I just discovered ‘Anne of Green Gables’, read the first book and absolutely loved it. It evoke many happy childhood memories, as I was – like Anne – a dreamy and playful child. I’m now in my early 30s, live in a German speaking country (where I also grew up) and have never heard of Anne before, until I stumbled across the title in this subreddit and later across the book in the english section of “my” library. I read A LOT as a child and also was read to a lot. But never heard of Anne. Nobody I mentioned the book to has heard of it either, except a friend who saw the Netflix series.
I’m curious to hear how popular Anne is in English speaking parts of the world. And if you have childhood memories of reading ‘Anne’ or other children’s book classics – feel free to share 🙂
by notionaltortoise
8 Comments
I mean, it was written in Canada so it’s extremely well known in Canada as she’s a part of our literary culture.
There was also a reprise of her story with a show called “Anne with an ‘E'” that got picked up by Netflix and it had some global popularity.
And then IIRC it was extremely popular in Japan for a while as it was on school reading lists. Cavendish used to get a ton of Japanese tourist in the spring and summer.
It’s a fabulous book that I remember fondly because it was a part of so many different kinds of media and I’m from eastern Canada and the scenery described in the book just reminds me of being a kid running along the shore.
I’m Irish and have read the series multiple times.
I think that its very widely known in the English speaking world. It generally gets considered though as a children’s book and especially as one for girls so it probably doesn’t get much talked about outside of that category.
As a curious fact, I knew her because of the anime that was televised in the 80s in Spain, I didn’t know about the books at that time, I was a child then.
I didn’t connect as well with Anne, but if you’re looking for something in English with dreamy childhood feels, I may suggest The Little House on the Prarie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It’s a autobiographical story of Laura and her family as they move across the midwest in the late 1800s. It’s got some seriously toned moments but the earlier books especially should scratch an itch.
I’m American and read it as a child in the 80s and loved it. I also read other LM Montgomery books and wanted to live on PEI.
Someone mentioned “Anne with an E” and I couldn’t watch it, I just couldn’t stand the actress who played Anne. I do, however, highly recommend the series with Megan Follows as Anne.
You might also like Emily of New Moon by the same author.
I’m from Finland and I’ve read it several times and it’s been translated in to Finnish in the 1920’s as the other L. M. Montgomery’s novels (i.e. Emily of New Moon) and also Louise M. Alcott’s Little women series.
Imo it’s part of the English children’s literature canon and so quite well known in English speaking countries.