Quite a delightful little book, a glimpse into LMA’s life. I’ve never read anything else by her, although I’m more-or-less familiar with “Little Women”, and I don’t feel motivated to read the latter or anything else by LMA. Still, this was quite enjoyable. My only other observation worth sharing regards some of the author’s writing style. Remembering that LMA was 30 years old when she volunteered for hospital work, her telling of her trip to Washington sounds like the writing of a teenager. The 90s teen market TV show “Clarissa Explains it All” comes to mind, and I do not doubt that the character Clarissa was modeled in part on the narratrice in the early chapters of this book. And that’s fine. LMA gets more somber and adult-sounding in the chapters about her hospital work. I’m quite sure she’d have been tossed out of the hospital by the suffering soldiers had that other persona continued in their presence. In any case, it’s a fine little book. Enjoy it.

Most people know Louisa May Alcott's name for Little Women. They may know her name in relation to her father, Bronson Alcott, and his friendship with dudes like Ralph Waldo Emerson and H.D. Thoreau, and the Transcendentalist movement. Not as many people knew she also went to war.

Alcott spent six weeks working as a nurse in Washington, DC during the Civil War. She went home after a nasty bout of typhoid fever, but those six weeks made quite an impression on her. She turned her experiences there into a short series of "sketches" which eventually were put together into Hospital Sketches. The character Tribulation Periwinkle is based on Louisa's experiences herself. Had she been able to stay longer and seen more, I wonder what the "sketches" would have potentially turned into.

This was a quick read, pretty charming actually. The introduction to my edition was 38 pages long, almost as long as Hospital Sketches itself, and I was surprised that the first part of Alcott's account had to do with the travel to DC; very little actually focused on the hospital scene at all. In a totally selfish way I have to admit I was a bit bugged by that. I also would have preferred if Alcott hadn't made it a fictionalized story - certainly her experiences in those six weeks alone would have been for an interesting read, but it is what it is. Hospitals at that time were pretty grungy from what I understand - body parts lying around in the yard, no sterilization, not much as far as anesthetization, dead bodies hanging around in the middle of summer. Alcott touches on some of those issues, and these stories would certainly open readers' eyes to the reality behind a lot of the other war stories they may have heard.

Interesting to note that the role of women as nurses in hospitals during the Civil War was not to assist the surgeons in their operations - in fact, women weren't often allowed in to witness the operations unless they specifically asked to be a part of it. The role of the nurses was to comfort the soldiers after the surgery. Their role was quite controversial it seems as many thought it imprudent to have women in the rooms at all. 'Cause, y'know, women just want to have sex with anything possessing a penis, and clearly their desire to help the wounded had nothing to do with actually helping the wounded. Pshaw.


(Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine)

Exactly what you might expect from Louisa May Alcott: clever, lively, charming, and spritely. I have bookmarked several places for their wonderful descriptions of the regular, daily, and mundane: educational descriptions, and enlightening. This little collection of memories gives more insight into the hospitals of the mid-1800s, at least the American military hospitals, than all the movies of the era ever have.

A quick and wonderful read.

This was an interesting read, although it primarily left me with the impression that I'd like to read the experiences of someone who spent more time as an army nurse. Alcott caught a severe case of typhoid very early in her term and only ended up serving a few weeks. I'm sure the perspective would be different coming from someome who spent a more substsntial portion of their life doing it. Still, life, particularly in the civil war, was and is like that. Many of the terminal patients she discusses were wounded in their very first battle.

Overall, it's a lively (and incredibly short) read. It also provides a window into the mindset of a radical northerner at the time. If you've ever wondered how raging abolitionism could coexist in the same brain with white supremacy, look no further. If you've ever wondered what it felt like to experience everyday life as a 19th century feminist, this has you covered. Besides, it's incredibly short. It's not often you get to experience life as a 19th century woman for anything less than 500 pages, let alone the mere 6 chapters that this contains.

reading this as research for a project I'm working on; genuinely delightful prose, as is to be expected from Alcott, but I actually laughed out loud in countless places. Her writing is timeless and so are her witty observations. A real asset for anyone looking for a first-hand account of a woman's perspective during the Civil War.

