The writing style was odd, as though she were trying too hard to be "literary": hyperbole, allusion, and flowery language were too excessive, in my opinion. Still, excellent insight and description of war experiences, well worth reading.

Hospital Sketches describes Alcott's sojourn (cut short due to illness) as a nurse in a Washington, D.C., hospital during the Civil War; it's witty in a rather Dickensian style (Alcott calls herself Tribulation Periwinkle, for example) and touching even though sentimental. I mostly enjoyed it, though I was bothered by Alcott's condescending attitude toward the black people for whose freedom she enthusiastically worked. Although she rejoices at the Emancipation Proclamation, she also clearly stereotypes blacks, as "obsequious, trickish, lazy, and ignorant, yet kind-hearted," and does not provide the kind of individual portrait she does for the white soldiers and doctors.

The edition I read is part of the Bedford Series in History and Culture, which are intended as teaching texts, and I thought the editor, Alice Fahs, did an excellent job in her introduction in placing the book in the context of its time, both literary and historical, and examining Alcott's racial attitudes.

Consider this an endorsement to read more Louisa May Alcott beyond just little women!

As eloquently written as any other of Alcott's work, this is an insightful glimpse into the war from an unlikely perspective. She writes with a "tone of levity" about it all, but the horrors of war still manage to show themselves, albeit the effects of their appearance somewhat blunted by Alcott's delivery. She remarks repeatedly about both her sympathy and affection for the the African-Americans working along side her in the hospital, and that is not only not the popular opinion, but one she is best to keep to herself so as to not bring undue trouble upon herself or her co-laborers. The conditions, treatments, and general organization of the hospital as she describes them are, to a 21st century citizen, nothing short of appalling and left me amazed that anyone recovered from anything other than the most minor of wounds or illnesses.

This book is one of the more directly personal writings of Alcott's, as she freely opines about her work, her setting, her patients, the other nurses and doctors, and her own thoughts and emotions about it all. She also confesses to wishing to have been a "lord of creation" (i.e., a man) rather than a lady, which is a fairly incredible confession to have made in 1863. On the whole, I am left feeling I know her better, and have learned a few things about life during the civil war too.

Ambleside Online strikes again - leading me to good books that I had never heard of. This is recommended for something (free reads? Biography? Don’t remember) in Year 10.

Louisa May Alcott had a book of Civil War hospital sketches? What?!

73 pages filled with good humor and tender concern for those in her care…the first chapter(s) were a bit rambunctious and irritating to me, but overall I really enjoyed the book even though there is a lot of heartache too. I think it is filled with examples of great courage from Americans walking through incredibly difficult things - such a bold contrast to what I’ve been reading about in “Bad Therapy” (Shrier) - maybe reading this has been a healthy antidote!

Not a memorable or engaging story. Most of it was rambling details and introspection. Too many characters briefly appear with very little activity. There is no plot other than one chapter about treating a particular soldier. That was the only part of the book that grabbed my attention and actually gave an insight into a civil war hospital. I can see why this story didn't withstand the test of time.

“For a moment I felt bitterly indignant at this seeming carelessness of the value of life, the sanctity of death; then consoled myself with the thought that, when the great muster roll was called, these nameless men might be promoted above many whose tall monuments record the barren honors they have won.”

What a powerful, heart wrenching short story this was. I love war stories because they truly bring out the best and worst of human nature, laying them side by side so we can see what truly matters in life.
Louisa May Alcott is one of my all time favorite writers. Her insight, humility, and faith bring such truth to her writings. So much wisdom!
Knowing these story’s were based on her own experiences as a nurse makes it all the better.

“I maintain that the soldier who cries when his mother says ‘Good bye,’ is the boy to fight best, and die bravest, when the time comes, or go back to her better than he went.”

“while he waited, a better nurse than I had given bim a cooler draught, and healed him with a touch.”

“Now I knew that to him, as to so many, I was the poor substitute for mother, wife, or sister, and in his eyes no stranger, but a friend who hitherto had seemed neglectful;“

“A good fit of illness proves the value of health; real danger tries one's mettle; and self-sacrifice sweetens character.”

“All that is best and bravest in the hearts of men and women, comes out in scenes like these; and, though a hospital is a rough school, its lessons are both stern and salutary; and the humblest of pupils there, in proportion to his faithfulness, learns a deeper faith in God and in himself.”

Louisa May Alcott served as a nurse at a hospital in Georgetown during the Civil War, and Hospital Sketches is a collection of sketched of her time there. She writes about the soldiers in her care, the other doctors and nurses she works with, and the general day to day operation of a Union military hospital. These sketches are a really good look at this experience, though they feel a little sanitized. She does admit in the book’s opening chapter that they are a lighter take on her experience, presented this way to show a truer picture of daily life in the hospital. There is a particularly poignant chapter sharing the decline and death of of a solider in her care where Alcott’s gift for depicting human relationships is at her best. Warning though, there is a bit of racism in parts of this book, in how Alcott talks about the black people living and working in Georgetown. Though she and her family were abolitionists their attitudes about black people are not automatically enlightened.

Excessively flowery language, trying too hard to be clever...I know she was young, but the writing is so annoying that I would not have finished this little book if I hadn't been stuck in a waiting room with nothing else to read.

“A good fit of illness proves the value of health; real danger tries one's mettle; and self-sacrifice sweetens character. Let no one who sincerely desires to help the work on in this way, delay going through any fear; for the worth of life lies in the experiences that fill it, and this is one which cannot be forgotten.”

I read this concurrently with Becoming Dickens: The Invention of a Novelist -- unintentionally, but appropriately -- as not only was Dickens one of Alcott's favorite writers, but this fictionalized memoir of Alcott’s could be said to have led to her “becoming Louisa May Alcott”.

Similar to the start of the Dickens phenomenon with The Pickwick Papers being published under the name of “Boz”, Alcott gained her first bout of fame with this work, writing under the pseudonym of "Tribulation Periwinkle" (one sees the Dickens influence immediately). Her short time as a Civil War nurse in a Union hospital is expressed in humorous, sensitive, ironic and impassioned prose. Like her literary hero, she captures the telling details.

Nurse Trib P., reflecting on her life-changing experiences ministering to the wounded and dying under adverse conditions, discovers a philosophy of life, and her own writing style. In much the same way the sketches of The Pickwick Papers led to Dickens’ development of Oliver Twist, Alcott's hospital sketches paved her way toward Little Women.

All of which has me wondering, again, if I would’ve become the Dickens fan I am without my childhood reading of Alcott.

"I'd rather laugh than cry, when I must sing out anyhow, so just say that bit from Dickens again, please, and I'll stand it like a man." He did; for "Mrs. Cluppins," "Chadband," and "Sam Weller," always helped him through; thereby causing me to lay another offering of love and admiration on the shrine of the god of my idolatry, though he does wear too much jewelry and talk slang.

This is unlike any Alcott book I've read (and I think I've read them all at one time or another). I loved her style in this one. She wrote with biting honesty about the conditions of the hospital while seamlessly weaving in touching stories of the patients she encountered (yes, I cried). My only complaint about this book that it wasn't longer!