I hated this book.

I can't even begin to go into all the reasons I dislike this novel. It's dull and preachy through out most of it--aside from Jo who is a truly inspired character. But everyone else seems one note, most of the chapters come off as morality plays than solid scenes or plots. And just when Miss Alcott has something seemingly interesting she breaks it for no other reason than to do something.

Whether its the pairing of Amy and Laurie (huh?), the point made CONSTANTLY that Beth's life isn't useless because she is an angel and showed them that angels do exist and is a total Mary Sue(Really? Cause I'm glad she died before I died of boredom), the forced pairing of Jo and the Professor (Why? I mean--really... Just keep her single) there is also the message that pursing art is selfish. (Jo giving up her writing, Laurie gives up his music, Amy gives up her sketching...)

It's not a message I expected--this book is always lauded as one that has inspired countless girls... To do what? Because outside of Jo's sipirt I dont really see much to aspire to in this tsory? The overall message seems to be that as a good Christian one should sacrifice being an artist, being in love with who you want and any hope of independence...

It's not because I'm from the modern era that I dislike this book. (Or that I'm an adult reading it.) If you look at other works being done in the same time period you will see that there were stories with less moralizing being done--including by Miss Alcott herself. I was just really disappointed

(Book 863 from 1001 books) - Little Women (Little Women #1), Louisa May Alcott

Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869.

Alcott wrote the books over several months at the request of her publisher.

Following the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy— the novel details their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters.

زنان کوچک - نویسنده: لوئییز می آلکوت، انتشاراتیها (علمی فرهنگی، درنا، جامی، صفیعلیشاه، نهال نویدان، جانزاده، قدیانی بنفشه، خرداد، دبیر اکباتان، امیرکبیر کتابهای جیبی، افق، زبان مهر، پیام سحر، پنجره)، ادبیات آمریکایی سده نوزدهم میلادی؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و نهم ماه سپتامبر سال 1998میلادی

عنوان: زنان کوچک؛ نویسنده: لوئییز می آلکوت؛ مترجم: شهیندخت رئیس زاده؛ تهران، علمی فرهنگی، 1369؛ در 447ص؛ چاپ سوم 1374؛ شابک9644457757؛ چاپ چهارم 1385؛ چاپ پنجم 1388؛ چاپ ششم 1393؛ شابک 9786001210532؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 19م

مترجم: تهمینه مهربانی؛ تهران، درنا، 1374؛ در 160ص؛ شابک 9646105122؛ چاپ دوم و سوم 1374؛ چهارم 1375؛ پنجم 1376؛

مترجم: فریده ملک الکلامی؛ تهران، جامی، 1374؛ در 127ص؛

مترجم: امیرمحمود فخردایی؛ تهران، صفیعلیشاه، 1374؛ در 179ص؛

مترجم: شکوفه اخوان؛ تهران، نهال نویدان، 1375؛ در 160ص؛ شابک 9645680182؛ چاپ دوم 1380؛ چاپ 1392؛ شابک 9789645680563؛ در 184ص؛

مترجم: جلیل دهمشکی؛ تهران، جانزاده، 1375؛ در 160ص؛

مترجم: فرزین مروارید؛ تهران، قدیانی بنفشه، 1376؛ در 351ص؛ شابک 9644171527؛ چاپ دوم 1380؛ چاپ پنجم 1388؛ چاپ نهم 1393؛ شابک 9789644171529؛

مترجم: هانیه اعتصام؛ تهران، خرداد، 1381؛ در 88ص؛ شابک 9646465072؛

مترجم: سپهر حاجتی؛ تهران، دبیر اکباتان، 1388؛ در 58ص؛ شابک 9789642621866؛ چاپ سوم 1388؛ چهارم 1389؛

مترجم: محمد میرلو؛ تهران، امیرکبیر کتابهای جیبی، 1389؛ در 150ص؛ شابک 9789643032128؛

مترجم: کیوان عبیدی آشتیانی؛ تهران، افق، 1389؛ در 489ص؛ شابک 9789643696627؛ چاپ پنجم 1392؛ چاپ ششم 1393؛

