Someone asked me recently what I was reading and I was embarrassed to admit that I didn’t remember. Not like it wasn’t good, I just couldn’t remember what was sitting on my bedside table.
Let me explain this to both of you: IT WAS MAGNIFICENT.
“Anne, who was perched on the edge of a veranda, enjoying the charm of a mild west windblowing across a newly ploughed field on a gray November twilight and piping a quaint little melody among the twisted firs below the garden, turned her dreamy face over her shoulder.”
Why am I writing this?Because I look around and I see every Tom, Dick, and Spiderman making a revival since their 80s heyday. Seriously. Have you seen the toy aisle lately? Or the movies? My Little Pony, Care Bears, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cabbage Patch Kids…Saved by the Bell THE MOVIE (did it need to be a movie?????) premiered this week, and Jem and the Holograms is now in production. Even troll dolls are making a comeback. Troll dolls, people. This is what they are selling to us. This is what they think we want?
Cast aside. Canadians still have the good sense to keep her dancing but it isn’t like it used to be. Last I saw, Megan Follows was playing a filicidal arsonist in Law and Order reruns. This is not okay with me. Not that anyone asked my permission, but I feel invested here and deserve some say. And where is Diana Barry in all this? Has Rachel Lynde finally learned her lesson? And when did Fred Wright start playing that guy from Kids in the Hall? Who signed off on this?
A…a..SCRUNCHIE?? *shudders in fear* I’m pretty sure the thing about death on a pale horse originally included something about a scrunchie, but was edited out because it was too graphic..
Not gonna lie — I might join the scrunch parade. They really are great at keeping hair it place without snags. Don’t hate me if I make some next weekend.
I tried reading the first book to my daughter when she was under ten years old. The words were so big she didn’t understand most of them. So these are not exactly kids or even young adult books. I loved the series. And I Did read most of the books myself. My first vet was a young woman from Anne’s island. She returned after a few years in Connecticut.
Yeah, Connecticut has some awesome stuff, but how could one leave Prince Edward Island? That’s just not a fair comparison.
HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! (should I not be saying that in reference to Anne stuff???) OMG you made me so happy with this!!! I would be SO up for a revival but also can ANYONE top what Megan Follows did?? Pretty unlikely. I Loooooooooooooove that you did that with your wall, so awesome. Anne is the best best best best best in all the universes!
This is the heard thing. No one could compare to Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie in a period remake…but what about a new take. Like how Baz Lurman remade Romeo and Juliet…or how Clueless was a remake of a Jane Austen’s Emma? Or what about an app? I dunno. There must be something!
I’m feeling you on the Anne love. I have read and re-read the whole Anne series about a dozen times in my life, and I am due for another read. I have worn out three, yes THREE copies of the movies. I live and breathe Anne, and now have started to share my Anne love with my (red-headed!) children. I would love to see her get popular again, only because there is nobody quite like Anne, but I DREAD the idea of a revival. I don’t want to see Anne ruined! Let’s just encourage PBS to play the first two Megan Follows movies again!
But we have to share to love! The series PBS shows only cover the first couple books….there is so much more material!
Both my daughter and I love Anne. All the books and even an Anne doll for my daughter. Visiting Prince Edward Island is on our bucket list.
It’s on my bucket list too 🙂
sigh!!! gilbert blythe. i could go for a anne revival if there is a lead male role what did for me now what gilbert did for me back in the 80’s.
i have read the anne books and showed the original pbs movies to my daughter. and can’t wait for my younger to be old enough to expose her to them as well. quality.
haha…wird fact. Go to google and type in the name “Jonathan Crombie” and it auto prompts “Jonathan Crombie Wife”
…seems like we are not the only ones harboring a crush 🙂
I coached Megan Follows in a production of The Seagull at the Old Globe Theater several years ago. She is as nice as they come and an incredible actress. And yes, I told her how much I loved in Anne and then said, “You must hear that all the time.” She said “Yes. And I never get tired of it.”
SHUT THE HELL UP. YOU MET MEGAN FOLLOWS????????
details woman, details!!!!!!!!
Awesome post! I spent my summer holiday re-reading the entire Anne series – free kindle edition put together by a fan – I loved them as a teenager and I loved them as a 40-cough-something year old too – I think they have timeless appeal. I also used to love the Emily series by LMM too – have you read those? Just as good but less well-known.
