Reading Challenge: Pick 33 words from a favorite piece of literature.
This morning I saw the new, updated cover for the Anne of Green Gables books. It is a travesty. A blonde woman, posed sexily next to a bale of hay, wearing a plaid shirt that is not even time-period accurate.
Nothing about this says Anne Shirley.
Like lots of young girls, Anne was a big influence on my life. I read the Anne books so many times, my copies eventually fell apart.
I love Anne. I love that she did not have a perfect life. I love that she cares so deeply how her name is spelled, and desired to spend the night in a spare room. I love her imagination and big words. I love her red hair and freckles, and I even love the way she does not love them. All of those things work together to make a character who is strong, sweet, and relatable.
When I saw the Trifecta Challenge, this was on my mind, and I knew I needed 33 words from Anne. These words are spoken after she buys hair dye from a peddler, and in trying to dye her hair a raven black ends up with tresses of dull, bronzy green.
Messing with Anne's hair is never a good idea.
*Big props to Thomas for reading through Anne of Green Gables with me tonight to find this quote. It is much harder than you would imagine to find an exact 33 words.
**I found a much better cover update for Anne of Green Gables here.
**I found a much better cover update for Anne of Green Gables here.
You should have posted an image of this book cover, so we could all share in your angst and horror! (Though the description is off-putting enough...)
ReplyDeleteOh, sweet Jesus, is this is?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/06/anne-of-green-gables-blond_n_2629993.html?utm_hp_ref=books&ir=Books
The horror... The horror...
That is it! And I went back and added it to the post. Because it really does have to be seen to be believed.
DeleteAck and double ack! As a redhead, I am insulted!
ReplyDeleteAs you should be.
Delete"My tongue must be hung in the middle, it flaps so!" Thank you so much for picking one of the greatest Canadian books ever written! We have Anne dolls in the girl's bedrooms, Anne of Green Gable novels and storybooks plus, we have a movie poster with RED-HAIRED Megan Fellows as Anne, hanging in the girl's playroom! Not sure who the blonde with the come-hither look on the new book jacket is supposed to be. Anne is a lot of things but, sexy trollop, she is not! Anne of Green Gables is a wonderfully-inspired choice. Thanks for making my day!
ReplyDeleteI love that you said "sexy trollop" - that is exactly the opposite of Anne.
DeleteHappy to meet a fellow lover of Anne.
Why?! Ugh... That stuff with the cover irritates me. It annoys me as bad as when they cast a beautiful woman to play the role of a 'plain looking' character. I love Anne Shirley as a character. They had no right to change her like that.
ReplyDeleteRight? I don't understand why book cover designers and movie casters don't follow the descriptions in books. Us readers have carried around a mental picture of the characters we loved based on the author's description, and when they mess with that, it ruins the whole book cover or movie.
DeleteICK!!! Why do some publishers think stories must me modernized???? I still remember reading these - and Cherry Ames - and even the Bobbsey Twins (why, yes, I AM that old) No need to modernize. Sad. The lessons within are really age-old.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing the quote.
I did not read very much of the Bobbsey Twins, but I loved Cherry Ames!
DeleteI almost chose this book! I adore this series.
ReplyDeleteIt will always be one of my favorites.
DeleteI had to come read this right now because I AM SO IRRITATED BY THE IDIOT WHO DID THIS TO ANNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI AM TOO!!
DeleteThat person needs to be banned from book cover designing for life!
I completely agree with absolutely everything you posted, from all the things you love about Anne and how it affected my life, down to the travesty of that book cover. WHO on earth was in charge of going the extra mile to read the book before planning the cover shoot? hehe :)
ReplyDeleteThat is my question. Don't they read the book before they do the cover art?
DeleteApparently not. Sheesh.
I read this on Jezebel earlier this week and I was incredulous. Did you see the other covers? WTF are they thinking. OMG! The Bell Jar cover is just, it's just, it's it's just, I don't even have words for it.
ReplyDeleteI saw the new Bell Jar cover, too. It is absolutely ridiculous.
DeleteI am glad you added a picture of the cover. I've pinned it to my pinterest wall of shame. Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely belongs on a wall of shame.
