Little Men (Nelson Doubleday)

by Louisa May Alcott

Little Men

by
Louisa May Alcott

book data

6,633 ratings, 3.70 average rating, 289 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		21%
4		36%
3		32%
2		8%
1		0%

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published

1972 by Nelson Doubleday, Inc. (first published 1871)

details

Hardcover, 384 pages

characters

Jo March, Professor Bhaer, Rob Bhaer …more

setting

Concord, Massachusetts (United States)

description

Follows the adventures of Jo March and her husband Professor Bhaer as they try to make their school for boys a happy, comfortable, and stimulating pla…more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 8,206)

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Mar 21, 2008

Abigail rated it:

(review of isbn 0448060183)

bookshelves: childrens-fiction, literature-classics

recommends it for: Anyone Who Loved "Little Women"

A sequel to Alcott's masterpiece, Little Women, and the author's second book chronicling the fortunes of the March family, Little Men follows the story of Jo, her husband Professor Bhaer, and their school for boys at Plumfield. Here the reader will encounter some of the beloved figures of the first book. And here the reader will also have the pleasure of meeting a host of new characters - many of them the sort of mischievous, but essentially good-hearted, young boys so dear to "Mrs. Jo's"...more

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Sep 16, 2007

Chicklet rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

bookshelves: classics, historical

Someone once told me that Little Men was written before Little Women. When she tried to get it published she was refused. She was told that the public wanted a story about young ladies from a woman, not young men. It was after that, that she wrote Little Women. Sometime after that became a huge success she published Little Men...I'm not certain if she found someone to publish it for finally resorted to doing it herself. This motivated me to find and read Little Men which was good....and w...more

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Jan 30, 2010

Venla Tuominen rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

Owns a copy — Read in December, 2009

recommended to Venla by: Myself
recommends it for: People who've read Little Women

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 18, 2009

Jesse rated it:

(review of isbn 0448060183)

bookshelves: on-my-bookshelf

Read in October, 2009

There is not another book in all of literature that I hold as dear as this one; I never expect to find another that gives me half as much pleasure. It would be impossible to count how many times I've read it over the years (it has to be dozens and dozens by now), and it remains a locale of constant pilgrimage, as I still return to it at least once a year. I'm always a bit nervous whenever I take it up again that my education of postmodern "isms" will have made me suddenly immune to i...more There is not another book in all of literature that I hold as dear as this one; I never expect to find another that gives me half as much pleasure. It would be impossible to count how many times I've read it over the years (it has to be dozens and dozens by now), and it remains a locale of constant pilgrimage, as I still return to it at least once a year. I'm always a bit nervous whenever I take it up again that my education of postmodern "isms" will have made me suddenly immune to its charms (and if that day ever does come, it will honestly make me seriously reconsider a possible future in higher education). Thankfully, from the very first pages, where poor, bereft little Nat Blake arrives at Plumfield and is taken in with open arms by "jolly Mrs. Jo" and ushered into her and her husband's experimental school for boys, it never fails to win me over as quickly and completely as the warm hospitality does the sensitive little homeless boy.

At this point I know all the tales—because that's all the book is, really—by heart, and as each chapter presents itself I can't help but smile with pleasure and recognition at the story I know is about to unfold. This time around it particularly struck me how much the stories have become an integral part of me—they're as much my memories as if I had actually experienced them "in the flesh," and if I'm honest I probably treasure them more than I do many many of the "legitimate" memories of my past. And every time I revisit it is striking how much it tells me about who I've become and who I am today—it's easy to comprehend now why the lonely little boy I was was so receptive to its vision of a utopian child society where shy and bookish boys have a place just as legitimate as the others; I can understand my complete identification with the character of Nat, because, that was me at that age.

Needless to say, I can't help but chuckle now over Mr. and Mrs. Bhaer's asides to each other about Nat behind closed doors--whether intentionally or not (and I'd probably lean towards the latter), Alcott was implying an awful lot when writing that Mr. Bhaer considered Nat "his 'daughter,'" finding him "as docile and affectionate as a girl." Inevitably, I can't help but wonder if some facets of my own personality are rooted in this initial identification with Nat, if my attraction now to extroverted boys has some basis in Nat's relationship with the exuberant Tommy Bangs; it's kind of odd observing now how the symbiotic Nat/Dan relationship play out through the book, as it so eerily parallels a friendship I had in high school (and my own intense emotional attachment to it).

Stepping outside myself for a moment, I will make clear that I don't at all make any great claims for this book—it's no undiscovered masterpiece, or even comes within striking distance of such a characterization. It takes the basic formula of Little Women and, for better or worse, amplifies it in some ways, particularly the moralizing stance it often takes. After the first several chapters where Nat is introduced into Plumfield (serving as a narrative device to introduce the reader to its many characters and establishes the locale), the rest of the book is more or less a ramshackle collection of mostly unrelated anecdotes with a genial "don't kids say/do the darndest things?" tone, with Jo assuming Marmee's place in locating a moral or truth in every turn of events.