Humorous account of Louisa May Alcott's experience as a volunteer nurse in a Washington DC hospital during the Civil War. She makes light of the bureaucracy she had to navigate to get to Washington, the personalities of the doctors, nurses, and patients, and her own naive expectations contrasted with the realities of the job.

Mixed with the lighthearted tone of the book is a profound respect for the wounded soldiers -- even a Confederate soldier in her care -- and the gravity of war. She assists in grisly surgeries and witnesses the deaths of young and beautiful men. The most tender moments are when she helps the patients write home to families and sweethearts.

I love Little Women. This is the first Alcott book I have read beyond that universally acclaimed classic, and it inspires me to read more of her lesser known work for adult readers.

A quick interesting read, although somewhat disappointing. The briefness of her appointment limits the context and impact of her work, and her literary sensibilities often make the reading a bit tricky, with gaudy, purple prose, tangents, and humorous injections. Some of the stories are moving, but there are frequent overly long ones (eg her long passages about just traveling to get there) that are a bit of a drag. Her Abolitionist perspectives (though horribly dated now obviously) were interesting and seeing how even a staunch abolitionist had such harmful, deeply engrained social views and stereotypes was fascinating. Ultimately, a more comprehensive writing from someone with more experience and time/involvement would probably be more engaging and meaningful, as would one with less levity and overt sentimentality. Also, the edition I read was full of typos and errors which made the reading a bit trickier than it already was. Still, it’s rather short so not an onerous read, and it’s a worthwhile historical document.

5+ stars & 6/10 hearts. Oh my. I enjoyed this little book so much. It was really hilarious. Louisa May Alcott outdid herself this time. It was all so sarcastic and ridiculous, and yet, it was obvious that there was a foundation of truth and that Nurse Periwinkle was strongly based off Alcott! I don’t agree with everything in this story, but it’s full of sweet anecdotes and little lessons. Definitely a favourite book from one of my favourite authors! 

A Favourite Quote: “[T]hough a stranger, John was beloved by all. Each man there had wondered at his patience, respected his piety, admired his fortitude, and now lamented his hard death; for the influence of an upright nature had made itself deeply felt, even in one little week.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “...certain printed papers, necessary to be filled out, were given a young gentleman—no, I prefer to say Boy, with a scornful emphasis upon the word, as the only means of revenge now left me. This Boy, instead of doing his duty with the diligence so charming in the young, loitered and lounged, in a manner which proved his education to have been sadly neglected in the—"How doth the little busy bee," direction. He stared at me, gaped out of the window, ate peanuts, and gossiped with his neighbors—Boys, like himself, and all penned in a row, like colts at a Cattle Show. I don't imagine he knew the anguish he was inflicting; for it was nearly three, the train left at five, and I had my ticket to get, my dinner to eat, my blessed sister to see, and the depot to reach, if I didn't die of apoplexy. Meanwhile, Patience certainly had her perfect work that day, and I hope she enjoyed the job more than I did.”

I loved this little collection! A beautifully-written snapshot of her brief time as a Civil War nurse. This novelette was listed as a reading for David Blight’s “Open Yale Course” podcast on the Civil War, and I only wish the loan I borrowed allowed for digital highlights - so many perfect Victorian sentences.

Hospital Sketches was published in 1863, early in Alcott's writing career. It is a lightly fictionalized account of her six week service as a nurse at a Georgetown hospital during the Civil War. It is compiled from letters written by Alcott during this time. Her service ended early when she contracted typhoid fever. While this work isn't a great piece of writing, it's an important contribution to the history of the war and life in the hospitals at that time for the patients and the people who cared for them. It's also important in the sense that it was a building block, part of the foundation for one of the great American authors of the 19th century.

she's a funny lil woman

some thoughts:
Having never read Alcott before I was surprised by how humorous this piece was, especially that it depicts such harrowing subject matter.
Where it gets weird is her racism. Despite how staunch of an abolitionist--and she'll remind you many times of such--she displays a striking primitivist view of Black americans. her self-congratulatory stance about emancipation is something