Customer Reviews

Anne of the Island (Anne of Green Gables)

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love Anne! She was, at times, my greatest friend in the world. I am now in my mid 20's, but I still cherish the memories of the moments Anne and I spent together when I was a child, and regularly revisit her. If someone asked me which Anne book I liked least, I couldn't answer. I loved each and every one more than the next.

Anne of the Island is no less wonderful than the books preceeding it or following it. Like all the books, it has a blend of humour and poignancy; joy and sorrow. The key drawcards of the Anne books are the characters. They are lovable, good, kind, wholesome folk who make you care about them and want to know what happens next. Incredibly vivid characters, it was no exaggeration to say that Anne was my childhood best friend - she was as real to me as any person I knew.

The cast includes all kinds of interesting guests including the wonderful Miss Patty and Maria with their china dogs, Miss Ada and her cushions, Mrs Skinner and her romance ("Jog along, black mare")... the list goes on. Best of all, our old friends are back - Anne, Gilbert, Pricilla, Diana, Davy and Dora, Marilla and Mrs Lynde, Charlie Sloane, and all those we knew and loved in earlier books. There are also some fabulous new additions to the circle of friends - Stella, Aunt Jimsie and the irrepressible Philippa Gordon.

Anne of the Island takes us away from Avonlea to Kingsport, where Anne is attending Redmond College. This new setting doesn't mean that we miss out on Green Gables altogether, as Anne does return home for vactions, but it does give one a sense of moving on. Never again will Anne be a child living under Marilla's roof - she is an adult, and in this book she is beginning to break away from Green Gables in preparation for the next chapter in her life. Many of the events in this book shape Anne for the rest of her life, and it is an important book for those wishing to read the whole series.

If you aren't familiar with Anne, please go back and read Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea before embarking on Anne of the Island - you'll know the characters so much better if you do. If you've read them and are wondering if this book lives up to the earlier ones - it does. L.M. Montgomery kept Anne consistant throughout the entire series, and there are few authors who have done so successfully. While Anne does grow and mature throughout, she is always the Anne we knew and loved.

I love alll of the Anne of Green Gables series. They are so vividly written you find yourself wishing that you were born as Anne a hundered years ago on PE Island. I would have happily endured all her hardships for all the wonderful moments in her life, and the fact she married Gilbert Blythe! It's so well written that you actually feel that you know Gilbert and I actually found my self falling in love with him! I've read the series 2 times. The first time I couldn't stop thinking about Anne. I read Anne, I tried to live like Anne and I dreamt Anne. Anyway, although I love all 8 books almost equally Anne of the Island is just a little better. And although it's romantic it's definitely not just a romance. Anne of the island includes wit and humour that makes it an all-round perfect book. If you're an Anne fan you havvvvvve to read this. I could not describe how wonderful it is in 1000 words. Anne of the Island is truly a book you CANNOT put down. After reading this I recommend you read all the rest of the Anne of Green Gables series (there are 5 more book,) although you'll probably be rushing to buy them anyway.

I had just begun to read the first Anne book in the beginning of January, and now, as the month has already come to a close, I've just finished my third. If nothing else, the book will sure keep you entertained. Even though I knew how the end of Anne of the Island would turn out, I still waited in suspense 'til the very last page. It's an excellent read, and I'm going to try to force myself not to go onto the fourth book because I really need to start reading other materials. It's written beautifully, and I found myself trying to speak as flowery as Anne but could never pull it off. It's really a blessing to find a book that you truly can't put down. The story was wholesome and simple, but it was indeed a classic to me. Take my advice, bibliophiles, read Anne--and give yourself some "scope for imagination."

This book is about how Anne went to Redmond Collage which is a very rare thing for people in Avonlea. She really enjoyed this as well as making knew friends. Anne also loved a small white cottage that was near Redmond.Threw the last three years of her stay at Redmond she spent the semesters at "Pattys Place", the white collage. She of course went back to Avonlea during vacations/breaks. She really enjoyed this. She went through many proposals, but she had to say no to everyone of them. Then she realized that Gilbert Blythe was the right one for her to marry. She realized this when Gilbert was deathly ill.

"Anne of the Island" is the third of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables novels, and completes what we can see as being a trilogy simply becomes Anne finally realizes what everybody in Avonlea has known from early in the first book, which is that Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe were made for each other. Having spent time as the teacher at the Avonlea Schools in "Anne of Avonlea," the Anne girl leaves Prince Edward Island for four years of college (hence, she is now "Anne of the Island"). The theme of this story is Anne dealing with "How horrible it is that people have to grow up," as she confronts how her whole world is changing.

