Little Women

Un clásico de clásicos, un manual de buenas costumbres y educación, reflexivo, nostálgico y repleto de frases maravillosas.
Las protagonistas son personajes entrañables que por algo, después de tantos años, permanecen en la mente de los lectores, muchas cosas que aprender de la familia March.

I'm definitely a victim of modern society when I find this book slow. Had I read it in its day (or even as a youth) it would probably be fantastic, but as it is I'm finding the life lessons saturated in every chapter a little much, not sweet. Which brings me to Beth. Back in the day sweet, mild, submissive were prime female qualities. Now I look at the picture of her on the front cover with her empty eyes and blank stares and she looks sweet in a mentally challenged way. And Jo who is endearing because she is quirky, clumsy, and bold while meaning well and therefore not prime marriage material show prime female qualities for today of intelligence, wit, and assertiveness. So you see, the characteristics that are supposed to endear me annoy me and the ones I'm supposed to find sympathy for, I relate to.

I couldn't finish the book. I tried, but it was too much like homework. Plus it bothers me that Jo rejects Laurie and that little diva Amy catches him with the shallow characteristics of her looks when he is way too good for her. Maybe I'm tainted with the image of Christian Bale in my head, but I still think Jo would have made such a better companion to him. So I didn't even have motivation to wade through boredom to read a conclusion that upset me.

این ۴امتیاز رو از دیدگاه دختر ۱۸ساله‌ی درونم به این کتاب میدم چون ��اید ۱۸سالگی این کتاب رو میخوندم

2017 update: I reread this as it was the Austentatious book for June and July! I didn't love it as much as I did the first time I read it, but I am glad I got to revisit the story. (Also, this time I Amy was my favorite character?)

Book 12/100 for 2015
I had to read this book for my Children's Lit class and I loved it! We've done a lot of discussion which has really opened my mind to new things in the book and made me love it even more. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to get into classics as it's a children's book (so easy to read) but also there are fantastic characters (except Amy, I really hate Amy).

4/5 ★'s audiobook


This was such a lovely listen. I enjoyed it from start to finish, all nineteen and a half hours!

There was, of course, much added to the unabridged version that didn't necessarily need to be there. But I found myself enjoying all of the little shenanigans, even if it did take a long time to get through.



Now, as this was a different time, it can be hard to listen through some of the advice that is given to women (and women only). But I decided instead of resisting it completely, swapping out "women" with everyone.

I think that if everyone were taught these lessons instead of them just being a "womanly expectation" we could benefit from a lot of them! Religion comes into play with this also, but of course, what can you do? It was the 1800s.

I didn't find it to be overwhelmingly religious either, so no worries if you have your own religious trauma like me.



Oh, how this book made me cry!! I couldn't believe the overwhelming emotion I felt during what is obviously a spoiler I cannot mention. But know that there are parts to this tale that will leave you (if you are like me) balling as if you just finished "The Notebook"!

I took much away from this read. Many life lessons can come from reading this book with an open mind and while reminding yourself of the period.

I highly recommend it if you have never given it a read! I am trying to branch out into the "classics" — so this was a fabulous start.

Please note that this review covers the second half of "Little Women" that is often published separately as "Good Wives".

✒️Oh goodness, how to review Little Women? I think the strongest testament to show my love for this story is that I have enjoyed it countless times, both as a book and some of the (many) film adaptations and I have never tired of it. Each time it continues to mean a great deal to me.
I want to watch more of the film versions, as I enjoy seeing the different takes on the story. While I do look forward to seeing the latest by Greta Gerwig, it's the 1949 version I am most interested in -- I so want to see Elizabeth Taylor as Amy. All the stills that I have seen match very well with my mental image of that character.

The 1994 version is the one I have watched the most, and it is also through watching it that I discovered that Little Women (the book) is often split into two halves. I watched the first half of that movie happily, and the jump forward in time and the events that followed utterly shocked me! To learn there was more to the story than I had realised was both exciting and terrible, because I was completely unprepared for poor Beth's fate. Claire Danes has the ability to make me cry in almost anything, but here I sat and sobbed with alarming intensity. I still struggle with that scene. With Beth in general, because I tend to love her too much, and always find it difficult when the time comes.

