Little Men

by
Louisa May Alcott

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Little Men (Little Women #2)

by Louisa May Alcott

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 19,790 ratings · 684 reviews

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 place.

Published 67 by Bancroft

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Mar 21, 2008 Abigail rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone Who Loved "Little Women"

Shelves: childrens-fiction, literature-classics, school-stories, p-l

Review Temporarily Removed.

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Jun 07, 2012 Sunny in Wonderland rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I was in the 5th grade, my mother gave me this book. Granted, it was an abridged version for children, but it was a CHAPTER BOOK, and was REALLY LONG, and was the first - absolute first - classic story that I'd ever read. I spent the next two years reading this book over and over again.

I remember having a Snoopy sticker - the nicest sticker I'd ever seen of Snoopy - and stuck it to the front cover of my book to mark it as my own.

30 years later, I read Little Women. Which I loved. And a week...more

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Sep 30, 2009 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 to t...more

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Sep 16, 2007 Chicklet rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 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 with th...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Heather added it · review of another edition

I have to start off by admitting that even though Little Women is one of my all time favourite books, I didn’t know it was the first in a trilogy until a couple years ago.

Not too long ago I found the second and third books in the same edition as my copy of Little Women at a used bookstore. As soon as I saw them, I knew that I needed to get them. Now I have the complete collection in matching covers. Yes, that makes me happy.

I was a little disappointed when I first started reading. I thought i...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Fadhilatul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Little Men adalah novel ketiga dari serial Little Women karya Louisa May Alcott. Bercerita tentang Sekolah Plumfield, sekolah khusus laki-laki, yang diasuh oleh Fritz dan Josephine Bhaer. Ada 12 anak laki-laki dan 1 perempuan sebelum akhirnya tiba seorang anak yatim piatu bernama Nat. Nat Blake, seorang musisi jalanan cilik yang ditinggal mati ayahnya merasakan kehangatan yang tak biasa selama ia tinggal di sekolah itu. Ibu dan Bapak Bhaer yang ramah dan hangat, juga teman-teman yang baik hati d...more Little Men adalah novel ketiga dari serial Little Women karya Louisa May Alcott. Bercerita tentang Sekolah Plumfield, sekolah khusus laki-laki, yang diasuh oleh Fritz dan Josephine Bhaer. Ada 12 anak laki-laki dan 1 perempuan sebelum akhirnya tiba seorang anak yatim piatu bernama Nat. Nat Blake, seorang musisi jalanan cilik yang ditinggal mati ayahnya merasakan kehangatan yang tak biasa selama ia tinggal di sekolah itu. Ibu dan Bapak Bhaer yang ramah dan hangat, juga teman-teman yang baik hati dan mau bekerja sama membuat dirinya betah dan senang belajar.

Sekolah Plumfield bukan sekolah asrama dengan peraturan yang ketat dan membuat anak-anak merasa ngeri ketakutan. Disana anak-anak diberi kebebasan untuk belajar dan bermain. Mereka diberi petak lahan dan bercocok tanam, juga memelihara binatang. Bahkan mereka boleh berbisnis dengan menjual hasil panen dari tanaman dan peliharaan mereka kepada Bu Bhaer, sesama murid Plumfield dan para tetangga. Pastinya yang namanya anak-anak memiliki kenakalan yang khas, namun Bapak dan Ibu Bhaer mendidik dan menyayangi mereka dengan kesabaran tanpa batas. Setiap kebebasan yang mereka berikan selalu diiring dengan pesan-pesan hikmah yang begitu lembut disampaikan lewat cara-cara yang menarik. Sehingga anak-anak pun tidak merasa digurui. Pada akhirnya ketika dewasa para murid Plumfield pun akan tumbuh sebagai manusia yang jujur, santun, berani dan memiliki kesabaran.

