Little Women

1/13/2019 review
I love this book so much. I read it and think, "Louisa May Alcott gets me." She understands the shy girls, the tomboys, the pretty girls, the artists. And she understands that each girl is more than the category she is lumped to; that's why the March girls are so relatable. I've always considered myself a pretty even mix of Jo and Beth, but I don't think I've ever cried over any character as much as I have Beth. The waterworks get off to a blubbery start when Mr. Lawrence gives Beth the little piano, and after that the tears will come out for any reason whatsoever. It's a relief to be done with this book, really, because I'm rather tired of crying. I don't think I've ever read a book that parallels my life so show more exquisitely, both inwardly and outwardly.

11/24/2010 review, 5 stars
At the end of the movie Little Women, while under the umbrella Professor Bhaer tells Jo that reading her book was like "looking into her soul." This line is not in the book, but describes perfectly the way I felt while reading this novel.

I started reading this book when I was in 9th grade for an English project. I never made it through the novel, but would pick it up every few years or so and read a few chapters. I decided to give it another chance now because it's one of the many books that as an English major, I feel like I should have read and loved long ago. Upon completion, I have come to the conclusion that it is the best American novel ever written, and while I am sad that I wouldn't partake of its goodness while still a teenager, there are lessons in this book for little women of every stage of life.

The first thing that drew me into the novel was the strong, distinct characters I found in the March girls. Mrs. March is the kind of mother everyone wants to have and that every girl wants to be—wise, loving, tender-hearted, with a bit of fire underneath it all. If I didn't have a mother of my own to turn to, I would turn to this novel for advice. Mrs. March has an answer for everything—she has weathered all kinds of storms and she learns from all of her experiences. This book is a domestic bible that American girls are sorely lacking today.

Meg has what many people would call "oldest-sibling syndrome." She likes to be in charge, but she also naturally and lovingly takes care of her younger sisters. She goes along with Jo's games for as long as she can, but there is always that "mature" streak that keeps her from being too childish. She follows in her mother's footsteps to the letter; and yet, she still has her faults. Her vanity gets the best of her at times, but she always makes it through her little problems and emerges a better woman for it. Her loving heart and gentle ways always overcome her desire for money and pretty dresses.

Jo is a lot like Meg in many respects; her biggest desire is to take care of those she loves, particularly Beth. At times she demonstrates Meg's matronly air when she is around her younger sisters. However, the similarities stop there. While Meg loves being fashionable and pretty, all Jo cares about is being comfortable and having fun. She is very ambitious and independent. She is full of fire and spunk and despite the messes and scrapes she gets herself into, people can't help but love her the way she is, for she does try very hard to be good.

Beth is the little angel of the family. She lived her life for others and her biggest joy in life was to be with her Jo and her beloved mother and father. It didn't take much to make Beth happy, but her family loved and took care of her more than they did anyone else, except perhaps "that Laurence boy." She may not have had the feminine strength that her mother and sisters had, but her strength was the strength of angels: she brought peace and happiness wherever she went.

And Amy becomes a bit of all of her sisters. She tries to imitate Beth's love for everyone and everything, and she has a bit of Jo's fire, which is balanced out by Meg's gentleness. She becomes a fashionable woman, but, like Meg, she learns that true happiness doesn't come from money, but from love and family.

As Jo learns early on in her writing career, "morals don't sell." However, she learns later on that people respond to the simple truths and lessons of her stories. This may seem contradictory, but in this contradictory lies yet another lesson: human beings don't like to be preached to, but each heart responds to true principles such as love, faith, morality, and hard work. Modern-day Americans may dub Alcott's novel as preachy and therefore unrealistic, but she (or he) who takes the time to learn with the March sisters what brings true happiness—family, love, hard work, faith, service, and generosity (not money, leisure, freedom, and greed)—will feel in her (or his) heart the truth of everything Mr. and Mrs. March teach their children. At the end of the novel when the growing family is celebrating Marmie's 60th birthday, it isn't the rich husband Amy married or the beautiful house that Jo turned into a school that made Mrs. March say to her girls, "I never can wish you a greater happiness than this!" It was baby Beth that Amy held in her arms, it was her adopted sons playing with Jo's boys, it was the family that surrounded her on that perfect day that caused her heart to overflow with joy.

This book rings true to me in more than just its moral lessons, however. I, too, grew up in a house of 4 girls, a mother who worked hard and put her children before everything she wanted, a father who may have been gone a lot but who loved his girls greatly and who was adored by his girls in turn, and a boy who wasn't an adopted brother but rather one of flesh and blood. We didn't have a lot of money growing up either, and while we all went through our stages of wants for various things, we had our set of adventures, scrapes, and triumphs. I see bits of me and my sisters in each of the March girls, and I see the love and wisdom of my parents in Mr. and Mrs. March, which makes the characters all the more dear to me. Some day we will have a family gathering just like the Marches have whenever they can, and I just know my mom will practically shout, "I never can wish you a greater happiness than this!"