For the most part, I consider this to be a perfect book. Somehow it works, even when it feels a little heavy on the lessons and morals. I enjoy the discussions on religion, even if I don't always agree with them. I love getting this beautiful insight into America from so long ago. As well as an entertaining story, it's a great history lesson. In the entire book, there is only one sentence that I could have done without:
"Haughty English, lively French, sober Germans, handsome Spaniards, ugly Russians, meek Jews, free-and-easy Americans..." --- the generalisations for each country are a little annoying, but it's the descriptions of Russians and Jews that I find most bothersome. While the book mentions often the many good points of America and being American, this is one of the few times when that attitude feels xenophobic, rather than a display of pride for the place one is from. However, this is the only line that really got under my skin in this way. Perhaps I'm being overly sensitive, or reading too much into it, but I couldn't quite let it go as I read on.

I liked listening to the author sing the praises of her home country, and felt I learned a lot from those descriptions, even if I didn't exactly share her enthusiasm for them. For the most part the things she talks so fondly of lacked appeal, not because of their American-ness, but because of the time period. For all that I appreciated that the girls were able to work, I cannot see the characters as having the kind of freedom they sometimes think they do. They are still heavily constrained by circumstance and gender. Jo and Amy of course provide a fascinating insight into these restraints, and the ambition they each show makes for informative and insightful reading.

"But, you see, Jo wasn't a heroine, she was only a struggling human girl like hundreds of others, and she just acted out her nature, being sad, cross, listless, or energetic, as the mood suggested."

Of course I love Jo, as so many do. But I also feel like Amy doesn't always get her share of the praise. Yes, she does a terrible thing by burning Jo's manuscript, but she was a child, and families are full of contrasting personalities that don't always get along but love each other anyway. Her character growth was much more interesting to me this time around than I ever remember it being before. She strives for so much, and grows into a rather likeable, only slightly vain, young woman. I think I like her more with each read.

Jo will always be my favourite I think, but I also realised this time around that aside from a love of books and writing, I have little in common with her. I admire her brashness, her way of defying convention and expectations, how she manages to not care about the things that don't matter (most of the time anyway) but I don't really share these qualities. I can see why Katharine Hepburn was such a good Jo -- there are a lot of similarities between character and actress. With both, I see a figure I like, and am drawn to, but not one I want to emulate.

Beth I've already covered a bit, but I do love her. I can relate to her timidity, and also the moments when she can be unexpectedly bold. The chapter Beth's Secret had me in tears, as did her death. It always does, and even though I now know to expect it, I am never ready for it.

Meg is a sweet girl that I can never quite invest in as much as her three sisters. I did find her yearning to have more, to not be poor, to have pretty dresses and an easier life completely understandable, but of the quartet, she is the one who most wants to be a wife and mother, and I am less drawn to that. I did appreciate the chapter where she struggles to find the balance between giving attention to her children without completely ignoring her husband, something that I'm sure will always be a tricky thing to manage, to those that it applies to, but I can't say I love her as I love the others. I like what she brings to the family, and I appreciate her placid kindness and her devotion to her family, but that's about it.

I adore dear Laurie, but I've never felt he was right for Jo. I know that many people vehemently disagree with me here, as they have every right to do, but I just can't see them as a married couple. I think he is much more suited to Amy. He and Jo are a good pair, but not in a romantic sense. It's a big leap from friendship to marriage, and I think the fears Jo relays to her mother all make perfect sense.

As is probably clear, I much prefer Jo's Professor. I'm very taken with him and heartily approve of their marriage. I think he understands Jo in a way that Laurie doesn't and he is my favourite of all the suitors. If I had to marry any of the husbands of the March sisters, I would pick him in a heartbeat. I know Laurie is young and handsome and rich, but he isn't the Professor.

