Little Women

[flea]

Tonight is book club, and we read Little Women, which I had never read before. At least, I read Little Women; I rather suspect, from the emails that I received, that precious few of us finished it. In any case, we are watching the movie (Hepburn version, 1933; not the 1949 version with a BLOND Liz Taylor as Amy!) tonight.

I can't decide if I would have loved this as a girl or not. I was a cynical 12 year old, but I did love Anne of Green Gables and things of that ilk. As an adult reader, I am distanced from the text by my understanding of history and knowledge of the Alcott family (my mother volunteered at the Concord Museum for a while; I've been to Orchard House and seen 'Amy's' drawings on the walls.) I can certainly see how many girls at the time, and still today, would love it. I wasn't spoiled for who Jo and Amy marry, though I did know Beth died (is there anyone in the world who doesn't know Beth dies? If so, I'm sorry; you do know now.)

It falls strangely into the two pieces (book one ends at Meg's engagement). The first book is more truly girls' literature - full of promise, and romantic - one is sure that Jo and Laurie will marry. The second book feels a little antifeminist - the trials of Meg as a new wife and mother make her seem very weak and silly; Amy is redeemed from being a brat and snags Laurie, who is both rich and virtuous, showing us the triumph of the ladylike; Jo seems to give up her dreams of being a novelist to look after little boys and a shaggy German academic. The first book is all about the girls and the family and Marmee and the boundless possibility of their adult futures; the second book sees their lives narrow to their relationships with (future) husbands.

Another odd thing is how completely absent the father is, even when he does come back from the war. Bronson Alcott was an oddball; one of the critical essays suggests she left him out because his philosophy would be unpalatable to the mainstream readers she hoped for. My mother has a rant about how completely irresponsible he was as a parent; I guess they nearly starved and froze to death one year when he decided to live off the land (without actually knowing how to.)

Did you read it, as a child or as an adult? Do you love it?

Comments

[sophiabrooks.livejournal.com]

I have probably read it over 50 times, starting in the 2nd or 3rd grade. I did start out with an abridged edition. I loved everything about it and wanted to name our dog Beth, buy my mother wouldn't let me because Beth died! We compromised on Meg. This is actually how I date when I read the book, because this happened in third grade. As with a lot of my reading, I read the parts when the girls were younger over and over, and then started reading the whole book over and over as I got older.

It isn't my favorite Alcott, however. I still read The Old Fashioned Girl at least once a year. I just want to be Polly.

So, um, yeah, I guess I liked Little Women. (and Five Little Peppers!)

[stephl.livejournal.com]

I am Sophia, almost exactly. (Except I didn't name any pets after the Marches. Though my first cat was named Puff, after the cat in Dick and Jane.)

I had an abridged version until I was out of college (I didn't actually realize it was abridged, because sometimes I am very, very dim). To tell the truth, the abridged version made some very wise editing choices. The unabridged has some areas that ramble, ramble, ramble, and even get a little preachy.

When I was a kid, I read the first half of the book countless times, but the second half didn't interest me. All that marriage stuff was icky. I'm not even sure if I read the second half until I was in college.

I love it, though. Sure, it has flaws, but it's a product of its time to some degree. But there's just something so lovely about it, something so genuine, even when it is at its treacle-y-ist. I re-read it at least once a year.

[sophiabrooks.livejournal.com]

I have to confess I didn't realize the abridged-ness until around college, either. And it did cut a lot of the really boring parts!