One of the glaring omissions from my reading history was Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. As far as I can remember, I think I had the wrong impression of what kind of story it was. In my mind it was lumped with the Little House books (which I have never wanted to read). Of course, this book is completely different and I was wrong. I'm very happy now to have read this bright and touching story and, as you can guess, I regret not having read it sooner. I think it might have made a difference at a certain point in my life when I had some tough decisions to make.
Do you like to fill in your reading history by reading books you missed as a child or do you feel that ship has sailed? What are the books you've chosen to read late? Do you have others that you still plan to read? I have two books here that I plan to read in the coming year--Treasure Island and The Swiss Family Robinson--and now I'm actually thinking of creating a list of other childhood classics that I don't want to miss! I look forward to filling in the gaps.
Mending the tapestry,
K
I can always think of books I haven't read and don't want to read, like Johnnie Tremain and The Other Side of the Mountain. But I feel like I had a pretty thorough grounding in good children's fiction. I'm sure as soon as you make a list of important children's classics, I'll realize how many I've missed, though. :p
ReplyDeleteI've also only read all the books about 3 years about, but back in the 80s the anime version of Anne of Green Gables was very popular in Portugal, so in a way, she was still part of my childhood!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many books I missed out on when I was little, and I do want to visit them, even though it's not quite the same. I do enjoy reading those types of books with my kids.
ReplyDeleteI did read a few of the Anne books when I was a teen, which was perfect timing. Total crush on Gilbert.
I LOVE Anne, a love that began in childhood and has stayed with me. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a few 'childhood gaps' that I'd like to fill in (I only discovered Diana Wynn Jones this year, for instance). The only book I can think of that I know I'll never read because 'the ship has sailed' is Catcher in the Rye. I love the other Salinger books I've read, but for me that one seems like a teenage read or nothing!
Somehow I missed Anne as a child also -- I think I kept mixing her up with Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Pollyanna, which always sounded so annoyingly sweet (haven't read those either). I finally read Anne a few years ago and loved her, so I do want to read the whole series. I also have one of Montgomery's books for adult readers, The Blue Castle. I've heard good things about it but the cover looks like a cheesy romance, so I keep putting it off.
ReplyDeleteI love the Penguin Classic cover! Lauren Child is the perfect illustrator for Anne.
Jenny - I agree that there are ones that I will just never read too. But I think I spent a lot of my childhood with newer fiction or books that my mom wanted me to read that I really wasn't interested in (like too many horse books). I'm going to start working on the list!
ReplyDeleteAlexandra - I really want to see that anime version but it doesn't seem to be available. I read that it's very true to the stories!
Shelley - Luckily we get a chance to visit wonderful books again (and those we've missed) with our children. Z thinks that the cover of Treasure Island looks awesome! (And yay for Gilbert!)
Eva - I wish I had been able to love Anne when I was young! And I feel the same way about The Catcher in the Rye. I almost read it in high school when it was on a reading list but we had to get parental permission first. So I went to my mom and said "can I read this one?" and she said "sure ... or you can pick one of the many other books on that list that are better".
Karen - I definitely saw some big parallels between Disney's Pollyanna and Anne. I haven't read the book though so I wonder how different it is. But there were the same sorts of key characters -- stiff but loving adopted mother figure, cratchety but sweet neighbor lady, etc. I will definitely read more Montgomery now! And I love Lauren Child's Anne too. I just saw the next two covers she did and I'm off to order those!
I missed a lot of the classics when I was a kid. Most of what I read were fairly recent books at the time (the 1970s, which I think some people see as classic now, alas). But I caught up with Anne of Green Gables, the Narnia books, Susan Cooper's books, and several others when I was in college and shortly thereafter, and I loved them. And there are others I'm sure I'll get to someday. When it comes to kids' books, though, I kind of like to hear the perspectives of adult readers before giving them a try.
ReplyDeletesomehow I missed out on the Narnia books..
ReplyDeleteI just read this last year and wished I'd read it when I was younger too. As wonderful as I found it now, I know I would have loved it even more when I was younger. I have to say ... I've never seen that cover for it ... quite a different take on Anne!
ReplyDeleteTeresa - Same for me. I read a lot of 70s and early 80s books but not many that were earlier than those besides the Oz books. And I like hearing adult opinions too -- both on whether the story works for adults and how the language/ideas have come through to modern times.
ReplyDeleteCindy - It's strange to think that could happen but it does for all of us with some book or series!
Jenners - Exactly! And I chose the cover because we've fallen in love with Lauren Child over the years (Z loves Charlie and Lola) and it makes the book seem more perky and appealing. I would bet that boring covers were a big part of why I never picked it up before!
As we discussed on Twitter, this one one book that I missed out on in childhood too! I totally want to read the sequels, too. I am totally for feeling in the gaps . . . but sometimes I think I have a different reaction than I would have had when I was younger. I'm a different person than I was then. Does that even make sense?
ReplyDeleteTif - I definitely see things differently now (in my old age, haha) but this one seems like one that might have actually changed me if I had read it at the right time!
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