One-oh-four x
I read one of the Emily books but lost interest when I realized it wasn’t Anne….then again, I was about 14, so I made a lot of bad decisions. Now that you mention it, I’ll totally need to go back!
{rtf1ansiansicpg1252
{fonttblf0fnilfcharset0 ArialMT;}
{colortbl;red255green255blue255;red34green34blue34;red255green255blue255;}
deftab720
pardpardeftab720partightenfactor0
f0fs26 cf2 cb3 expnd0expndtw0kerning0
outl0strokewidth0 strokec2 Here’s something fun: I love reading your blog. Here’s something funner: my husband is L.M. Montgomery’s great grand nephew! Since I’m from the South (NC), I didn’t read AGG until I met my hub. I was a Pollyanna lover myself, but then I got to be in the Anne of Green Gables musical! Have you seen that? It’s fun. Anyways, love you blog! And way to go getting me out of just lurking! }
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!?!
Oh. My. Gawd. That’s like better than marrying Prince Harry. I don’t even know how to react to this information. I mean. I don’t even know. I can’t handle this. That means you put me like four degrees of separation from Anne.
I have to go. I have to clean my chair now.
Well, last year I read all 9 for the first time! I couldn’t stop! She is so inspiring. I love her. Period. Thanks for writing this!
We’re big Anne fans in my family – my mom read them to me when I was 10 or so, and my aunt took me to Prince Edward Island (where you can go to the real Green Gables, and the not-real-but-made-for-tourists Avonlea) when I was 14. I also enjoyed many of LMM’ s other books, chief among them The Blue Castle. Cheers to Lucy Maud Montgomery!
I never read the Blue Castle. Looking it up now…
We love Anne here at our house! I’m planning a next summer visit to PEI.
Lucky you! I hope to go one day 🙂
My fav of her books was The Blue Castle… I lived in Muskoka!
Caroline above mentioned the same about The Blue Castle — I’m going to look it up now!
Years ago, a friend borrowed my Anne movies and never returned them. We are no longer friends.
But check these Anne cookies! http://tikkido.com/node/885
Those are soooooo cute!!! Now I want to have an Anne party. This might need to happen.
Joanna Johnson recently wrote/designed a GORGEOUS book called Green Gables Knits. Thought you might like to know!
I just looked at it — very cool stuff. I’m not enough of a knitter to try one, but I love the concept!
I also love Anne 🙂 I visited Green Gables a few years ago — just how I pictured it :). I love the quirkiness of the Emily books…. I think that I am more Emily than Anne 🙂
Ughhh. I’m jealous you have seen GG. On my bucket list for now.
I love those books, but I think it’s not optional if you’re Canadian. Did you watch Road to Avonlea too? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098900/) Now there’s my childhood summed up. And little Sarah Polly is so cute.
I have also witnessed a non-ironic schrunchie, I just don’t know what is happening to the world these days.
Sarah Polly is the best! The show went down hill after she left but I hung in there for Gus Pike. Felicity was such a bitch. It’s been fun to watch Sarah Polly evolve over the years 🙂
The CBC show Road to Avonlea…that shit rocked! Google it!
It was the Shit! Miss it!!
I ♡ “Anne Girl” 😉
I have not read the comments so forgive me if this is a repeat. The Anne books were NOT written for little girls. They were written for adults, or for a general audience. During her lifetime, LM Montgomery was one of the most famous writers on the planet, and considered second only to Charles Dickens. If you think about it, Dickens books and her books are a bit similar in terms of being able to be read by children, featuring children, and in general might appeal to the same readers. I didn’t make this up, you can confirm this with research. I suspect the reason why Dickens, over the years, is still considered a serious writer, while LM Montgomery’s books have been demoted as suitable mainly for children, or not even, for little girls mostly, is the general sexism of our culture. Things that appeal to women, and especially girls, lose the respect of men. Throw like a girl? You read like one too.
I love Anne of Green Gables!! It is my hunch that we may have to wait a little bit longer for her return. Currently I have just re-opened that universe to read to my baby girl. I bet if other mammas out there are doing this there will be a little reappearance. Let’s hope. Nice post.
PS. I can’t fault the scrunchies it’s got too much scope for imagination. But let’s never bring back the choker necklace. Barf. Ew. Choking is not fashionable.