I hope that everyone would take the time to read this book, for it is full of life lessons, bittersweet moments, joyous triumphs, sorrowful trials, and funny anecdotes. In short, it is a book about life. We can all be as happy as the March family if we just abide by their desires to live for others and to live for love. show less

Enamored of this coming-of-age novel as a child, I reread this American classic after seeing the musical. Loosely based on Alcott's own family and sisters, the novel presents an idealized and highly moralistic version of a family in the last years of the Civil War. It's the story of four sisters—pretty, domestic Meg; impetuous, tomboy Jo; quiet, homebody Beth; and artistic, self-centered Amy— who are living at home with their mother while their father is a chaplain in the Civil War. When the book opens, Meg is 16 and Amy 12, and it ends with the marriages of three of the girls. Alcott was asked to write a book for young girls by her publisher. She resisted at first, but acquiesced and wrote Little Women in ten weeks. It was an show more instant best seller and has remained beloved by generations of American girls.

Revisiting childhood classics as an adult is always a dangerous move. Will the cherished books hold up under adult scrutiny? In addition, in this case, I had seen many movie and now musical adaptations. The verdict is mixed. The work is clearly dated, having been written more than 150 years ago, and I was surprised by the heavy moral overtones, which I didn't remember from my youthful readings. Gender roles and responsibilities are very traditional, and yet Jo rebels against those expectations in ways I found interesting now, even if she succumbs in the end. I have always found her attraction to Professor Bhaer much more understandable than to Laurie. So while I found the Pilgrim's Progress references and moral lessons heavy-handed, I appreciated Alcott's attempt to push the boundaries. I would love to do a more in-depth comparison of the book and her own life. show less

I found the characters too cutesy-old-fashioned when I tried it as a kid (I was a realistic fiction and sci-fi reader exclusively), so I'd somehow never read the whole thing! Greta Gerwig's movie inspired me to finish it, finally.

As brilliant as that adaptation is, there are still some enjoyable bits that are never filmed, especially in the second half when they're adults -- like the hilarious sequence where Amy makes Jo go visiting with her and Jo keeps fucking it up. I still find Marmee insufferable: turns out the reason every film Marmee is a holy spouter of platitudes is because she's actually written that way, in every single scene. I also really needed some acknowledgement that these are allegedly poor people *with a servant*, so show more what does Hannah's life look like when she isn't making everyone a meal at odd hours? But overall, ok, I get it now! This book is great, and deservedly groundbreaking! show less

Re-reading this as an adult, I've realized that my goal is to become Amy. Because SHE GETS EVERYTHING SHE WANTS - most of which she takes away from poor, useless, ragtag Jo.

Amy gets beauty; she gets popularity; she gets the rag money to buy pickled limes. She gets Jo's trip to Europe; she gets Jo's dream of wealth and mansions and horses; she gets the easy, instant affability and social brilliance that Jo can never achieve; and then she gets Jo's boyfriend.

She's beautiful and gracious and good hearted (because she never has any trials!), she's a good artist, as little as she makes of it, she's damn rich, and she's married to that teasing, vexing Lawrence boy, certainly the best choice out of the three husbands. (And much better than show more Fred Vaughn - ugh.)

Did I mention she gets to sleep with Laurie?
"What does Amy call you?"
" 'My lord.' "

Yeah, that sounds about right. show less

I should have assigned Little Women to the category A Book You Struggled to Finish. I read at least two – and possibly as many as four – other books in the months between starting and finishing Louisa May Alcott's famous tale of the four March sisters. While I'm glad to have read the book, I'm also glad to be done with it.

Little Women is a remnant from just after the Civil War, a book that exudes an old-fashioned Christian outlook that life is a struggle to be endured, with one eye always on the ultimate reward. There are no surprises in this book – the omniscient, unnamed narrator too often telegraphs her plot – and a reader cannot help but hear a feminine voice in the narration – first by suggestive chapter titles (e.g. "The show more Valley of the Shadow" portending death), then by alluding to future events, such as foretelling that a character will behave differently the next time he/she is in this situation. Beyond providing clues as to how we should view a character (e.g. "Poor Jo"), the narrator constantly preaches acceptance of disappointments and tragedies as lessons in how to live a worthy life. Unfortunately, this same narrator forces you to slog through drawn-out scenes before providing the outcome you already know is coming.

Despite the negativity of that criticism, I didn't find this narrative style particularly off-putting. Alcott has a way of portraying the growing pains of young people from that era realistically. In the chapter "Learning to Forget," she imbues one character's reaction to an unrequited love with such irony that you find yourself laughing with him at his surprising lack of melancholy.

I also didn't find this narrative style particularly engaging. I can see where certain readers would enjoy this story, I'm just probably too old and cynical to be counted among them. show less

I committed to reading a classic every month this year and since I remember enjoying the abridged version I read as a child I decided to start with Little Women. Mistake.

Unpopular opinion here. I found Little Women to be incredibly boring, filled with Pilgrim's Progress references and preaching (too much even given the time period), and overall lacked any depth of story. I don't care who marries who or how many children they have and this being a classic can't change that.

