People who don't yet take advantage of ebooks really should get wise.For example, take this, Complete Anne of Green Gables. This is a great collection, and the price, $31, is certainly reasonable. And I have to admit that the books together is an attractive bundle to own physically.
(Mark Twain, by the way, was a big fan of Anne of Green Gables.)
(Many people only know it from films/TV, but I think the books are far superior. You have the time to really get to know the characters, and they are wonderfully written, and wonderfully funny, an understated, intelligent kind of humor.)
But they do take up space. Long-time readers know how it adds up. And now compare it to this item (seems unfortunately to only be available on Amazon UK at the moment): The Complete works of L.M. Montgomery.
Update: it turns out it is indeed available in the US. (Thanks to Len.)
It is illustrated, and it has everything, including the books above, the Emily books, the Storygirl books, all the shortstories, articles, and her autobiography! (The last was actually what I was looking for. I want to know how much of Emily's struggles and joys as a young writer, she had in common with her author.)
... And, it is zero grams and no space, being digital, and costs less than two Pounds Sterling! (Three dollars.)
(You may be able to find much of it for free, but I had to work through quite some hoops just to find the three Emily books and convert them to Kindle format, so I'm delighted to pay two Pounds for this collection, trust me.)
Montgomery's books are sometimes seen as books for young girls, but as she found out herself, they really transcend their genre. Full of wisdom and humour and warmth, and very entertaining, I love them despite me being a 49-year-old male.
Sometimes, especially in the Emily books, I am very impressed just by *how good* she is, both in terms of plot and in terms of language.
I will happily pay a good price for a small item I really like. But I'm also sometimes delighted with simply a good deal. And it rarely comes better than this, look at how much you get for the three bucks (see list at the end of the post.)
---
Update:
ganesha games said...
Anne of Green Gables was also made into a delightful anime adaptation. I don't know how faithful it is to the book but it was popular in the late 80's in Italy.
Thanks. Maybe I'll take a look at it. Despite:
I got the famous Canadian film from the eighties. And it really was very good, and "Anne" actor was sweet and perfect. But... like with Little Women, I felt that an adaption of such a book cannot *really* succeed, because the main attraction is that over the many hours you read the book, you grow *so* attached to the characters, and in a film, that just can't be done. (Perhaps in a TV show?)
Also, in those books, the other very strong side is the *tone* of the book, very loving, and the *thoughts* of the author, loving and reflective and philosophical, and often speaking directly to the audience. It might be done with a voice-over, not sure, but for some reason that is very rarely done. Maybe they fear it takes the audience out of the story? (I think a voice-over, done really right, can be great.)
Also, movie/TV adaptations almost inevitably popularize and flatten a book. They have to take out something for time, and of course they take out the things that some of the audience may not understand, or which it takes time to think about, something which you have when you read a book, but not when watching a movie.
An example of this is the James Bond movies. I don't consider the James Bond books great literature, but they do have *some* pathos and depth, which you certainly can't say about the movies, most of which are simple popcorn shoot-em-ups with big budgets.
CONTENTS of The Complete works of L.M. Montgomery:
Anne of Green Gables Series
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
ANNE OF AVONLEA
ANNE OF THE ISLAND
ANNE OF WINDY POPLARS
ANNE’S HOUSE OF DREAMS
ANNE OF INGLESIDE
RAINBOW VALLEY
RILLA OF INGLESIDE
Emily Trilogy
EMILY OF NEW MOON
EMILY CLIMBS
EMILY’S QUEST
Pat of Silver Bush Series
PAT OF SILVER BUSH
MISTRESS PAT
The Story Girl Series
THE STORY GIRL
THE GOLDEN ROAD
Other Novels
KILMENY OF THE ORCHARD
THE BLUE CASTLE
MAGIC FOR MARIGOLD
A TANGLED WEB
JANE OF LANTERN HILL
The Short Story Collections
CHRONICLES OF AVONLEA
FURTHER CHRONICLES OF AVONLEA
UNCOLLECTED SHORT STORIES
The Short Stories
LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
The Poetry
THE WATCHMAN AND OTHER POEMS
UNCOLLECTED POEMS
The Poems
LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
The Non-Fiction
COURAGEOUS WOMEN
The Autobiography
THE ALPINE PATH: THE STORY OF MY CAREER
Contextual Pieces
MISS MARIETTA’S JERSEY
L.M. MONTGOMERY by Marjorie MacMurchy
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES REVIEW (I)
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES REVIEW (II)
OUR WOMEN
LETTERS FROM THE LITERATI
“ANNE OF GREEN GABLES” READY
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES FILM REVIEW, 1920
2 comments:
Anne of Green Gables was also made into a delightful anime adaptation. I don't know how faithful it is to the book but it was popular in the late 80's in Italy.
Thanks. Maybe I'll take a look at it. Despite:
I got the famous Canadian film from the eighties. And it really was very good, and "Anne" actor was sweet and perfect. But... like with Little Women, I felt that an adaption of such a book cannot *really* succeed, because the main attraction is that over the many hours you read the book, you grow *so* attached to the characters, and in a film, that just can't be done. (Perhaps in a TV show?)
Also, in those books, the other very strong side is the *tone* of the book, very loving, and the *thoughts* of the author, loving and reflective and philosophical, and often speaking directly to the audience. It might be done with a voice-over, not sure, but for some reason that is very rarely done. Maybe they fear it takes the audience out of the story. (I think a voice-over, done really right, can be great.)
Post a Comment