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Novel ini, menurut Kilas Buku, luar biasa bagus. Dan saya sangat menyukainya. Alcott menggambarkan dunia anak-anak yang lucu dan mampu memberi hikmah kepada para pembaca dengan cara yang menyenangkan. Lebih dari sekali saya merasa kagum dan lucu yang tak tertahankan pada dialog anak-anak yang digambarkan Alcott dengan sangat baik. Sesekali juga ikut merasa sedih dan tegang jika membaca sebuah kasus kenakalan salah satu anak. Yang membuat takjub adalah bagaimana Alcott mampu berperan menjadi seorang anak yang lucu dan menggemaskan dan juga orang tua yang bijak dan sabar dalam novel ini.

Baik, saya coba beri contoh bagaimana Alcott membuat dialog para anak kecil dengan menggemaskan. Berikut saya kutip dialog antara Rob dan Nan ketika mereka berdua tersesat di bukit yang dipenuhi dengan semak beri,

"Kalau kita tinggal disini berhari-hari, kita akan harus makan semua beri di ladang ini, dan nanti kita akan kelaparan."
"Aku akan makan kol. Aku tahu pohon besarnya dan Dan bilang padaku kalau tupai-tupai menggali akar-akarnya dan memakannya. Aku suka menggali," Jawab Rob tidak takut kelaparan.
"Ya, dan kita bisa menangkap kodok lalu memasaknya. Ayahku pernah makan kodok sekali dan dia bilang rasanya enak," tambah Nan.
"Bagaimana kita memasak kodok? Kita tidak punya api."
"Aku tidak tahu, lain kali aku akan bawa korek api di sakuku."
"Bisa kita membuat api memakai kunang-kunang?" Tanya Rob dengan penuh harap.
"Ayo kita coba." Beberapa menit berikutnya mereka bersenang-senang dengan menangkap kunang-kunang dan berusaha membuat mereka membakar satu-dua pohon ranting yang masih hijau.
"Ini omong kosong kalau mereka disebut kunang-kunang karena mereka tidak bisa membuat api." Kata Nan sambil melemparkan seekor serangga yang merana dengan marah...

Mengenai rentang usia yang layak baca bagi anak-anak, Little Men cocok dibaca untuk mereka yang sudah berusia kurang lebih 8 atau 9 tahun. Karena pada usia itu anak-anak tentunya (sedikit-banyak) mengerti apa yang terjadi di sekitar mereka. Sementara dalam buku ini banyak pelajaran yang bisa diambil lewat cerita-cerita yang lucu. Tak hanya anak-anak, buku ini pun cocok dibaca orang dewasa, khususnya bagi mereka yang menjadi orang tua yang ingin belajar bagaimana mendidik anak dengan baik, juga bagi para guru dan para pemerhati anak-anak. Karena dalam buku ini Bapak dan Ibu Bhaer memberi contoh bagaimana menghadapi anak-anak (bahkan kasus mereka yang sangat rumit sekalipun) dengan bijak, tenang dan tetap tersenyum. Mereka menunjukkan tindakan apa yang harus dilakukan sehingga membuat anak-anak begitu hormat, segan dan sayang pada mereka sebagai orang tua.
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Feb 11, 2013 Leya rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, library-book

This sparkling sequel to the beloved Little Women follows the grown-up and married Jo, mistress of Plumfield, a school for boys (and a few girls, too). The fun begins with a new arrival, Nat Blake; it is through his eyes that we first meet Plumfield’s lively residents and experience the cheerful confusion that reigns in the welcoming home. Fans of the first book will happily greet these wonderful characters…and renew their acquaintance with such old favorites as Laurie and Meg.

After reading The...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I re-read Little Women, which resonated with me at age 24 going on 25 in a way that it never did when I was younger, and then since I knew nothing would satisfy me but more Alcott, I decided to keep going, since I'd never read the sequels.