What I couldn't get past is how hypocritical I found Little Women. While continually telling me the only way to be happy is through virtuousness and generosity all they did was complain about how bad off they were. Poor us, we can only afford one servant. Woe is me, show more I'm so poor, let me just run off to New York or Europe for a few months to console myself. I'm just too beautiful, these boys won't leave me alone, let me flirt with them some more. I married such a poor man and have home with everything I need but can't spend $50 on a piece of material. Let me just steal the money from him instead. (($50 in 1868 is equivalent to nearly $1,000 purchasing power today so this is beyond ridiculous. Yes, I looked it up.))

Once again, I'm obviously in the minority here. Just not for me. show less

"Cuatro pequeños baúles en fila, cubiertos de polvo y gastados por el paso del tiempo. Cuatro mujeres que han aprendido a trabajar y amar. Cuatro hermanas, separadas por el tiempo, ninguna de ellas falta, aunque una se marcho antes que el resto, pues el amor inmortal la hace más presente que nunca. Cuando a las cuatro les llegue la hora de abrir sus baúles ante el Señor, espero que rebosen de dicha, actos de bondad y vidas llenas de valor. que sus almas se eleven felices y, que tras la lluvia, luzca un sol eterno."

Cuando un libro te llega tan hondo es difícil hablar de él porque las palabras demeritan lo que te hace sentir. Lo primero que quiero decir es los personajes de está historia te enamoran, todos y cada uno de ellos show more tiene algo que para el final del libro hace que se quede fijo en ti, pero definitivamente Jo fue mi chica favorita y creo que se debe a que es la que más se adapta al rol femenino de la actualidad, es lista, sarcástica, fuerte e independiente sin que por ello deje de ser tierna, compasiva, maternal y amigable.

"En toda vida, hay días de lluvia, días oscuros y días tristes y grises

La historia es conmovedora, te hace pensar, reír, entristecer, enojarte, es decir que te hacer pasar por un montón de sentimientos, y para mi que fue la primera vez que me acercaba, lo único que sabia era gracias al sr. Joey Tribbiani (porque trate de olvidar todo lo que dijo Rachel y funciono...en un 90%) y a la introducción de la edición que tengo (Gracias Lumen), y esa ignorancia creo que fue muy buena porque todo fue nuevo, increíble y me sentí como una niña que iba creciendo con ellas.

"Con las mujeres, al igual que con los sueños, todo puede ocurrir al revés de lo que uno espera"

Algo a resaltares que la vida de estas hermanas es narrada con una enorme carga moral, de verdad ENORME, durante todo el transcurso del libro encontraras varias referencias al rol de la mujer, el hombre, la religión, el comportamiento social y las clases sociales...cuando tomas en cuenta que no por estar ahí debes tomarlo al pie de la letra pero parte de esas enseñanzas podrían servirnos para ser mejores seres humanos entiendes una pequeña parte de porque ha trascendido esta historia.

"Si tiene edad para plantear la pregunta, tiene edad paraescuchar la respuesta. Yo no le meto ideas en la cabeza, me limito a ayudarle a desarrollar las que ya tiene."

Lo que no me gusto quedará en este spoiler

Señora March, es usted una señora muy sabia y agradable pero, de verdad, Jo y Laurie estaban hechos el uno para el otro, y ODIO que Laurie se quedara con Amy, no me importa cuanto haya cambiado ella.

Lo de Beth, querida Alcott me debes una explicación, por lo que entendí (corrijanme sí me equivoco, por favor) murió a causa de una recaída de la escarlatina que tuvo de niña pero estuvo más de 1 año enferma y no dijo nada ¿Sí hubiera hablado no la habrían podido salvar? Sí es así ¿Porqué no lo dijo? La única razón que vi a esto fue lograr que Amy se casara con Laurie (porque Jo sí estaba enamorada de él, sólo que aun no era el momento. Lo rechazo porque pensó que Beth lo amaba no porque ella no lo hiciera).

Lo último que no me gusto, pero al mismo tiempo lo ame por realista, fue que al final nadie logro conquistar sus Castillos en el aire, pero Jo, mi querida Jo, el tuyo fue el más triste porque ya no escribías y siempre creí que podrías hacer tu vida en familia y continuar con tu sueño (aunque no te convirtieras en la gran escritora).


"Valoro mi libertad y no tengo prisa por perderla a cambio de ningún hombre"

Ese final fue tan agridulce, me sentí bien por ellos porque, a pesar de lo que no me gusto, son felices y pueden serlo mucho tiempo, pero me sentí triste por que era una despedida, por todo lo que creí que sería (y que los habría hecho más felices...sólo digo) y no fue.

"Antes de morir espero hacer algo importante, algo heroico o maravilloso que me permita seguir viva en el recuerdo. No sé qué es, pero no pararé hasta descubrirlo y, algún días, os asombraré a todas."

Este libro pasa a mi lista de favoritos y lo volveré a leer en un futuro no muy cercano. show less