This novel is a delight to read over the Christmas period. There is the obvious reason--the lovely Christmas scenes, but I also found that during the busyness of the holidays, this was a peaceful retreat from a time of year that I tend to find a bit stressful and overwhelming. As ever I can't help envying the winter scenes depicted-- I associate snow with Christmas, though I have never experienced it! It's nice to read about chilly weather when the days are stifling hot and drag on an hour or two too long.

I want to read more about Louisa May Alcott and the writing of her timeless novel. I have a few books related to the topic on my to-read shelf, but have yet to obtain copies. I will aim for 2021 in regards to this, but it's a loose goal as my list of books to buy is always well beyond my means! I will be reading the next two books in this series for the first time very soon and look forward to them. Whether they will become favourites as well remains to be seen, but Little Women continues to hold up as well as ever, and I will likely return to it many more times in the future.

Relentlessly captivating story of sisters doing it for themselves. Alcott is a master of character, pacing, and creating page-turning suspense within a context of moderately low stakes. I admire everything about her, from her writing talent to her personal life as an abolitionist and feminist. Much of her personal advocacy makes it into the pages of Little Women. Sometimes in subtle ways, and sometimes not. I'm glad to see that the new movie appears to spotlight the feminist undertones because its groundbreaking depth is easily hidden behind a wall of nonstop entertainment.

A true landmark of American literature, everyone should have this on their list of must-read classics. And for audiobook fans, Barbara Caruso's unabridged performance is one of the best of all time.

PS: Don't stop here! Alcott's bibliography is full of expertly-written tales. Including some horror and supernatural. I'm a huge fan of her 1866 Gothic novel A Long Fatal Love Chase, which launches into action with the heroine willing to sell her soul to Satan "for a year of freedom."

Little Women remains to this day one of the books I have, curiously, read the most. And I'm not ashamed to state this. Why should I be? The notion that certain films or books are 'chick-lit' is one so alien to my mind. They may be geared at specific audiences mostly, but any strong work of art will appeal to any individual - or rather can appeal to any individual - person.

I don't know what it is about Little Women that made me so attracted to it. Perhaps it was the characterisation in the women in the book at the age of ten. Maybe something in my childish mind told me that independent and restrained elegance in female characters was something to be admired when it could be created in fiction - when I say restrained elegance I mean the wisdom of modesty. Something about the girls - Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy - appealed to me, something told me that they were well crafted characters.

Who can explain why any fictional book touches anyone? Who can define how we class things such as quality or beauty? It seems to be something subconscious, something picked up both culturally and individually. To me, Little Women was, and because of fond memories still is, a work of pure art. It has its rough patches no doubt but it kept drawing me back in with the tales of women discovering their paths in life and ultimately a romance. Some might find this an overly sympathetic or sappy book. I'm not here to say it isn't. But it touched me in a particular way and that is what I'm hear to state. Think of me as someone who has had an experience with a novel - for it is the nature of humanity to aim to share experience.

I'll always describe myself as a romantic at heart, in the sense that I'm an idealist, that I hold to ideals and to the belief that people can be better. Age and time have perhaps developed me into more of a cynical idealist but a part of me is strongly romantic deep down. It is the poetic side of me, the writer side of me, the side that wants to break free of conventions and try to find the words to explain what I so clumsily cannot. It is that part of me that was awakened by such literature as this - I must admit that delving into something like Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret might have stunted such development however.

Somewhere in a distant time a copy of Little Women floats. It has paper browned through the constant touching of grubby little fingers; pages crumpled and worn with regular turning (or heaven forbid - leaving it with the spine open on a chair); and there are unidentifiable food stains on several pages. It may not have been the greatest of copies, certainly nothing extraordinary about it, but it was my copy. And it was a copy well loved. And it was the extra love that added an aura of romance and a boundless love to it. And it is to this image, lost in the vortex of space and time, that I return to when I think of this novel.