Little Men is utterly charming, and you can tell that Alcott just went to town creating the school of her dreams. I told my mom about it and she said, "It sounds like homeschooling!" Each boy has his education tailored to his interests and abilities, when they...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Lynn Hartter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The best of the the three (four) March Family volumes focuses on the boys and girls attending Jo's Plumfield, the country estate left her by Aunt March, where she operates a boys school (and also has a few female students) near her hometown of Concord. Each has distinctive character flaws, like the first section of Little Women, that they choose to try to overcome, some with more success than others. Moral views of the time are also studied, through Jo's admission of poor boys as well as wealthy...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Ursula Florene rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Could be the best children inspiring novel I've ever read!

Louisa May Alcott is a genius. She knew ho to write touching stories without being weak or too emotional. I've loved her ever since Little Women . Little Men is the last book form the trilogy. The main character here is The Bhaers, which consists of Jo Bhaer (used to be March), Fritz Bhaer, and their sons, Rob and Teddy. They live in a comfort house in Plumfield, whcih Jo turned into a private school. Most of the students there are boy...more

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Jan 04, 2012 John Kenworthy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Children, folks seeking inner calm...

Growing up, my great-grandmother Irene would regale us with stories of the history of our family. Among the historic treasures she told us - was that genealogically speaking, we were related not only to several Revolutionary War heroes, but also to the guy who hid the charter in the Charter Oak. More exciting to us was a connection made to the illustrious Louisa May Alcott. As a youth, armed with that knowledge I forced myself to read the decidedly girly Little Women, which I thought was okay, b...more Growing up, my great-grandmother Irene would regale us with stories of the history of our family. Among the historic treasures she told us - was that genealogically speaking, we were related not only to several Revolutionary War heroes, but also to the guy who hid the charter in the Charter Oak. More exciting to us was a connection made to the illustrious Louisa May Alcott. As a youth, armed with that knowledge I forced myself to read the decidedly girly Little Women, which I thought was okay, but just so. I see why it deserves its place in literature, but it lacked a certain personal connection to me

Little Men, however, was much more in line with all my sentiments. Ostensibly it is the tale of Jo March now grown up and married with children. Based to a large degree on her own life, Little Men was a beautifully written - though episodic - look at life in Plumfield. Jo March and her husband taught a group of young boys - and a few girls - in her home where they boarded.

The beauty of the book is the obvious love that Jo had for her boys - all of them. And each brought a different - though not stereotypically so - dynamic to Plumfield. There was constantly someone with whom I as a young male reader could identify. The sensitive musician side of me reveled in Nat. The nature-lover was drawn to Dan. The mischievous side leaned ever so slightly to naughty Tommy.

The stories are bucolic but not Pollyanna-ish. There is a peace and calm and a constant reinforcement of academics and morality that is welcomed without being cloying. Although it is indeed a childrens book, it is written in a way that does not talk down. Alcott was unabashedly a rebel in her life and her writing has always reflected that intelligent and unique outlook.

It is perhaps too bad that Alcott got stuck with the stigma of being classified as a childrens author. In recent years some of her adult writing has come out - and it is quite beautifully rendered. Writing under the pseudonym AM Barnard, her writing in "A Modern Mephisopheles" demonstrates where her secret interest and passion would have gone.

In any event, Little Men is highly recommended. Clear the mind of expectations and just enjoy it for the lovely romp that it is. (less)

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Dec 30, 2011 MizziQ rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People making a point to read classics

Shelves: classic, i-own-it

This would have easily recieved 5 stars from me if it didn't waver so much. The author made a point in saying there was no certain direction for this story- but even so, I was really sad when there was no real "main character". At first it was pretty obvious it was Nat, but then it just went all over. I guess it's just a different style of writing. I still throughly enjoyed it. I read Little Women a long time ago but never realized there were sequels. The things you learn when you've got a cold....more

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May 02, 2011 Chelsea rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: absolute-favorite, childrens-classics, transcendental, own

