About this title: This story of the four March sisters is based on the author's own childhood. The novel is divided into two parts. "Book One" focuses on the sisters' struggles with poverty while growing up in New England during the Civil War. As their father, a minister, serves in the war, the girls are raised by their loving and wise mother, Marmee. "Book Two" ...
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Date Published: 1947
ISBN-13:9780448060194ISBN:0448060191
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 643 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
"I finished!! I loved this book; it was amazing! The plot line and old language and sayings proved to me that this book is timeless. The hardships faced by the March girls are relatable and easy to understand. As the Marchs grow up, you see how their personalities change and how their lives blossom. I was EXTREMELY upset when Beth died. I cried because she was such a special person in the lives of all who knew her. Her delicateness added to the pain for the rest of her family. The true genius was having Amy marry Laurie because it brought the family closer together. Jo gained a brother in her best friend and Amy was happy to find a nice rich boy she loved, especially one who could care for her. I felt that though this book was great, it was lengthy but never hard to follow. I absolutely MUST watch the movie to see if it even measures up to this book."
"My first encounter with Little Women is around twelve years ago when I read the manga. I also got into the film, read the Indonesian version, and always enjoyed the story of the four March girls. But it does not feel right and proper if you don't come back to the original novel, and that's what I did. I read the very novel written by Louisa May Alcott at last. Reading it was a very enjoyable process I managed to finish it in a day. And I was left with this warm feeling in my heart. I had this really good feeling after closing the last page. I could not help but smiling and being happy. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are the girls who, with their strength and weakness, survive even during the hardest time because they love each other. Everyone's favourite is surely Jo because she's brave and a pioneer for girls at that period. Jo is really into writing and finds bliss in reading novels, and I can relate to her in that way. Yet I also have this sisterly feeling toward Beth since she's so sweet I want to caress her. Also, we cannot talk about Little Women without mentioning Mr. Theodore Laurence, can we? Reading about Laurie, I certainly feel that in the latest film, Mr. Christian Bale did such a fine job in bringing Laurie into life (even though Mr. Bale actually looks too old to play the 15-year-old boy). You can witness Laurie's boyish charm and attitude almost flawlessly. Little Women is not a kind of novel with an ultra-sensational idea or super poetic language. This is just a simple novel that brings this warm atmosphere inside your heart. You do not need any more reason to love this novel."
"I have said for years and years how much I like this book, but I realized when I started reading it on Sunday that I might not have picked it up since 4th grade when I wanted to be called Meg! Is that possible? I think so.
After finishing it on Monday afternoon, I was talking to some girls that evening where I realized (yes, I was thinking out loud) that this book is loaded with advice -- marital advice, parenting advice, interpersonal relationships advice ... and it's all good. I mean seriously, I think everyone should read this book as a grownup! It's that good.
Having said that, I can't believe how much I cried whle re-reading this. I mean, I cried all the way through it! That was a little odd, and I wasn't prepared for it. Of course I was prepared for that part, but not so much the whole entire book!
Jo has always seemed to be a kindred spirit, for a variety of reasons, good and bad. Here's just one example of something we have in common: I like good strong words, that mean something she says. Me too!
I also like the way the author even teaches the reader how to be a good friend, in the midst of the joy of getting published: Jo's eyes sparkled, for it is always pleasant to be believed in, and a friend's praise is always sweeter than a dozen newspaper puffs. Thinking about something like this reminds me to be happy for my friends when they have good news to share.
When my dad died, a friend sent a book of quotes called Deeper than Tears. In it, Corrie ten Boom says, "There are moments when the suffering is so deep that one can hardly talk to a person. What a joy it is then to know that the Lord understands." So many times, I felt as if no one understood how I felt, but I could turn to God. Likewise, Alcott says: She could not speak, but she did "hold on," and the warm grasp of the friendly human hand comforted her sore heat, and seemed to lead her nearer to the Divine arm which alone could uphold her in her trouble.
I loved this commentary on wealth: Wealth is certainly a most desirable thing, but poverty has its sunny side, and one of the sweet uses of adversity is the genuine satisfaction which comes from hearty work of head or hand; and to the inspiration of necessity, we owe half the wise, beautiful, and useful blessings of the world.
This might be my favorite part: Now, if she had been the heroine of a moral story-book, she ought at this period of her life to have become quite saintly, renounced the world, and gone about doing good in a mortified bonnet, with tracts in her pocket. But, you see, Jo wasn't a heroine; she was only a struggling human girl, like hundreds of others, and she just acted out her nature, being sad, cross, listless, or energetic, as the mood suggested.
I love this book. Love it. Everyone should read it."
"So great! It gets some criticism today for being too preachy in terms of how "good" young girls should behave, but you have to remember that's how Alcott and many of her peers were getting published at all. Alcott's motives are actually easier to spot than some other writers of the time; Jo's narrative obviously subverts the expected instructional tack of the genre. Bonus: the movie is one of my favorites (Wynona Ryder version)"
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