i just bought this one and i'm excited, yay me

‏ ‏قرأت هذه الرواية في سن الخامسة عشر تقريبا
وهي رواية لطيفة اكتسبت شهرتها عبر السنوات
من خلال اقتباسها في أعمال سينمائية
وفي ابتداعات الرسوم المتحركة ‏

بل حتى الأوبرا كان لها نصيب من ذلك
حيث ألف الموسيقار الأمريكي مارك آدامو أوبرا نساء صغيرات ‏في عام‎
1998 ‎
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFkXV...

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الرواية مقتبسة عن تجربة الكاتبة الذاتية مع شقيقاتها الثلاث‏

وتقدم لنا حياة أربع شقيقات هن
ميغ وجو وبيث وإيمي ‏

‏.‏في جو مليء بالدفء العائلي
متوغلة في أسرار النساء اللائي ‏عشن في تلك الفترة
وكيف كانت تفكر أدمغتهن على اختلافها

الطريف أنه بينما كتبت لويزا تقول أن جو
- المستلهمة من ‏شخصيتها هي نفسها ‏
كان عليها أن تظل الأديبة ‏العانس

ولكن بناء على رسائل المعجبات الكثيرة‏
والتي طلبت منها تزوج جو بأي ثمن‏
‏ لم تجرؤ على رفض طلبهن في النهاية

فإن لويزا ظلت بلا زواج لآخر أيام حياتها‏

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عن الشخصيات

*
جوزفين أو جو


هي بطلة الرواية التي تبدو في نظر الكثيرين مسترجلة ‏
لشخصيتها القوية ولجرأتها
وهي الأخت الصريحة ‏
والشغوفة بالكتابة‏
‏
وبعد مقاومة طويلة لفكرة الزواج
تتزوج أخيرا من ‏البروفسور الألماني
فريدريك بير‏

*
مارغريت أو ميغ


هي الشقيقة ‏الكبرى التي تتحمل مسؤولية المنزل
وتوفر الحماية والدفء للجميع
وهي تتمتع كما وصفتها لويزا بجمال أخاذ‏
ولكنها تحمل أفكارا من الطراز القديم

*
اليزابيث أو بيث


فتاة تبدو من وصفها هادئة وبيتوتية ‏
مطيعة وخجولة
تحب الموسيقى والقطط والدمى ‏
وتعزف ‏على البيانو
وهي تفضل المكوث في منزلها على الاختلاط والثرثرة‏
كما أنها تهوى الأعمال الخيرية ‏
وتساعد أمها ‏في رعاية الأسر الفقيرة
وأثناء زيارتها لأحد تلك الأسر ‏
تلتقط عدوى الحمى القرمزية من أحد أ‏طفالها ‏
وصحيح أنها تشفى مع الوقت
ولكن المرض جعلها دوما ضعيفة ‏
وتموت بعدها بفترة بمرض آخر
فالعالم لا يحتمل شخصيات برقة بيث
وكان عليه التخلص منها عاجلا أم آجلا

*
ايمي ‏


هي أصغرهن ‏
وهي فتاة مدللة
تبدو باردة المشاعر وملهوفة على مصلحتها الشخصية‏

عانت إيمي من أنفها المسطح
وكانت ‏تشبك مشابك الغسيل على أنفها عند النوم
آملة حل هذه المشكلة العويصة من وجهة نظرها
:D
علاقتها كانت دوما متوترة مع جوزفين
وذات يوم بعد موقف محتدم بينهما
تقوم إيمي بإحراق ‏ رواية جو التي لم تنهيها بعد

كانت إيمي دوما قريبة من عمتها
التي أتاحت لها الفرصة للسفر إلى أوروبا
كي يتسنى لها فرصة الاطلاع على أعمال الفنانين العظام‏
لولعها بالفن ولموهبتها في الرسم

‏ ولكنها في النهاية ‏تقرر التخلي عن الفن
‏ لأنها لم ترى أنه بإمكانها أن تكون على المستوى الذي كانت ‏تتوقعه لنفسها

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الرواية لطيفة وخفيفة الروح
كلاسيكية بامتياز

To me this book is just a big neon highlighted literary exclamation mark defining how incredibly different I am from my mother. She loves this book. Really, really loves it....a lot. She always used to tell me how great she thought it was although, as a kid I somehow avoided reading it; mainly because at this point I was too busy dangling from a climbing frame by my ankles or stealing scrap wood from building sites in order to make dens and tree houses.

