You're absolutely right as to the characters of the adults versus children/teenagers in Anne of Green Gables; I noticed myself on a recent reread that the book seems to be at least as much from the POV of the adults as from Anne's. In sections like Anne's story club, it seems to me that the audience is expected to see the melodramatic stories from the perspective of the adults (as hilariously funny) rather than from the perspective of the girls (as high drama).
Oddly, this did not at all hinder my enjoyment of the book when I read it at eight (or nine, ten, eleven, twelve—I read it yearly for some good length of time, up until my middle teens—which probably explains a good deal about me, actually).
The sequels decline in quality, but they do so gradually enough that they're still worth reading for a good while, in my opinion, and even the poorest are a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. (I think, honestly, part of the problem is that the older Anne gets, the less ridiculous she is, and the greatest charm of Anne of Green Gables for me was watching Anne be over the top and get into trouble.)
I never got into books about Anne's children, or Emily of New Moon.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 26 March 2011 07:51 pm (UTC)Oddly, this did not at all hinder my enjoyment of the book when I read it at eight (or nine, ten, eleven, twelve—I read it yearly for some good length of time, up until my middle teens—which probably explains a good deal about me, actually).
The sequels decline in quality, but they do so gradually enough that they're still worth reading for a good while, in my opinion, and even the poorest are a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. (I think, honestly, part of the problem is that the older Anne gets, the less ridiculous she is, and the greatest charm of Anne of Green Gables for me was watching Anne be over the top and get into trouble.)
I never got into books about Anne's children, or Emily of New Moon.