Anne Shirley

[dotinthesky]

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Before sexy vampires, before muscular werewolves, before mortal games in dystopian futures, teenagers had to content themselves with reading fiction that made them daydream of being top of their classes, losing their ginger hair when they grew up and perhaps marrying a boy who'd get a job as a teacher. Being orphan and poor was so much worse than having a boyfriend that glittered in the sunlight, but with the right prayers at night and good Christian morals one could overcome anything.

Gosh... Anne of Green Gables hasn't really aged well! It's still easy enough to read, and is sickly sweet in a sort of nice way, but it now reflects an age long dead. I remember reading this for the first time when I was 17 (as a dare from a friend - she had to, in exchange, read one of the horror novels in my collection) and being enchanted by it. But that may have been a result of watching the Canadian TV series not too long before it.

I don't think I'll be reading the sequels.

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Comments

[msanthropist.livejournal.com]

It's disappointing, isn't it? I have the same experience with "vintage" films, and early tv series. They bore me rather than amuse or inspire, and I find myself wondering that I/we were ever that innocent and easily entertained. We've changed a lot as a species in my lifetime. I told a friend just this morning "don't become cynical Teresa." And she said "too late, I already am." I agree, I don't know if I can become any more jaded. But the simpler concerns of life, the ability to be entirely consumed and grateful when spiritually connected with nature, sharing an inside joke through a glance and a smile with a stranger, the sound of laughter in the morning, a spontaneous hug, a good stretch, etc. they haven't changed. AND there's puppies!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Yes, one can always count on puppies!

Some things have aged well - Hitchcock's classic films for example! But there are some tv series from Brasil that I used to love which now look terrible... I guess it's just time sorting the wheat from the chaff when it comes to art!