مترجم: مریم دستوم؛ تهران، زبان مهر، 1391؛ در 168ص؛ شابک 9786009007059؛

مترجم: فرزانه عسگری پور؛ تهران، پیام سحر، 1393؛ در 114ص؛ شابک 9786009400164؛

مترجم: بیتا ابراهیمی؛ تهران، پنجره، 1394؛ در 176ص؛

داستان در مورد زندگی چهار خواهر «مگی، بزرگترین دختر خانواده»، «جو، شخصیت محوری داستان»، «بتی، دختر سوم» و «ایمی» کوچکترین دختر خانواده ی «مارچ» است، که با الهام از زندگی واقعی نویسنده، با سه خواهرش نوشته شده‌ است

جلد نخست، «زنان کوچک»، به اندازه‌ ای موفق بود، که نوشتن جلد دوم با عنوان «همسران خوب» را موجب شد

هشدار: اگر میخواهید کتاب را خود بخوانید ادامه ی ریویو ماجرا را بازگویی میکند

خانواده ی «مارچ»؛ پیشترها، پولدار بوده‌ اند، ولی اکنون وضعیت خوبی ندارند، و پدرشان، برای یاری به سربازان وطن، به جنگ رفته، و آن‌ها کوشش می‌کنند، زندگی خود را اداره کرده، و در کنارش، به مردمان نیازمند نیز، یاری برسانند؛ آن‌ها زندگی دشواری دارند، ولی از یکدیگر پشتیبانی می‌کنند، و ماجراهایی برایشان پیش می‌آید؛

در کتاب دوم، «لاری» نوه ی همسایه ی آنها، عاشق «جو» می‌شود، و «جو» هم که این موضوع را فهمیده، کوشش می‌کند از او دوری کند؛ ولی یکروز وقتی برای قدم زدن به بیرون می‌روند، «لاری» درخواست خود را به زبان می‌آورد، و از «جو» می‌خواهد با او ازدواج کند؛ «لاری» به «جو» می‌گوید، که از نخستین لحظه ‌ای که او را دیده‌، عاشقش شده است، «جو» درخواست او را رد می‌کند، و به او می‌گوید، که با وجود اینکه سعی کرده‌، ولی نتوانسته عاشق «لاری» باشد؛ «لاری» افسرده، به همراه پدربزرگ خود، به اروپا می‌رود، و در آنجا با «ایمی» دیدار می‌کند، و چون «ایمی» با او مهربان بوده، عاشق «ایمی» می‌شود (و می‌فهمد که هیچ زنی برای او بهتر از «ایمی» پیدا نمی‌شود حتی «جو») و «ایمی» هم عاشق او می‌شود با او ازدواج می‌کند؛ «بت» بیمار می‌شود ولی از مرگ نمی‌ترسد، و شجاعانه با بیماری روبرو می‌شود، و سرانجام می‌میرد؛ «جو» که از مرگ خواهر خود بسیار اندوهگین شده‌، کتابی به نام «بتِ من» می‌نویسد، و آن را برای دوست خود پروفسور می‌فرستد؛ پروفسور با خواندن کتاب عاشق «جو» می‌شود، و «جو» هم با وجود اینکه به «لاری» گفته هرگز ازدواج نمی‌کند، عاشق پروفسور می‌شود، و وقتی پروفسور پس از ازدواج «ایمی» و «لاری» به «آمریکا» می‌آید، «جو» را دیدار می‌کند، و سرانجام به او می‌گوید که دوستش دارد، و آن‌ها نیز با هم ازدواج می‌کنند؛ «مگ» صاحب دوقلو، و «جو» هم صاحب دو پسر می‌شود، و «ایمی» هم صاحب یک دختر زیبا می‌شود؛ و اینگونه است که داستان عشق و عاشقی پایان می‌یابد؛ این فراموشکار دلبسته به داستانهای ماندگار سده های پیشین هستم، هربار آن داستانها را بخوانم لبخنده ای بر چهره ام مینشیند و برنمیخیزد

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 02/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 24/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

This classic that so many have loved over the years, many having read it as young girls, is somehow one that I never read until now. It’s a lovely story, and I wonder how I would have felt about it, had I read it when I was younger. Like so many readers, Jo, the lover of books, the writer, is my favorite, a woman before her time, exhibiting independence and a desire for more in her life. It’s a coming of age story in so many ways as we see Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy develop over the years, each realizing their flaws and wanting to be better as they become women. They are guided by their mother, Marmee, who raises them alone for a a while during hard times while her husband is off doing his part in the Civil War. Had I read this years ago, I’m not sure I would have been as perceptive to the other things this story depicts - the societal norms of the time and the time itself, during and after the Civil War. Overall, even though it felt a bit old fashioned given when it was written and the time frame it covers, there are universal and timeless messages about the bonds of family, morality and love. It was an uplifting story that I’m glad I finally got to. I’m looking forward to the upcoming movie. I just couldn’t see it without having read the book.