Ironically, what makes "Anne of the Island" so romantic is the way it challenges romanticism. Even as a young woman Anne creates a romantic fantasy around the world in which she lives, just like she did at Green Gables where there was the old Snow Queen at the window, the Dryad's Bubble, the Haunted Wood, Lover's Lane and all those "dear spots where memories of the old years bided." Now Anne and Priscilla, her school chum from Redmond, are renting rooms in Patty's Place, and making the home of Miss Patty and Miss Maria into their own. Meanwhile, after a thousand romantic drams and enduring both Diana Barry's wedding and the rejection of Gilbert Blythe's proposal (her second actually), Anne finally meets her Prince Charming, Royal Gardner.

He is handsome and rich, in short, everything that Anne ever dreamed that she wanted in a husband. Then comes the fateful moment when Roy proposes and Anne opens her lips to say her faithful yes. But this is but a false dawn in Anne's life and there is a fateful Book of Revelation that Anne has to endure before love takes up the glass of time. There is romanticism and then there is that which is romantic and Montgomery shows the difference. There is a reason that this character and these books are enduring classics of (supposedly) juvenille literature.

As usual this book is also filled with interesting and colorful characters, such as young Paul and the Rock People, John Douglas who finally speaks at last, and Anne's friend Phillippa Gordon, who also has her eyes opened to the what true love really means. For those who are familiar with the delightful Kevin Sullivan "Anne of Avonlea" sequel there is also the whole episode of "Averil's Atonement" as well as the entire end game with Gilbert. That is the most important part because at long last the final line of Montgomery's original "Anne of Green Gables" novel rings true for our Anne girl.

this book never gets old. i've had it for so long and now i'm off to college and i still enjoy reading it cover to cover. anne is a great character, one who is easy to love and who explains herself well. the other characters are also quirky. something about this book is very universal, which i think explains why even in this century i still find myself being able to relate to Anne. the plot, while essentially a love story, is not overly sappy. and while most people would probably expect the ending, the twists and turns throughout the novel keep you entertained and engaged.

I first read this book in middle school after reading Anne of Green Gables. When I first got to college, I was having a hard time adjusting and rediscovering this book made it so much more bearable to be away from home. L. M. Montgomery captures the feelings of homesickness and confusion so beautifully. Every time I need a pick me up, I just go back to the novel.

This is my absolute favorite book in the whole entire world. It is the best out of the whole entire series! I have read and re-read it so many times, I know it practically by heart. The book is about Anne's four years at Redmond college with the introduction of Patty's Place featuring beloved characters from previous books including Gilbert Blythe, Priscilla Grant, goggle-eyed Charlie, the grown-up Diana, Ruby Gillis, Stella Maynard, the critical Mrs. Lynde, Marilla and of course the twins, Dora and Davy who just always happens to run into trouble. Many new friends emerge such as the unfogettable Phil (short for Phillipa) who can't dream of marrying a man who isn't rich, romantic Roy Gardener and the sweet Anut Jamesina. The book also includes the publishing of one of Anne's stories. It is definetly worth reading at least once.

i love the anne series... that seems a bit cliche to say, but man, does it ring true. each of these books hold a very special place in my heart, and each of them sits on my shelf with the tattered, well-worn pages of a book that has endured the loving hands of one who reads far too much. as i have read in the below reviews, many people focus on the romance of this book. while it is an underlying theme, tossing this book off as a romance novel would be a travesty. this is an enduring book filled with so many timeless issues, romance being only one of them. i do recommend this book, as well as the others, with a clear conscience and hopeful anticipation on your behalf. you will not be dissapointed. do be sure to read the other books in this series, as your experience would not be complete in reading just one. beautiful prose and thrilling imagery. what a treasure.

"Anne of the Island" is my favorite Anne book, and the last chapters of my copy are worn and torn because I have read it so many times. I loved it as a young girl, and I loved it again when I read it from my college dorm room (in fact, I think it's time for another rereading!). Plus, of course, a college education makes many of the literary references more relevant than they were at age 11.

Anne fans already know how wonderful are these chapters of Anne's life. This book outlines an important epoch in the series and answers the all important question of whether they will or they won't--a turning point on which the next five books hinge. And since you must start at "Anne of Green Gables" to appreciate any of it, this review cannot convince to you read just book three. It is just one more love letter to "Anne of the Island" added to this review panel.