Little Men is, technically, the sequel to Little Women and picks up a good numbers of years later, after Jo March and her husband, Professor Bhaer, as they start their school at Plumfield, the house that originally was owned by Jo’s Aunt March. The novel opens when Nat, a street-bound boy with an amazing ability to play the violin beautifully, shows up on Jo’s doorstep, and from then on out the story features a stable but large group of kids and their kind and guiding adult influences. The Bhaer...more Little Men is, technically, the sequel to Little Women and picks up a good numbers of years later, after Jo March and her husband, Professor Bhaer, as they start their school at Plumfield, the house that originally was owned by Jo’s Aunt March. The novel opens when Nat, a street-bound boy with an amazing ability to play the violin beautifully, shows up on Jo’s doorstep, and from then on out the story features a stable but large group of kids and their kind and guiding adult influences. The Bhaer’s host about ten boys in their school and two girls, and I have to say that, despite the fact that this book should be everything I hate, I can’t help but be in love with it!

First of all, there are a number of things about this book that I SHOULDN’T like: It’s highly, HIGHLY moralizing (as in, every time a small speech is made or a story is told, you can be damn sure that there is a moral behind it), it’s saccharin sweet, only a few of the main children are fully developed, and the writing style has the wonderfully early 19th-century aspect where, if you don’t catch the subject and verb right away, you’re going to be lost by the end of a VERY long sentence! But, even with all of these things, I LOVE this book!

Perhaps it’s because it’s a sequel to one of my top five favorite books of all time, and, even more than that, follows my favorite character out of said book (what tom-boyish, bookish little girl wouldn’t find a heroine in Jo March), or perhaps it’s because I liked so many of the morals that were being jammed down my throat on almost every page – morals on things like trusting yourself, believing in love, investing in the goodness of people, continuing to believe, having faith – all things that I find extremely important in addition to extremely true! It also has to be said that the morals are taught in some very interesting ways, through some really involved metaphors, that made it fun to learn the lesson, whether the learner by nine or ten (as the ones within the book) or much, much older than that (as the reader was, this particular time).

All in all, it has to be said that the book is worth reading, especially if you at all enjoyed Little Women (if you didn’t like Little Women, please, PLEASE don’t ever tell me that. We won’t be able to be friends anymore. I can deal with a lot, but not that). It wasn’t necessarily the best book I’ve ever read, but I didn’t end feeling at all disappointed, and in fact am rather looking forward to reading the last book in the ‘Little Women series’, Jo’s Boys, which follows the children of Little Men into their adult lives. It was a wonderful little book to bring me in to 2010, and be prepared – if you can get through this book without shedding a tear, you’re a far more stony person than I am
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Jan 23, 2011 Truly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Setelah mengenal para gadis yang paling dicintai dalam sastra Amerika, Meg, Jo,Amy dan Beth. Kita mengetahui kisah romantis mereka menuju gerbang pernikahan dalam Goodwives yang mengharu-biru. Maka dalam little man, kita akan melihat bagaimana Nona Jo March yang tomboi sekarang sudah menjadi Nyonya Jo Bhaer yang ceria. Bersama Profesor Bhaer suami terkasih, ia mengelola Sekolah Plumfield, sekolah khusus laki-laki . Awalnya Plumfield adalalah sebuah rumah tinggal yang diwarisinya dari sang Bibi M...more

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Apr 10, 2010 SailingByAshBreeze rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this book to be even more entertaining and heart-warming than Little Women (and I loved, loved, loved that book!). Little Women, of course, is a pre-requisite to Little Men. However, my 10 year old boy read Little Men first and still absolutely fell in love with the book and all the characters. Now, he is inspired to read Little Women (something he felt sure boys would not read)
My 13 year old girl read Jo's boys (sequel to Little Men)---loved it as well!

