Little Women

Still one of my favorite books - it's just so insightful about the daily struggle to be a good person. I'm low-key dreading the "it's not as feminist as you think it is!" takes that will inevitably spring up around the movie release (shocker: book that was written in the 1860s has many values from the 1860s). But re-reading this novel for something like the 15th time (and for the first time in my 20s) was really special, and helped me reassess how I personally feel about the way women and men are framed in here. Video to come soon-ish with some more reflections.

|| 4.0 stars ||

Oh, what a lovely book this was. It’s a classic, but somehow doesn’t suffer from the same afflictions that would make it a boring, pretentious and drawn-out read like so many other “classics” are. Is it because this was written by a woman, unlike most other older classics? Well, I won’t say so in fear of sounding a little offensive, but secretly I think: Yes, duhh.

This story really had such pure warmth and feeling with such lovely and tender characters, you truly couldn’t help but love every person that appeared on the page. Everyone had a special little something about them that made them uniquely sweet and endearing; even the characters that were only there for a little while.
I can’t quite explain it, but every person just felt so fleshed out and real, yet better somehow: This book showed quite an idealistic world since I don’t think everyone is quite so fair and good in real life, but it was a very idyllic and peaceful world to reside in for a while!

The sisters were all probably a little too good to be true, but I didn’t mind it too much and just decided to admire them for their sweetness and humbleness:
I couldn’t help but be charmed by Meg’s pretty and calm poise, I couldn’t help but laugh at Jo’s wild and unabashed antics, I couldn’t help but feel affection for Beth’s selflessness and purity, and neither could I help but adore Amy’s charming and graceful nature.
I have to admit to having a secret favourite in Amy, whom I personally thought had the most fun and interesting scenes and personality; she was so funny to me as a child and so perfectly lovely as an adult. Her growth was really nice, and I just loved everything about her.

[SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT]:

I know there’s quite a debate about who Laurie should have ended up with as many people are not happy with the author’s choices, but I personally think all ended as it should have.
Jo and Laurie were never more than friends, and neither do I think they could have successfully been anything more. Their friendship was very brother/sisterly and well-suited in that way, but it never, not once, felt romantic to me.
Opposingly, Laurie’s interactions with Amy always seemed more tender and gentle to me, even when they were young. There were already quite a lot of little scenes that showed how well he cared for her and wanted her to feel good. And of course, when they grew older it became even more apparent that they would make a good match. Especially the way they acted with each other when they were abroad truly settled the matter for me and showed me that Laurie could find no better match for him than Amy. What they had was romantic love, while him and Jo had pure platonic love. It was very obvious to me. And I admire the author for making the right choice, despite knowing it would upset a lot of readers.

However, although an entirely different matter, I did have one big complaint:
I personally think Beth should have died in part 1 instead of part 2. I don’t quite understand why the author let her survive her illness in the first place if she was simply going to ignore Beth’s existence after that, just to kill her anyway, only now when we don’t care as much for sweet little Beth as we used to when we knew her well. It was just an odd choice, since it really limited the emotional impact her death could have had for me.

All in all though, this was a really nice and warm book that I treasured reading. Even if it could be a little preachy and sanctimonious sometimes.

this book is such a treasure. ☁️✨
mr. and mrs. march raised such strong women of faith and i really enjoyed seeing them grow up alongside the mischievous boy next door. i loved laurie! he was so lively and charming and wore his heart on his sleeve. i also loved the march sisters as if they were my own. i saw a little bit of myself in each one, but mostly meg. i feel as though meg march is my soul character.

I have owned this book forever! I have the movie and have always loved it. Thanks to several group challenges on here, I have finally gotten to this little gem.



Happy Reading!

Mel

Tengo sentimientos encontrados...
Por una parte, me gusta que la historia sea tan fluida y refleje la vida de cuatro mujeres en su cotidianidad.
Por otro, me aterra el mensaje moral implícito en la novela. Definitivamente, en este siglo XXI, el paradigma de la mujer ha cambiado y voy a chocar con las ideas que se defendían hace un par de siglos. Sin embargo, me sigue causando incomodidad pensar en que mucho de lo que se refleja en la novela se sigue defendiendo por las mujeres. Y, por supuesto, me causa incomodidad ver cómo era la forma de concebirse en esa época. En fin, que me gustó pero me causó un gran conflicto.

PD. Leyendo un poco sobre la autora pienso que tendríamos que reivindicar su obra en otros sentidos. De entrada, saber que escribió "mujercitas" por necesidad económica, pero que su obra es monumental y abarca otros géneros literarios. O quizás apreciar la pluma intrépida de la autora, la manera de elaborar cuatro personajes memorables e icónicos, pero tener presente que, a pesar de ser una sufragista del siglo XIX, varias de las ideas reflejadas en este libro son cuestionables. Finalmente, siempre es problemática la literatura de otras épocas por el golpe ideológico. Una conclusión tengo: me alegra no haber nacido en el siglo XIX.

we stan.
https://youtu.be/KREaj07OEfU

━ ⊱ pre-read ⋅ ⊹

the way im literally squealing in excitement! oh my this just seems like such a cozy and comforting read and i cant wait to fall in love with it <3 hopefully entering my mysterious girl reading classics era ?!

I’M IN LOVE, I’M IN LOVE, AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!

When I was a child, my mother used to drag me to antique stores all the time. There is nothing more boring to a kid than an antique store. It smelled like dust and old people, and everything looked the same (dark wood), and if we were in a particularly bauble-heavy shop I had to clasp my hands behind my back like a Von Trapp child in order to avoid invoking the you-break-it-you-buy-it policy on a $42 crystal ashtray.

On one such excursion, when I was like eight, I found a vintage-ish copy of Little Women. Because it was a book, and because it had some kind of illustration of pretty girls in pretty dresses, it was far and away the most interesting thing in there. So I indulged in what was then and what remains one of my favorite pastimes: asking my mother to buy me something. She said no, both because it was confusingly expensive and because she doubted eight-year-old me’s lasting interest in reading a 750-page book from 1868.

Ever since, Little Women has tantalized me.

I am very pleased to say it lived up to every expectation.

This book is so cozy and delightful and happy. A lot of the time, when series start out in the childhood of characters and then follow their growing up, the book gets worse. But I always liked reading about this ragtag group of gals!!

Warning, spoiler ahead, and if you complain about me spoiling a book that was published seven of my lifetime ago I will absolutely freak out so don’t say I didn’t give you a heads up:

Obviously Jo and Laurie were meant for each other, and his marrying Amy and Jo’s marrying some random old dude was the biggest flaw of this book. But even with that, this book ended happy, and I enjoyed almost every second of it.

(Okay, I’m sorry, but Amy is the clear weak link and didn’t deserve Laurie!! I will not rejoice for them!!) (Did I have to take off a half star for that alone? Yes. Because it upset me immensely. And I won’t apologize. If anyone should be apologized to, it’s ME. And also JO. And also LAURIE!)

But absolutely every other second was a pleasure.

Bottom line: This book feels like Christmas.

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pre-review

cozy: ✓
comforted: ✓
joy: ✓

review to come!!!

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currently-reading updates

I am ready to feel COZY. I am ready to feel COMFORTED. I am ready to feel JOY.