Anne of Green Gables vs. Anne With an E

 

   When I had first heard of Anne of Green Gables, it wasn't the book I had heard of. There was a Netflix adaptation named Anne With an E that I found so interesting because of the constant excitement and new developments. This was quite a few years ago, so when I was choosing what to read next a while back I remebered this show and how I remembered hearing that it was originally a book. 

    Anne of Green Gables by E. M Montgomery starts off by a girl in the late 1800s named Anne being mistakenly adopted by the Cuthbert siblings. Although the siblings wanted to adopt a boy to become a farm boy, Anne conviced the two that she would be of use. She slowly becomes accustomed to her new life and starts to go to school. At school, she starts to make friends, while a boy named Gilbert also begins to tease her. Throughout the first book Anne's relationship with her classmates and her new family grows until it feels like she had always been there. Gilbert, who she only knew as the boy who teased her constantly began to become fond of Anne.

    Even from the start of the book, Anne was always very free-spirited. Constantly being very imaginative begins to turn into academic intelligence- especially when it comes to English. Throughout her years of school she works very hard, and eventually gets into what is basically college. Through college she goes through hardship with her family and more. 

    When I began to read Anne of Green Gables,  I had an expectation that it would be similar to the tv show, to be honest it was only similar. Obviously it had the same people, personalities, and even storylines, but the tv show made me cringe so bad. Not because the story in the show was bad, but because Anne's actions were often embarrasing and very daring...  When I was reading, the same things happened but it didn't feel as dramatic as the show, and was much baerable. Although I enjoyed the book, there were quite a few outdated and slightly racist insinuations. This is much unlike the show, where specifically the Cuthburt family is showed as extremely progressive for the time. 

    There are pros and cons to the show and the book, and I think the tv show is better. The book is very fast paced, as the story line in one Anne of Green Gables book is three seasons worth of story in Anne With an E. I also viewed Anne and her friends relationships as much stronger in the tv show rather than the book where there isn't enough time for things like that to be developed. Although I said the show is hard to watch because of the second-hand embarrassment, if I really think about it, it gives the show character. 

                                                                                                                            -Ava Roberts