And that's not at all a knock at all towards Alcott or her literary abilities—as I wrote in my review of Little Women, which I read for the first time last year, reading Alcott's work does make me ponder over the loss of what I called "the unsentimental Postmodern dumping of didactic literature." For my money, the "Damon and Pythias" chapter of the book is about as stellar an example of mixing a moral lesson with suspense as I've ever encountered—even though I know exactly how it all turns out, I still read it with my heart at the back of my throat.

What can I say? I love this book completely, unreservedly, and perhaps a bit too nonjudgmentally. So it goes. I will continue to treasure the "Illustrated Junior Library" edition I have always had and read, and with each read its corners grow ever more worn, as much from love as from use. If I am remembering correctly I found this book in an abandoned house on a piece of property my family bought when I was a child, lending my discovery of it a bit of an aura of fate; I had also failed to notice until this time around that this is the 1984 reprint edition, making us exactly the same age. I'm not exactly sure what I think about the idea of fate, but if there is such a thing, then yes, this qualifies just as much as anything possibly could. I'm already looking forward to my next rereading.
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Sep 23, 2009

Moira Russell rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

bookshelves: read-in-2009

I think the last time I read this book was about in 1989 and was surprised at how much of it I remembered. It is rag-tag and episodic, as the author herself freely admits, but genuinely involving. It gets dreadfully sentimental at many points, but so does Dickens. To a modern reader, or at any rate this one, it's interesting how much of it is an apologia for her father and his educational theories (famously his school was closed down; after Louisa's novel became best-seller, his own Record of a...more I think the last time I read this book was about in 1989 and was surprised at how much of it I remembered. It is rag-tag and episodic, as the author herself freely admits, but genuinely involving. It gets dreadfully sentimental at many points, but so does Dickens. To a modern reader, or at any rate this one, it's interesting how much of it is an apologia for her father and his educational theories (famously his school was closed down; after Louisa's novel became best-seller, his own Record of a School was republished to take advantage of her popularity), altho Louisa wisely skips over most of their actual content and focuses more on the entertaining day-to-day activities of the children. I still really like Nat, Dan and Nan, found Daisy and Demi creepy (sort of a G-rated version of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore), and Bess the Princess horrifying. Jo is less sympathetic than she was in the earlier March book(s) because she's been thoroughly domesticated -- she is the 'mother' to the dozen or so boys and takes care of their emotional needs, as well as moralizing a lot -- and married off to Bronson's alter ego, Professor Bhaer, who of course does all the educating, at tedious length.

'Naughty Nan' remains my favourite character; she's like an even wilder and unliterary Jo, and it is sad to see her tamed from being a tomboy (in one especially awful sequence she strikes out on her own and gets lost during an outing and is punished by being tethered to a chair the whole rest of the day afterwards, as Jo had been punished for 'running away' by her own mother in her youth). IIRC in the last book she doesn't get married at all and becomes a doctor, and thus Louisa rewards the two characters we most identify her with: Jo finds extreme domestic bliss despite her early rebellion and writing, and Nan remains independent with a respected career. It's sad to contrast their ends with the actual life of their creator, forced to turn out domestic potboilers to support her extended family and dying just days after her beloved, dotty despot, Bronson Alcott.

Possibly next I'll read some of her Gothic thrillers, altho I don't know exactly where they are in the house. Amusingly enough Little Women, like Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, and a few other cherished childhood books, is always in reach of my bedside.(less)

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Aug 13, 2009

Kimberly rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

Read in September, 2008

For those of you who many not be familiar with Alcott, Little Men and Jo’s Boys are the sequels to the beloved Little Women. Telling the story of Jo’s life after her marriage to Professor Bhear, Little Men introduces us to Plumfield School where boys, and girls, are taught not only the important lessons learned from books, but the important lessons of life as well. Jo’s Boys takes the chronicles of the students to new heights, as the students reach adulthood and choose their future path...more

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Jul 24, 2009

Rachel rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

Read this while I was down with Bronchitis recently.

Well, Louisa May Alcott certainly packed a lot of adventures and little scares into this book. There was a lot more fun, and a little more danger here compared to Little Women. There were also several very charming bits in the story that at times would make me laugh out-loud.

I quite adored the character Tommy! What a feisty little lad he was! To me his was very, very real, and so was little Bess, Amy Lawrence's daughter...more Read this while I was down with Bronchitis recently.

Well, Louisa May Alcott certainly packed a lot of adventures and little scares into this book. There was a lot more fun, and a little more danger here compared to Little Women. There were also several very charming bits in the story that at times would make me laugh out-loud.