As it is prominently placed on the 1001 books list I thought, "What the hell I'll give it a go". Man oh man what an epic snooze fest. Less than twenty pages in I could feel my mind slowly shutting down. Was it through boredom? Or was I entering a diabetic coma because of the saccharine overload created by the sickly sweet world of Margaret, Jo, Beth and Amy? Anyway to avoid succumbing to said coma I threw the book as far away from me as I could and then chucked a blanket over it to ensure that I wouldn't be effected by the mind numbing dullness being exuded from between the covers.

I know that I risk howls of outrage at this lambasting of a much loved classic but this ticked no boxes for me. I am clearly dead inside.

I have read 18 of Louisa May Alcott's books, so I guess I can safely say that I am very familiar with her work. Some of them were very good, some not quite as good. All had that 19th century down home feeling with wonderful, memorable characters. But only one of her novels reached the level of what could be called literary greatness. Somehow, with this simple story, and these adorable characters, with a heart warming and heart wrenching plot, Alcott creates an American classic, her masterpiece. Yes it is dated, but Little Women will always have a place in our hearts, in our homes, and in the World's libraries.

PS: I rewrote this review on 11/29/2016, in honor of her 184th birthday, and my birthday that I share with her, just with a slightly smaller number.

there are no actual little women in this book. all regular sized women. title is misleading. 0/10. would not read again

"I don’t believe fine young ladies enjoy themselves a bit more than we do, in spite of our burnt hair, old gowns, one glove apiece, and tight slippers, that sprain our ankles when we are silly enough to wear them." – Jo March

Whether you like this book or not, I doubt there are many that would deny that Jo March is the star of this mid-nineteenth century novel about the March family. In many ways, because of this remarkably self-assured heroine, Little Women seemed to me much ahead of its time. Sisters Meg, Beth and Amy all have their moments to shine; while Mr. and Mrs. March are more broad-minded than what I imagine their contemporaries to have been. Had I been required to plant myself down in the midst of an American family during that era, I would have been satisfied to settle in with the Marches.

Meg yearns for the fine things she once had before poverty knocked the Marches down a few notches; yet she retains a mother-like quality that warmed me to her. Beth is quiet, good-natured and pious; all her sisters look to her as the epitome of virtue. The artistic little Amy is spoiled and vain and dreams of someday becoming a moneyed gentlewoman. I admit to feeling a bit sorry for her and by book’s end I became a fan. People do grow up after all, don’t they?!

And then there is Jo who adores books and dreams of someday becoming a writer. Described as a bit of a "tomboy", which I suppose a girl with her pluck would have been commonly labeled back in the day, Jo is at the center of the novel. Given that Little Women is somewhat autobiographical in nature, it is fascinating to read of this spirited young woman. I can just imagine how she felt – stifled by society’s norms and expectations of a Victorian ‘lady’. She wanted the freedom to express herself; she would often have difficulty suppressing the pent-up rage that she felt deep inside; and she wanted to do what made her happiest.

"An old maid – that’s what I’m to be. A literary spinster, with a pen for a spouse, a family of stories for children, and twenty years hence a morsel of fame, perhaps…"

She shared her hopes with Laurie, the boy next door and her greatest pal besides her dear sisters. They shared a love of literature and the outdoors and confided in one another their greatest dreams.

"Wouldn’t it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could come true, and we could live in them?"

I read this story as a young teen and didn’t recall much of the plot. I have always carried a strong, positive image of Jo in my head during the intervening years; and I’m very glad I decided to reacquaint myself with her and the entire March family. I’m happy to say the image held up. With the exception of ever-sweet Beth, I would say that all of the girls exhibited growth throughout the book, and it was fun to spend some time with them. At times the story felt a bit over-sentimental, but I believe it was aimed at young women and given the date of publication, I decided to forgive it for this small ‘crime.’ I’m all for a sweet from time to time, as long as it’s balanced out with something nutritious, and I believe I got both here. I am super-excited to see the upcoming screen version of this to be released on Christmas Day!

"Now and then, in this work-a-day world, things do happen in the delightful story-book fashion, and what a comfort that is."

A timeless classic that I enjoyed just as much now as I did when I first read it at school.

Louisa May Alcott, a transcendentalist feminist of ambivalent sexual orientation and the author of sensational novels, is asked by her publisher to write a book for girls; she's like eh, that sounds super lame, but she does it anyway, "in record time for money," and here we are.