A new movie is coming out December 25th...

I've never read it so I might have to do a readalong for it that month!

"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."

★ 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.

‏ ‏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...

:::::::::::::

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

:::::::::::::

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

::::::::::::::::

الرواية لطيفة وخفيفة الروح
كلاسيكية بامتياز

Someone I know claimed this no longer has value, that she would never recommend it because it's saccharine, has a religious agenda, and sends a bad message to girls that they should all be little domestic homebodies. I say she's wrong on all counts. This is high on my reread list along with Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and a Tree Grows in Brooklyn--you could say that I'm pretty familiar with it.

Let's see--there's a heroine who not only writes, but is proud of the fact and makes a profit from it in a time that this was somewhat out-of-the-ordinary. Reading this, and especially knowing later that the main character is (for all practical purposes) Alcott herself, inspired me to write myself, and I haven't forgotten the writing lessons even today: don't let money cloud your vision, write for yourself first, take criticism, write what you know. Still wise even today. Also in this book, we see the perspective of a family coping with the financial and emotional strain of having a loved one away at war, something that is unfortunately all too relatable today. There's also (extraordinary in those times, common in ours)a platonic, though not uncomplicated, friendship between a man and a woman that is sort of a different kind of love story in a way and a powerful one at that. We see people getting married, but marriage is never portrayed as The Answer to Everything--many of the matches involve sacrifice and struggling. The girls, though good at heart, aren't a picture-perfect family of saints. They're flawed and human. The paragon Beth would seem the exception, but the message with her is more about how even the quietest among us can make an impact on the world--not parading her isolated life as an example, only her kindness.

I won't lie. Someone dies, there's a war and a father's away--so yes, God is mentioned: I think there's a few Pilgrim's Progress references in passing and there's some talk of faith at moments when the characters most need it. To contemporary readers, this may seem like a lot, but heavy-handed it is not. It was probably somewhat unusual for its time. The thought that everyone's relationship and perception of God could greatly vary, and that to be true to your religion was entirely non judgmental and meant being kind to other people and trying to make yourself better, not other people? The thought that each person must be allowed to deal with these feelings in their own time in their own way? Wacky stuff.

I admit it seems like a tough sell to today's kids, packaged in somewhat formal sounding-language, and bearing every indication of being literary broccoli, but this book is a classic for a reason. It might be a tough sell, but I don't think we should give up on trying to think of ways to do it anyway. What's inside still counts. Don't write it off.

*note* for those of you who liked this review, check out my review of the new The Little Women Cookbook by Jenne Bergstrom and Miko Osada.

The book begins:


"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents, grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

It's so dreadful to be poor! sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.

I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all, added little Amy, with an injured sniff.

We've got Father and Mother, and each other, said Beth contentedly from her corner."

There's an undercurrent of anger in this book and I think Louisa May Alcott would have gone much further with it if her publisher had allowed it and if it weren't a children's book.

Louisa herself was fiercely independent and didn't marry. Of course, Jo, her doppelganger and the heroine of the book, did marry. I think the struggle for girls and women to be themselves while following convention is an experience that resonates today. I also think that, ironically, when people today want to return to the simple life, they all forget that there was no simple life. Although youngest sister Amy carries her books to school, writes with an inkwell and fights over pickled limes, her father is fighting a real war fought for ideology and national unity. Martha Stewart has us searching for the "good things" and harkening back to garden bounties but nineteenth century girls and women were nearly bound to the home.

Young boys and girls might find the domesticity in the book offputting but it was necessary for people to have domestic skills or they could not survive. The working poor in the 1860s, like the working poor today, could not afford maids. Louisa May Alcott's family occasionally made money from making and mending clothing just to get by. I think there was just as much screaming as crying going on in the Alcott household, but Louisa tones things down for the March family.

The March family and the sisters made me yearn for my own sisters which never materialized. I also realized that wanting to draw, paint, play music, perform plays and write were interests that I shared with people of another time period. The book itself was written after the Civil War and has a purposeful nostalgic tone.

Jo scribbles in the attic and relishes the time she has to write but she is expected to work as a caretaker for her elderly aunt. None of these girls are independently wealthy and the poverty that Alcott writes about in the book mirrors the poverty of her own life but she softens the reality for her fiction. Alcott's father Amos Bronson Alcott was not a soldier, yet he was often away from home. He was a dynamic lecturer and a revolutionary educator who was disillusioned by public reaction to some of his innovations and was often jobless.

