[issybird]

Originally Posted by Victoria

However, I think Longfellow’s ‘Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie’ will continue to be revered in these parts for a long time to come.

It’s good to think there’s an afterlife for old Henry Wadsworth! I’m afraid my own perspective is of those dreadful poems we had to read in school, the ones with metric schemes that made your molars ache and fatuous sentiments. Hiawatha, as mentioned above. Paul Revere’s Ride. The Village Blacksmith.

Originally Posted by Catlady

I've finally finished Anne, and will go back and read through the comments in the morning. But a few remarks first.

I read Anne at some point long ago, and I believe I've conflated it with Pollyanna in my hazy recollections.

The shift from the slow-moving early part of the book to the drama of the last chapters seemed abrupt. Suddenly there were major life-changing events happening, instead of a string of funny episodes.

I didn't dislike Anne overall, but some of her flights of fancy got to be a bit much. She seemed younger than her stated age for much of the book.

I'm not surprised that this book didn't stick in my memory from childhood; I wouldn't have found much about her relatable--she wasn't a kindred spirit.

Originally Posted by gmw

Catlady, the Disney version of Pollyanna (I've never read the book) was sitting around in my head a lot as I this book. There was something so teeth-itchingly wholesome about it all. (Before reading this I had just finished another book that was full of very sweet people, bar the only viable suspect, and I think it was all starting to get to me.)

I thought of Pollyanna also with the obvious similarities, poor orphan sent away (to New England at that) to someone who didn’t want her (but was won over) and the pervading religious/moral overtones. But Anne is a relief in comparison, not so unredeemed a goody-goody. Catch Pollyanna cracking her slate over a boy’s head.