What's startling about Little Women given the intro I just gave it, and the reason it worked then and still works now, is its absolute sincerity. There's not a trace of sarcasm in the entire thing; it remains a sweet-natured book full of nice people doing nice things.

Another way to say all that is, of course, "corny," and it is that too. You know how sometimes you re-read a beloved book as an adult and realize there was much more going on under the surface than you caught when you were younger? Well, this is not one of those books. It's utterly straight-forward.

The life lessons given here are basically still sound. Alcott recommends marrying for love; she's not against a woman being the primary breadwinner. In a very gentle, nonthreatening way, she's true to her feminism, and you'll find nothing truly objectionable for your child. A lot of God stuff, so your mileage may vary on that. These were probably the last women on earth to read shitty old Pilgrim's Progress.

Our lead character, Jo, and our semi-autobiographical one, bums me out a little; if you don't mind spoilers, here's why. Alcott never married. While there apparently was a Laurie for her, of sorts, there was not a Bhaer, and it shows: Bhaer is a totally unreal character. He's the husband equivalent of Steve Carrell describing boobs as sandbags in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

There was a moment when Jo turned Laurie down and it looked like she was going to become a single author, and I really liked that, even before I learned that that was what Alcott actually did. But Alcott sortof copped out on her own life, I think, marrying Jo off to this neutered Casaubon, and it stuck in my throat a bit.

Little Women has neither subtlety nor malice; it succeeds purely because of Louisa May Alcott's sheer charisma. It was, is and probably always will be a very pleasant book.

I hate this book. I hate hate hate hate hate this book. This book is INSIPID. This book makes me feel like I need a trip to the dentist after merely looking at the cover.

I hate this book.

I hate Jo, and her supposed tomboyishness, and the fact that she is the most flat, and dull, and stupid character I've ever come across. I hate Amy, because she's a vapid idiot who contributes nothing to the story. I hate Meg, even though I don't remember anything about her. I HATE Beth more than them all combined because she is so holy-holy, and meek, and perfect, and then she goes and dies (except in the versions where she doesn't) and everyone loves her even MORE afterwards.

Excuse me while I retch.

Why must this book be so vomitous? It even starts off in this fashion - let us give our dinner to the poor, because we are so wonderful! Fuck off. Just... fuck off. If there was ever such a saintly family, I hope I never meet them. My boyfriend's diabetic and we must watch his blood sugar levels...

I can't believe I never read this book or at least an abridged version in my childhood. So I jumped at the chance to read along with Lisa's group.

I chose to listen to the audio because when it comes to the classics I find it easier to follow along. Sometimes the wording makes it difficult for me to concentrate on the story. Not so with this book. It is written beautifully. I had no problem following along.

What can I say that hasn't been said about this book? It's a treasure of a story!! I'm fascinated at just how much parts of this book was ahead of it's time.

I loved the message! I enjoyed Part 1 (which was the original Little Women story) just a little bit more than Part 2.

Thanks for inviting me to read along Lisa. I've enjoyed reading along (and could not help but finish early) and discussing it with the group. I'm so glad that I can finally say I've read the book!!

after rereading this 57687 times, watching 2 of the movie adaptions AND reading a biography of the author i still think laurie & jo should have been endgame

★ 4.0 Stars ★

“I do think that families are the most beautiful things in all the world!”

Little Women, the classic american story written by Louisa May Alcott, follows four sisters; Grown up Meg, free-spririted Jo, kind Beth and ambitious Amy, as they grow from children into women. Alcott tells the story of the March family with so much charm, warmth and humour, that I looked forward to reading a piece of the book every day. Jo March was my favourite of the four, but I loved them all and enjoyed following them through their lives.

My book includes both the first part as well as the second, and I'll say that the first part was definitely a five-star read for me, while the second part was a three-star read. I guess, like Jo, I don't care much for marriages and children hahah, so there wasn't a lot that I could relate to there.

When reading classics/ books written centuries ago, I often find the characters boring and flat, with no real personality to speak of. But Little Women is full of characters with realistic personalities, characters so life-like you feel as if you know them somehow. As I'm currently reading Persuasion, it's honestly such a startling difference between the two worlds; Jane Austen's world feels so cold and desolate compared to Alcott's lively and heartwarming one. A beautiful classic.