DeleteI never read Anne of Green Gables, but I have read some of the stuff surrounding this horrible new cover. I must agree--whoever did this is an idiot.
ReplyDeleteOooh. You have to read it! It is a great read, even as an adult.
DeleteYou absolutely cannot mess with Anne's red hair! Whoever designed that cover has obviously never read the books.
ReplyDeleteStopping by from SITS Sharefest. Happy Saturday!
That is what I'm thinking. I don't understand it...but it is the only explanation that even begins to make sense.
DeleteI've never read the book, but I agree the cover is a travesty. It looks like a terrible stock image. It's worse than those terrible covers that always seem to end up replacing proper covers of movie-tie in books.
ReplyDeleteOooh. I hate those too! Why, oh why, do they do that?
DeleteI refuse to buy books with the awful movie-tie in covers.
That cover is just so wrong.
ReplyDeleteFlash 55 - Dreams
Exactly.
DeleteHuh? Why would they do this to such a classic. Send the wrong message. Loved the book and your quote selection.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand it at all. And you are right, it does send the wrong message.
DeleteI was thinking of using a quote from Anne of Green Gables which is one of my all time favorites. You found a great one.
ReplyDeleteHow dare they use that girl for the cover. They should be arrested and put in prison. Period. End of story!
I agree. Book prison! We can pick a prison from a book, and put them there.
DeleteI vote for the Château d'If.
That wouldn't be too harsh of a punnishment, right?
Can we start a protest? Is this publisher in New York? I swear I will go picket in front of their offices.
ReplyDeleteYes please!! I will help you come up with slogans for the picket signs!
DeleteAlso. This is why I love you!
I'm appalled! Anne has been a huge part of my life and of my daughters' - we have spent many summer vacations on PEI and have done just about every imaginable Anne activity there is to do there. Not sure how anyone could have thought that this was an appropriate book cover!
ReplyDeleteI have always always always wanted to visit PEI. It is at the top of my "things I will do if I win the lottery" list.
DeleteIn a world that uses sex to sell everything from hamburgers to cars, I don't suppose we should be all that shocked but this is just ... wrong!
ReplyDeleteGood Lord! That updated cover looks like it could be something other that a book for young girls.
ReplyDeleteGreat quote, though.
Right? It is very "adult" looking.
DeleteOMG. I said to my husband today, "Maybe tonight, we'll have way too much wine and sit around looking for the most perfect 33 words ever." He said, "Ummmmmmmmmm. I think you forgot that tonight's poker night." Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThat girl is ridiculous. And not Anne. Good for you for calling her out. This needs more attention.
Who would want to pick poker night over that? Crazy man. ;-)
DeleteThe cover looks like the cover of a 70's pin-up calendar you'd see on a cop show in the 70's. (Yes, I'm old and I watched a lot of TV in the 70's.) There is nothing that says "Anne" on the cover except the book title. I'm glad the copies I have for my daughter are the old versions. Is it any wonder that women (and men!) have so many body image issues these days when we're bombarded with images like that for even the most innocent of things? Grrrrrrr.....
ReplyDeleteYes it does! (I watched a lot of 70's cop show reruns!)
DeleteImages like this really do feed into body image issues. It needs to stop.
I read almost every LM Montgomery book, and am so excited to read them to my daughter.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe they made her a blonde... you're right. It's a travesty.
My daughter shares my LM Montgomery love, and that makes me happy. It is so much fun to share beloved books.
DeleteOne of the reasons that girls love Anne is because she is not perfect but she is vital and bright and AACK!!!
ReplyDeleteI'll take Anne with her gorgeous Ginger hair and freckles any day!!!
:-)
Traci
Exactly! They totally missed the entire point of Anne and who she is! Crazy people.
DeleteGood choice & yes the girl you so perfectly describe is totally different from this mockery on the new cover.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that the person who designed this had never read the books.
DeleteO.o :O and all other sorts of emoticons that express my complete horror--as you know Anne has always been my very favorite books in the world--and I completely agree with everything you said...and this, this OUTRAGE is just gross, sick, and wrong... :( :( :(
ReplyDeleteI love that you linked up with an Anne reference, and I'm in similar shock and horror at the sexy blonde non-Anne in that advertisement. Quelle Horror.
ReplyDelete