Jo's Boys (original 1886; edition 2011)

I've been listening to this at night, along with Little Men, for the last few weeks. I haven't a shred of objectivity abou this particular book, as it's one of my all-time favorites. Revisiting it as an adult, I can see more clearly some of its weaknesses, in particular its preachifying and the stilted way some of the character traits (Nan, most notably) are portrayed. However, this matters not the shadow of a whit to me, for these people are so alive, and Plumfield so dear that I hardly notice the flaws. I'm caught up in the stories and delighted all over again. The narration is wonderful here, enough so that I've listened to this multiple times in a few days.

There's so much here. There's the morality of the times, there are the impossibly high ideals, there's the reverence for humanity's inherent goodness, there's humor and pathos and heroism and tragedy. This is, without a doubt, one of my desert island books. I rarely re-read Little Women, and hardly a year goes by without I read this one twice. ( )

Standing by the 5 stars. As I've said before, these people are too intimately wound up with my psyche to be rated objectively.

There's some preaching but to my eye it's not as heavy-handed as in Little Women. There are lots of great female role-models (with respect to the times). All of the young women are working toward careers, with the exception of Daisy (that natural housewife!). The young men are supportive and for the most part, respectful. There are anachronisms aplenty, but there's also love and joy in abundance.

If you haven't read the book and plan to, please stop reading now.
Spoilers below.


Kathleen asked, in the context of another review, if I thought that Dan was dismissed as a contender for Bess' affections because of his race. I said no at the time, and I still say no. Dan killed a man and served a prison term because of it, and that is the reason that there will be no "nice" woman for him. I still think that had he not done so, he'd have been unacceptable for Bess the mealy-mouthed perfect princess- for class reasons. His rough and tumble upbringing would be against him, in the eyes of the hyper-refined Mrs. Amy. Nat, who came from similar cellars, was much more malleable and weak. He became adequately civilized- but still wouldn't have been okay for Bess.

( )

In the final book of the Annals of the March family, all of the jolly lads Jo teaches grow up and go their separate ways and have adventures. I really love that Louisa gives true to life endings for her characters instead of romanticizing them.

I'm not gonna lie, Dan is my favourite, I would run away to Montana and marry him in a moment, temper and all.

It makes me long for the good ole days, though I know we can make those days ourselves with our own hard work, pure hearts, and cheerfulness. Louisa, you are an inspiration :) ( )

Same deal as Little Men--something is missing, mainly Amy and Laurie, who all but dissapear. Again, so so on its own but valuable to me because I love Little Women so dearly. ( )

Little Men follows "Jo's Boys", as they grow up. Plumfield has developed from the small school for a handful of boys to a college and Jo's boys are on the verge of becoming adults. "Little Men" follows them in their lives as they try to become worthy men, find love and live through the occasional hardships and desasters of life.

As with "Little Woman" and "Jo's Boys", I really liked reading Little Men. The writing is just as wonderful as in the two preceding books. Learning about what happened to Jo's boys when they grew up is very interesting. ( )