Thread by @lainasparetime

I don't have a chapter today but perhaps if you all wouldn't mind a little rambling, I'll talk about my feelings re-reading this and some of my overall thoughts and things along that line. I don't have any notes, so we're free-forming this today lol #LainaReadsAnne

#LainaReadsAnne First of all, in the course of whatever research I was doing at the time, I found a Heritage Minute which I think is really cool

#LainaReadsAnne (Heritage Minutes are these things we have in Canada, they're like minute long short films that teach you about Canadian history. They play on like CTV and stuff. They're actually really cool.)

#LainaReadsAnne I talked about this before but I did read Anne of Green Gables and some (not all) of the sequels as a kid, but my memory is kind of awful and I've realized I had stronger memories of the animated series than I did of the book proper.

#LainaReadsAnne Reading it as an adult has been super interesting, honestly. Montgomery's prose is beautiful, I can't stress that enough. She had a way with description and atmosphere that was just incredible.

#LainaReadsAnne It is a book that is a cultural landmark in my country (and others, but, you know, Canadian here), and it seems in the last couple years there's really been a resurgence in interest in it with three new movies and a new series.

#LainaReadsAnne I think part of that is probably a copyright thing, lol, but it is interesting to see. I don't think it's going to be everyone's thing, and as you see in my threads, I don't hesitate to criticize things in it, but I think it's worth reading.

#LainaReadsAnne I really do see why it's stayed in cultural eye to this day. Montgomery's writing is approachable in a way a lot of classic lit isn't always imo. Her prose is gorgeous and there's a lot of wit and subtle humour/even sarcasm in it.

#LainaReadsAnne It's really a quiet, fairly simple story. It's kind of like - you know how Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki makes movies that are more slice of life, like Kiki's Delivery Service? It's kind of like that.

#LainaReadsAnne It's storytelling that flourishes in the quiet moments, in a simple, beautiful setting, in strong characters that love and that you enjoy seeing grow. That is a hard thing to do, really, and I admire that.

#LainaReadsAnne And I find Montgomery an interesting person. She was mentally ill, possibly queer, and she made a living writing as a woman in the early 1900s. Obviously as a white woman she had more privilege than others, but that still wasn't easy.

#LainaReadsAnne Over the course of my reading, I've learned a lot of interesting historical things, like the heartbreaking story of the British Home Children, that people thought eating hot bread was bad for you, and about diphtheria. It's been really interesting in that aspect.

#LainaReadsAnne I really look forward to reading more of Montgomery's writing, as it's so enjoyable, and I am really excited about eventually getting to non-Anne things, too, including her biographical writings.

#LainaReadsAnne At this point I'm probably committing to talking about Anne of Green Gables for the rest of my life, but I'm okay with that :P

#LainaReadsAnne And I do think adaptations are gonna be fun. We're going to be looking at some of those over the next little while! That will take longer (since most of them will be like, one big chunk versus chapter by chapter) but we'll have a good time.

#LainaReadsAnne Montgomery's writing does leave a lot of wiggle room to play around. She glosses over things now and then, drops threads/characters, that kind of thing, so I'm personally open to adaptations doing new things as long as they fit the spirit.

#LainaReadsAnne Personally I think writing queer Anne of Green Gables would be a blast (and, uh, like not a hard stretch) and horror Anne would be so cool.

#LainaReadsAnne Oh and for adaptations, we'll be using the hashtag #LainaWatchesAnne just because it fits better mostly XD

#LainaReadsAnne To close this out, I just want to say thanks to everyone who's encouraged this? I really wasn't sure people were going to enjoy it, and it means a lot to know I'm not just talking into the void lol. And I appreciate all the conversations we've had about our girl.

#LainaReadsAnne We'll be doing some adaptations, and then we'll return in a bit with Anne of Avonlea (which showed up the other day!)

If you need to catch up or prefer not reading on twitter, you can find everything here: lainahastoomuchsparetime.wordpress.com/anne-of-green-…

#LainaReadsAnne (Or you will be able to in like half an hour.)

And if you happen to want to throw something in ye old tip jar to help keep me in hair dye, skin care, and copies of future books, my ko-fi is here: ko-fi.com/A0602GN

Thanks. For real.