While a good portion of white northerners were against slavery and wanted more rights for black Americans, they did not go as far as the Alcotts did in their support. I wish that she had written more about their anti-slavery positions.
It's also not widely known that Bronson Alcott was shunned for educating black students.

Reading Little Women in fourth grade caused me to work as a historical interpreter at the Orchard House for six years many years later. I visited Fruitlands, the Old Manse, the Wayside and the House of the Seven Gables. I studied transcendentalism and learned about the contributions of Elizabeth Peabody and other great female intellectuals of the nineteenth century. I was forever changed after reading the book and I've reread it too many times to count.

Louisa was a master marketer akin to J.K. Rowling. She also had a strong survival instinct like Rowling. She desperately needed to make money and writing was her one marketable skill. Notably, she was able to write the book under her own name and not use a gender neutral pseudonym.

The book is written for a younger audience and older readers reading it for the first time might not feel a connection with the book because all Victorian children's books were infused with a heavy dose of morality. Girls especially have always been told to endure hardships while remaining happy. My grandmother Ethel, who grew up in the 1930s, told me her mother said to her: "It's easy to be happy when life rolls along like a song. But it's the girl who's worthwhile who will smile when everything goes wrong."

My first re-read of one of my very favorite classics!

This story will always make me feel nostalgic, cozy, and full of joy!

Although this story is quite “traditional” in some ways, I love how it was also very much ahead of its time.

Even though this book was written about the lives of four girls living in the early 1800s, I relate to, and see myself in, each one of the March sisters. I resonate with Jo’s desire to do more with her life than what is expected, with Amy’s passion for art, with Beth’s love for her family, and with Meg’s happiness in being a mother and wife. That is why this book has stood the test of time and why so many readers, including myself, love it so much.

This is a classic that has never appealed from the title, cover and few reviews I have read of it over the years. A story a year in the lives of the four March sisters, the oldest being 16 and the youngest being 12 told in a style. A bildungsroman loosely based on the lives of the writer and her three sisters with numerous nods to and references to John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. The work is seen as more or less the seminal Young Adult book as being pretty much the first to merge sentimental and romantic themes into a work for children. It was a roaring commercial and critical success from the off!

On completing this book I read a number of online reviews and was not surprised to find out that it is generally accepted that this depicts an idealised version of Alcott's youth and is actually seen as one of the core roots of the idea of an 'all-American girl'. The book does have an almost fairy tale like feel, but the writer still manages to build some impressive characterisations as well as lots of pulling of heartstrings. In the context of when it was written, it's overall pleasing message which although likening domesticity and the search for true love as core goals for young women , also has surprisingly strong pro-woman themes set around the strength of the mother and sense of the power and importance of female/sister kinship it's well worth the 7 out of 12, Three Stars I give it :)

2022 read

Yes, yes. I AM a grown-ass man reading this, but I'm not even remotely ashamed.

What I tried to do here was dispel the extra melodrama & embrace the cut-outs (fat trimmed out) of the Winona Ryder film. I was on the hunt for all the "new" (ha!) stuff that the regular person, well informed of the plot involving four young girls growing up (or in the case of Beth, not) never even knew existed. But it seems that the film did a great job not adding many more scenes than direly needed (like the Byrne-Ryder night at the opera scene-- it explains why she doesn't choose Laurie after all) nor taking indispensable scenes from the century-&-a-half old novel to the cutting room floor. Alas, there's a good reason why Entertainment Weekly once decreed that the film was a great comfort to all post-911 victims--a holistic healing to the nation as a whole. The story has no great battles to speak of... no violence, no terrible disasters. The minutiae is symbolic of fragile domestic existences... important & very fun to read about--this coming from a Bridget and Carrie Bradshaw fan of course. "Little Women" is at its core all about Old School American values, such as temperance, forgiveness, hard work. It has astute lessons aplenty--to rival even old Aesopus himself. Laurie and Amy have the best lines, & there are plenty of groans amidst cute vignettes and harsh but necessary life lessons--for Americans and non alike. This is relevant today, more so than "On the Road" or other so called "quintessential American classics"--& that's a genuine plus.

This one stands as outstanding soap opera theatrics woven intelligently with American history herself. Good stuff, like a wise mentor of American Lit would say. Also, mega appropriate for the season!

(2014)