I've been interested in the bildungsroman lately. Obviously this means more interest in that beautiful quartet "Republic-Comedia-Emile-Phenomenology", but I shall put those off till later and instead focused on a short, simple, (rather) girly book, Anne of Green Gables. In my defense, I thought the writer was a man, for the prose was reminiscent of Mark Twain's Joan of Arc. Besides, I had never read the book before, though I opened it about five, six years ago and plopped it down in disgust - Anne simply would not shut up.
Anyway I reopened the case, and devoured the book in one sitting. Of course you know how much I like a character who is Life personified. Joan is the exempla prima, but Anne is cut from the same cloth. Like Joan, she dominates the novel, and all other characters could be said to exist in reaction to her. Best of all, she becomes a scholar! I picked up on the Euclid and Virgil jokes and was ashamed of my own education when I compared it to hers. Thomas Jefferson's ideal alive and well in Canada at the time, I suppose.
The best part about being Life personified is the full commitment Anne shows for all things, for in the novel, being lukewarm is as far from her as the east is from the west. This commitment impels her to passionately love life in everything; this is why she is such an adorable girl at eleven, and why she matures into a lovely, intelligent young woman at the novel's end. Some may find her constant extremes wearying, but I found them fully delightful. Her character is an inspiration, regardless of its extremity.
"Don't give up all your romance, Anne - keep a little of it."
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