BY KORE SEVERANCE – STAFF WRITER
Dr. Kristen Fulfer, a new professor to the chemistry department, suggests reading Anne of Green Gables. “I’ve probably read it, like, 100 times!” Dr. Fulfer says the cover of her paperback copy is now gone and what remains is pages held together by glue and paperclips. She got her copy when she was eight years old and hasn’t replaced it because the original copy means a lot to her.
Written in 1908 by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables is about a feisty, redheaded orphan growing up in Canada named Anne. She bounces around between many homes and does not properly fit in anywhere. The story picks up with Anne’s adoption by a brother and sister who are looking for a boy to help them on their farm. Once they find out Anne is not a boy, they make plans to send her back, which, of course, does not sit well with Anne. After some time, the brother and sister decide to keep Anne. Over the course of the novel, Anne learns to accept herself for all that she is.
This charming novel is told from Anne’s point of view, which is very “funny and silly [because] she’s very dramatic,” Dr. Fulfer said. Dr. Fulfer says that she likes this book because she feels herself to be an awkward person and never really knows what to say. This book was what told her to “just give it time” and she will become more comfortable with who she is. This is Dr. Fulfer’s favorite book and she highly recommends it to everyone, although she does not recommend the rest of the series: “The first one is really good but the others kind of suck.” Dr. Fulfer says she read the first four or so books into the series but stopped.
Anne of Green Gables’ has influenced a number of other works. Both a prequel and a sequel, from two different authors, were written after Montgomery’s death. The original story has been made into multiple films and TV-movies. A Canadian musical of the story first premiered in 1964 and tours around Canada every so often. It is estimated over 50 million copies have been sold since 1908 and is taught in classrooms around the world—so take Dr. Fulfer’s advice, and try out the world of Anne of Green Gables for yourself