I quite adored the character Tommy! What a feisty little lad he was! To me his was very, very real, and so was little Bess, Amy Lawrence's daughter. (Yes, yes, I'm glad their pairing didn't turn out as badly as I'd expected. Whatever.)

I broke the rules again. It always happens with Louisa May Alcott's books. I skipped a little bit, because I wanted to know what happened in the big drama with Nat, Tommy and Dan and the shillings.

The only problems I had with her were regarding these...Billy, Jo March, Prof Bhaer, John Brooke, and her need to spoil the ending.

We'll start with Billy first. The character Billy is introduced as a mentally handicapped boy with the mind of a five-year-old. He was, an unnecessary character, wallpaper and Louisa May often forgot all about him. When the boys were frolicking and otherwise doing grown-up boy stuff, where was Billy? What did HE feel? What was HIS growth? Why was no mention made of him? In fact, Louisa May only alluded to him 2, 3...maybe 4 times throughout the book, and always very briefly. Why create such a character in the first place? It was pointless, if only to underline the Bhaers' compassion and tolerance.

I can't believe she did this to poor Jo! She turned the plucky, audacious Jo March into a...a...dare I say it, a frazzled housewife! A woman who puts away clean sheets and hangs up curtains and, and...*sobs* she gave up her career in writing because she was too busy to pursue it! Too busy, too busy for everything. Puir, puir Jo. But...she's happy, I suppose.

If one has read Little Women, one will know that Prof Bhaer uses fancy words like "thee and thou". I rather liked it, actually. It was a defining quirk of his. But then half-way through it's gone! Completely! It was like the author, as she was writing along, threw up her hands, sighed exasperatedly and said, "Oh, Thunder turtles! I shan't keep my sanity if I go on like this!" translated in modern day lingo: "Blech. What the heck. This is stupid. He should've grown more American by then, anyway, so he'll talk that way!" Ugh...why, LMA, why?

Here we come to John Brooke. **spoiler alert**
We're meandering along, quite enjoying the antics of Jo's little men, when suddenly, LMA realizes that we're MEANDERING! Oh NO! Something must be done! Something to excite us! Get us moving! (presumably she encountered Writer's Block at this point) In desperation, she up and kills an innocent bystander--John Brooke. And why not? He's never mentioned in the book (only his son), he's also really morally upright, and quite young, too, making him the perfect candidate for a pathetic death. Remember Beth?

LMA conveniently uses this part of the book to pile on some moral values, and how wonderful it is to be good. I do agree with her to a point...but then it's hard to disagree or agree, when this stuff is being shoved down your throat whether you want it or not. LMA makes it very clear that it is fatally hazardous to be a flawless, innocent person in her book.

Right...I won't linger on the ending of the book, because it would mean having to dig up what she wrote and feed it to you, so you can enjoy gagging as well. I'll just say this: Her conversation with Laurie at the very end was saturated with enough good values and morals to fill a dozen children's books. I've never come across books as syrupy with goodness as LMA's. Whether that's a compliment is up to her. It gets to the point where you stop SEEING the words. So I sped read to the second last page (which wasn't very far away, so I didn't feel guilty), and everything was readable again.
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Apr 04, 2009

BJ Rose rated it:

(review of isbn 0448058189)

bookshelves: classics, keepers, young-adult

Read in April, 2009

recommended to BJ Rose by: my mother

At one point in this delightful book, the author states plainly that there is no particular plan to her story, other than to describe events at Plumfield, but also tells us that most of these happenings are taken from real life, which I can easily believe. By the time you reach the end of the book, it is both difficult and easy to realize that all of these events took place in just six months.

There are so many gems here that are true-to-life: her descriptions of the glaringly mismatc...more

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Aug 06, 2008

JoAnn rated it:

(review of isbn 0451529359)

bookshelves: 2008-books, classics, family-parenting

Read in October, 2008

Wow, how does Jo do it!? So charming and wonderful. So practical, pragmatic, selfless and perfect for a romping house full of boys. Gotta love her and Alcott tells an amazing storyline that kept me intrigued and fascinated by it's wholesome goodness. Through her toil, insight and sacrifice Jo learns and is able to enjoy the law of the harvest with relationships, primarily those of the young ones she is trying to mold. Excellent read!

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Jan 06, 2010

Kelly rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

Read in January, 2010

I really like Louisa May Alcott, and for a classic book, Little Men is a surprisingly easy read. Normally it takes me a while to adjust to the language in classics but I'm able to get right into Louisa's books without any adjustment.

