The Thammasat University Library owns a number of editions of Anne of Green Gables, a novel by the Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The novel Anne of Green Gables, first published in 1908, is shelved in the Fiction Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus. Also in the Fiction Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus is a shortened and simplified version for English language learners. Students might want to make the effort to read the original text, since that will bring them closer to the spirit of the author.

The TU Library also owns two copies of the translation into Thai language of Anne of Green Gables by Porawan Songbanthittaya and one copy of the translation into Thai by Piyawan Atthaphan. The translation by Porawan Songbanthittaya is shelved in the Fiction Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus. The translation by Piyawan Atthaphan is shelved in the Fiction Stacks of the Boonchoo Treethong Library, Lampang Campus. A third translation into Thai is also in the collection of the TU Library, shelved in the Fiction Stacks of the Puey Ungphakorn Library, Rangsit Campus.

Clearly Anne of Green Gables has been significant for Thai readers. It is set in the 1800s. Anne, an orphan girl is sent by mistake to work on a farm belonging to a Canadian brother and sister who were hoping to adopt a boy. Anne soon makes friends all around her. This story has been popular not just in Thailand, but around the world. It has been translated into over 30 languages. Films, animated and live-action television series, musicals, and plays have been based on it.

Part of the reason that readers enjoy Anne of Green Gables is the cheerful spirit of the book, as expressed in these quotes:

• “What a splendid day!” said Anne, drawing a long breath. “Isn’t it good just to be alive on a day like this? I pity the people who aren’t born yet for missing it. They may have good days, of course, but they can never have this one.”
• “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.”
• “Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
• “Marilla, isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” I’ll warrant you’ll make plenty in it,” said Marilla. “I never saw your beat for making mistakes, Anne.” “Yes, and well I know it,” admitted Anne mournfully. “But have you ever noticed one encouraging thing about me, Marilla? I never make the same mistake twice.” “I don’t know as that’s much benefit when you’re always making new ones.” “Oh, don’t you see, Marilla? There must be a limit to the mistakes one person can make, and when I get to the end of them, then I’ll be through with them. That’s a very comforting thought.”

• “You don’t chatter half as much as you used to, Anne, nor use half as many big words. What has come over you?” Anne colored and laughed a little, as she dropped her book and looked dreamily out of the window, where big fat red buds were bursting out on the creeper in response to the lure of the spring sunshine. “I don’t know—I don’t want to talk as much,” she said, denting her chin thoughtfully with her forefinger. “It’s nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one’s heart, like treasures. I don’t like to have them laughed at or wondered over. And somehow I don’t want to use big words any more. It’s almost a pity, isn’t it, now that I’m really growing big enough to say them if I did want to. It’s fun to be almost grown up in some ways, but it’s not the kind of fun I expected, Marilla. There’s so much to learn and do and think that there isn’t time for big words. Besides, Miss Stacy says the short ones are much stronger and better. She makes us write all our essays as simply as possible.”

• Anne’s horizons had closed in since the night she had sat there after coming home from Queen’s; but if the path set before her feet was to be narrow she knew that flowers of quiet happiness would bloom along it. The joy of sincere work and worthy aspiration and congenial friendship were to be hers; nothing could rob her of her birthright of fancy or her ideal world of dreams. And there was always the bend in the road!

One of the reason that Anne of Green Gables continues to interest readers is that although Anne is an outsider, she is finally accepted by her new community. She is self-confident, adventurous, and fun loving. Some readers find a feminist message in Anne of Green Gables because of the success of the title character. The novel is set on Prince Edward Island, Canada, which is appreciated by tourists for its red-sand beaches, lighthouses, and farmland.  Restaurants on Prince Edward Island specialize in seafood, such as lobster and mussels.

Since the author grew up on Prince Edward Island, she was able to include lots of authentic detail about childhood experiences there. Now tourism is important for the island’s economy. In Japan, Anne of Green Gables is especially appreciated. It is known as Red-haired Anne. Japanese couples travel to Prince Edward Island to be married there. Some Japanese tourists even dye their hair red and wear it in pigtails to better resemble their heroine Anne. Japanese tourists who are not able to afford a trip all the way to Prince Edward Island may visit a Green Gables house exhibit included in the theme park Canadian World in Ashibetsu, Hokkaido, Japan.

In 2016, to attract Thai tourists to Japan in the way that Japanese tourists are drawn to Prince Edward Island, the tourism board on Shikoku Island, Japan hired four Thai novelists to create four stories set in Kagawa Prefecture in southern Japan, hoping that television adaptations will follow. These are intended to inspire Thai visitors. Among the authors commissioned were Sirikarn Suppalertporn, who publishes under the pen name Rinthorn.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)