My memory of Anne of Windy Poplars is.. non-existent. It's been so long since I've read the books and I see the PBS movies (which are wonderful in their own right) once or twice throughout the year, so it's easy to forget that Anne of Avonlea (the movie edition) is a mix-match of several books in the series.In Anne of Windy Poplars the dreaded Pringles make their appearance. And it's oh so much more than the movie shows. They are so dreadful, each and every one of them, but everything else is an absolute delight. Windy Poplars, Rebecca Dew, Little Elizabeth and most of all - a character we rarely get to see in the book, Gilbert Blythe.Wait, how can Gilbert be so wonderful? He's hardly in the book! I'll tell you why - because this book shows the reader just how beautiful love letters can be.A good portion of Anne of Windy Poplars is composed of Anne's letters to "her dearest of dears" and they are so tender and sweet and filled with so much news and juicy tidbits and sweetness (with just the right amount of "pages omitted") that it set the romantic in me a-fluttering. Anne is learning how to be in love, something we see all too rarely in girls literature today. She has to be patient, to wait to make a life with the one her heart has chosen, but she does it so sweetly it's impossible not to feel the excitement. Romance doesn't need to be rushed. One doesn't need to spend all of ones time before the wedding crushed up against his or her chosen. Anne learns that absence sweetens the deal and her dreams grow because of it. And, in the process, sets aside a beautiful history to share with her own children.Today we write emails and tweet to one another and love letters such as those in this book are a thing of the past. But they don't have to be - and if you need inspiration, pick up this book.
I think it would be the quintessence of my existence to meet Anne Shirley. I simply adore her. These books are my favorite series I have ever read. They're so comforting and happy and never dull for a minute. I was sad that Gilbert was so seldom in this book even though they're now engaged. I look forward to them being married because then he simply must be a prominent character! But aside from that, I've no complaints to speak of.Montgomery's style is episodic, but this book particularly feels like a collection of stories and happenings over the three years of Anne's time at Windy Poplars. I'd love to see a tv series done to follow her adventures meeting these strange and unusual characters. I think one of the things which makes these books so comforting is that Anne meets so many people and although she seldom changes their natures, she's able to learn acceptance of why they are the way they are and often improves their circumstances. And in the incidents when she does change them, she always changes people for the better out of a very sincere desire to be helpful. And when things seem to be going badly, Anne takes full responsibility for her actions and is willing to face consequences that arise. I think if I could ever be like anyone from literature, being like Anne Shirley would be the highest compliment of all. However, since I seem accustomed to being more like myself than anyone else, it will suffice for me to have become dear friends with Anne through these stories. I'm sure we'll be friends all our lives.
What do You think about Anne Of Windy Poplars (1983)?
Anne has morphed into Mary Sue. In other news, bears shit in the woods.I'm beginning to believe that LM Montgomery wrote the Anne books as an escapist fantasy for herself, as Anne is so utterly impossible a creature - with Anne's background, she would be permanently damaged psychologically, and this happy horseshit of "Oh, [insert name here]! Isn't [insert random natural phenomenon here] wonderful? Isn't it splendid to know that tomorrow will always come?" is simply unbelievable.People like Katherine Brooke, the dour spinster who has led a dreary, sad life of neglect, can't simply be cured by ceaseless cheer. There are scars here that no amount of Anne's bullshit can wash away. And I'm severely irked that such potential depth of character is pissed away into a formulaic plot consisting of the following: "Person A is sad. Anne will make Person A happy and all the time that came before Anne will be forgotten by Person A!"I'm convinced that the "dark & twisty" people that Anne "reforms" are LM Montgomery's alter egos - Katherine Brooke most of all - & that Anne is LM Montgomery's personal, desperate salve for Montgomery's own deeply hurtful, scarring past; which is why Anne is what another reviewer described as a "psychological impossibility." Anne was LM Montgomery's hope that Montgomery's own past could be magicked away. This is understandable from the point of view in which Montgomery needed an escape from her own awful reality, but unacceptable in a published work: there is no psychological ailment that Anne cannot cure.To which I say, "Dream on."
—Lady
Ok, I have loved all of the books in this series so far, however, this one was a little...how shall I say this - eh. That's what it was. Eh.Anne writes lots of letters to Gilbert, but we never get to see any letters that Gil writes to her. Also, lots of new characters are introduced in this book and I wonder how on earth Anne is going to keep up with all these people.Also, Anne has officially turned into the perfect person who changes the life of everyone she meets. Honestly, does this woman have a flaw? I hope the following books show more of her human side and less of her angelic perfection.
—Leah
کسالتآور بود خیلی.و سوال: چرا هر لفظ عاشقانهی آنی به گیلبرت رو سانسور کردهبودن؟ -_- «برایت بوسه میفرستم» رو تبدیل کردهبودن به «برایت ... میفرستم.» . همین رو تعمیم بدید به سایر بخشهای عاشقانهی کتاب. -_-و این که اونقدر کاراکترها گذرا بودن که آدم نمیتونست بشناسدشون اصلاً. توی ذهن نمیموندن هیچکدوم؛ برخلاف کتابهای قبلی.
—Arghavan