This book was similar to Little Women in that it's epic, filled with little simple moral stories and simply written, but I didn't like this book as much as Little Women. Little Men covers probably a year or so in the lives of the characters, so there aren...more

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Jan 04, 2010

Deborah rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

Read in January, 2010

I have read "Little Women" many times and loved it when I was young, and recently as an adult. It could be cutesy at times and a bit mushy but was still a good story.
That being said I thought I'd enjoy "Little Men" nearly as much.
A lot of things bothered me about this book though. I know I have to account for the era it was written in, but still there are a lot of annoying things about it.
It was way more goody-goody than "Little Women", and Jo was ...more

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Jun 29, 2009

Jody rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

Read in July, 2009

I was craving a little more Alcott, and, even after reading this one, am craving a little more still. I wonder if it was Alcott I was craving or just Jo, the character. In reading this one, though, I was surprised how much I had forgotten from Little Women. In my own defense it has been 15 years since I read it. (Maybe soon it will be time to read again!)
Regardless, the story is the continuation of Little Women focused on Jo's world. She and her husband, Herr Bhaer, are now running ...more

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Dec 26, 2008

Kristen rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

bookshelves: classics

Read in December, 2008

recommends it for: everyone

Well, you can't go wrong with Louisa May Alcott. I read Little Women many years ago and have had this on my shelf for several years. It was fun to revisit many of the same characters from Little Women, with the addition of a number of wonderful new ones.

Jo and her husband run an unusual boy's boarding school, where they focus as much on love, self-discipline, and life skills as they do on the three R's. Not surprisingly, they are very successful in their endeavors. Although the chara...more

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Aug 04, 2009

Lydia rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

bookshelves: wild-things-challenge--2, ya-read

Read in August, 2009

It has been a long time since I read Little Men and Little Women. I am glad to have re-read this book and I wonder about the influence it had on me when I was younger. Mrs. Jo's "experimental" school embraced a number of the philosophies and practices I used in raising my own two daughters: not focusing on grades but on learning; allowing their personalities to express themselves; encouraging exploration; and the basic tenet that you can do anything (thought like Jo, there were times I...more

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May 09, 2007

Casey rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

bookshelves: children-or-young-adult

I actually preferred this to Little Women. Unlike seemingly everyone else, I was totally pleased when Jo married Fritz. I always thought Laurie was a bit of a prat. Although the morality lessons in this book can be a bit too syrupy, I loved reading about the adventures at Plumfield.

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May 23, 2009

Braden rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

Read in May, 2009

I think this is the best of Alcott's novels (the ones I've read, anyway). I could do without much of the narrator's sentimentality... I am especially annoyed by the frequency with which little girls are seen as future domestic goddesses whose chief role is to play moral guardians to little boys....and yet I sense in this novel a tension between that impulse and the desire to round out the girl-children (Daisy and Nan....Bess, not so much).

I think that parents (esp. those with 3-12 y...more

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Sep 23, 2009

Kathy rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

Read in September, 2009

I have always enjoyed these classic books. They were originally written for older children and the easy language and innocent themes reflect this. This is the 3rd in the Little Women series and follows the lives of grown-up Jo, her husband and the 12 boys and 2 girls that she teaches in her boarding school. It is full of traditional morals and is highly didactic. It is essentially a collection of short stories. As a mother, these books remind me of some of the traditional values that I want...more

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Apr 13, 2009

Rob rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

bookshelves: books-of-my-youth, fiction, young

Read in January, 1978

My intro to Alcott. I was sick at the time (Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick Fever!) and this really helped me feel that everything wasn't hopeless. I don't know if I can explain that, but it is the case. Several of Jo's pupils overcome hardship and adversity in a way I could appreciate, I suppose. In any case, this seems a far more accessible book to me than Little Women, and I would actually recommend it o be read first. The only drawback is that you know the fate of Jo and her sisters. THen again,...more

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Sep 03, 2009

Carre rated it:

(review of isbn 1406954365)

Another one I liked as a kid, however as an adult I couldn't even get through it when I tried to re-read it. Worse, I couldn't even finish listening to the *audiobook* version! Either Alcott knew nothing about boys, or boys in the 19th century were a different breed of creature altogether than they are now. I can't imagine any boy I know being motivated to good behavior by the gentle, Sunday night remonstrations of Mother Jo. And once again, I find Alcott preachy and unbearably moralizing. I wan...more

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Oct 26, 2009

Melody rated it:

(review of other edition)

Read in October, 2009

I like this one better than Little Women but not as much as Jo's Boys. I adore Dan from the moment he slouches in, and Tommy Bangs reminds me of my own boy. There's not as much overt moralizing here as in LW, and the scenes of domestic life are somehow a little more vibrant in their cheerful chaos. It's in this book that one really sees how perfect the Professor is for Jo, and how happy she is with a houseful of harum-scarum boys to tend. It's certainly hard to be objective about a book one has ...more

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