in the college theatre where I went to school – and played “Anne” when I was there) in their tribute page to Lucy Maud Montgomery and the anniversary of Anne of Green Gables‘ publication. I said of course!!

Slideshow of images here

Here’s the post I wrote about Anne of Green Gables – and just from the tone in the comments you can tell how much that fictional character is loved.

And so. Happy birthday Anne with an E.

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8 Responses to Anne of Green Gables is Turning 100

  1. tracey says:

    Oh, yes, happy birthday, you dear girl!

    Do you know they’re having a big celebration all year on PEI? There’s an Anne of Green Gables Country Fair on July 3-6 that I would LOVE to go to! There’s a Matthew and Marilla cookout and then the final bash is a birthday party for Lucy Maud Montgomery on Nov. 30. Sounds like so much fun!

    More details on this site:

    http://www.anne2008.com

  2. Courtney says:

    oddly, this post makes me want to watch the Anne of Green Gables PBS series, but READ emily of new moon – I think I felt the same way about her as you did about Anne. Great post!

  3. Ann Marie says:

    Oh, that snippet of text *nails* it. Reading how Marilla comes to not just live with Anne but love her is just a joy.

    Though I love Anne, even if she doesn’t transform, per se. I *do* see growth in her. Learning to shut up is a growth (as I have tried to learn)! She’s definitely slow on the uptake (um, Royal v. Gilbert… you don’t see that, Anne?) but I think she moderates. Maybe that’s not growth and is just aging, but I like to give her credit for some wisdom as she ages.

    Marilla, of course, always makes me think of Matthew, which *always* makes me cry. Someday, my dream would be to go to PEI with you and Cath and just obsess about whether this is where such and such happened.

  4. Loki says:

    Well, I’m still here. And still finding myself thoroughly enlightened and entertained. Thank you again.

    Anne.

    Good Lord, I never understood how Lucy Maud could, given the series of tragedies in her life, continually write such a living character. Not simply one that speaks to people because she feels alive, that’s – well, not easy, so many authors miss that mark – but it’s a more common achievement. Anne, is vital, and affirming and bloody contagious! When I read Anne, (almost any of the Anne books, actually) I believe again that life is a gift and worth living. For someone existing with chronic depression, that’s beyond astonishing.

    I’m also a bit amused by the timing of this. About a week ago, I bumped into your comments about Pat of Silver Bush. (It is not going to be surprising to hear that your archive is far too extensive to be quickly devoured. Rather than making a methodical attack, I have decided to prowl the stacks, and pull down the volumes that catch my eye. Then the ones on either side of those. Not very scientific, but a fascinating journey. I never could study in libraries in college.)

    It was Pat who single-handedly killed my previously growing awe of L.M. Montgomery. This was in the days before ubiquitous internet communications. And while I was in the Navy. (Not to mention being the time when my depression began to grow to it’s present draconian proportions.) Between those two facts I was stuck having to make my own decision about the merit of continuing to dig out more L. M. Montgomery works.

    After meeting Pat, I decided that Anne and Emily were all of L.M. Montgomery’s works worth digging up.

    Oops.

    Well, the good news is that _now_ I’m faced with the pleasures of reading The Blue Castle, A Tangled Web, and others, for the first time.

    To get back where I began – thanks again to you, and a thousand thanks to L. M. Montgomery.

    And may Anne enjoy her birthday quite thoroughly.

    -Loki

  5. jean says:

    Crying…Sheila that show was so magical. You and Jan Grant crying after Matthew died…unbelievable…will you post some of the photos from that show?

  6. red says:

    Jean – it’s funny, Mitchell and I just had a conversation about Jan Grant and how amazing she was in that scene – real tears streaming down her face every single night!!!! So awesome! I will post pictures! My scanner’s on the fritz but when I get a new one I will definitely post pictures. One of the highpoints of my life.

    Love you.

  7. Happy birthday, Charlotte Brontë

    Charlotte Brontë was born on this day, in 1816. Here is perhaps the most famous image of the Brontë sisters – a portrait done by their dissipated (and, some say, more of a genius than all of them) brother Branwell:…

  8. This April:

    Anne of Green Gables turns 100 years old. Even with all of this I feel like I haven’t scratched the surface of what Anne of Green gables means to me (and actually – it’s larger than that – it’s Lucy…

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