Here is my Little Men review I pos...more

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Jan 30, 2010 Venla Tuominen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who've read Little Women

Recommended to Venla by: Myself

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

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Oct 18, 2009 Jesse rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: on-our-bookshelf, american-lit, favorites, formative

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 (a...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 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-50-new-books-challenge

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 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 paths, allowi...more

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Jul 24, 2009 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 th...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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Feb 06, 2013 Rikke rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, childrens-books

I never realized there was a continuation of the stories and lives of my beloved March family. Therefore it was such a pleasant surprise to reunite with the dear characters once more.

"Little Men" follows Jo Bhaer and her husband in their quest to educate and raise young boys at their school. I was a little disappointed to find that the majority of the March family was forgotten and merely existed as a background story. But as the little women grew up, I guess it was time to focus on a new gener...more

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Nov 12, 2010 Heather Lapinsky rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First of all, the version I read was the free version from Project Gutenberg on iBooks. I'm not sure if it was just transcribed badly, but there were more than a few glaring spelling mistakes and a lot of funkiness with commas either being overused or being dropped completely. That really drives me insane.

As for the book itself... it was... cute?

It had me smiling often, while imagining the antics of the boys. And there were lots of occasions to get some morals wrapped up in a sweet package. I s...more

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Oct 03, 2008 JoAnn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008-books, classics, family-parenting

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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May 31, 2010 Christina Stind rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, fiction, kindle

After finishing Little Women, I dove straight into Little Men, the second volume of the series. Little Men continues some years after Little Women left of and details the life of Jo as she and her husband runs a school for young boys.
This is a charming book, almost as charming as Little Women but not quite. It also lacks the depth of the latter and reads more like a series of short stories detailing the lives of the boys attending the school.
I really liked Dan, the young wild boy who has experie...more

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Jul 30, 2012 MeLita rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-literature, fiction, light-reading

My favorite boys in this book are: Demi, Dan and Little Teddy (of course). The little philosopher Demi - His little wisdom, kindness, his brain and especially his affection to his twin sister, Daisy! Dan is just such a 'trump' as Jack said it! It's hard not to like him, his bravery, his love and affection, his loyalty! And cute little Teddy who is the baby not only for her mother, Jo, but for everybody!
And of course it's interesting to see how the characters in the "Little Women" becomes in this...more My favorite boys in this book are: Demi, Dan and Little Teddy (of course). The little philosopher Demi - His little wisdom, kindness, his brain and especially his affection to his twin sister, Daisy! Dan is just such a 'trump' as Jack said it! It's hard not to like him, his bravery, his love and affection, his loyalty! And cute little Teddy who is the baby not only for her mother, Jo, but for everybody!
And of course it's interesting to see how the characters in the "Little Women" becomes in this book, especially Jo, Mr.Bhaer and Laurie!

I find this book to be entertaining, full of joy! It gives me peace and serenity while reading it!
I am amazed how the writing of 150years ago still applicable in today's life! It shows that 'morality' never dies, it is applicable in all ages!

I envy the Plumfield school, and how it was ran. How Jo and Mr. Bhaer ran the school, "It's an odd school" as Mrs. Jo said it. Mrs. Jo and her husband, Mr.Bhaer, ran the school in a very different way. They ran it with faith in the children, giving the children as much freedom as they could give, and most importantly they raised the children with 'love and forgiveness', with 'love and acceptance' of who they are and what is store for each of them. How they could make the children happy with the little they had, and by using the natural environment to raise them and at the same time teaching them (gardening, museum of natural history, and so on).

I keep thinking how little they had, but how they used it well to benefit everybody and make everybody happy! And how the loves and hardwork can nurture all of them well enough. And then I think 'that won't be applicable in today's age at all!'. Nowadays, I think it's hard to make boys and girls as easily contented as that. Today we need 'computers, phones, tv' and all sorts of technology to make the little boys and girls happy. They won't be contented just to 'create stories' for each of them to tell, or 'create composition', or 'making new plays', we need more and more and more as technology grows and grows... so it will be hard to run a school like Plumfield if you are poor like Jo and her husband. But the moral and the truth from the book is so real, and it should be an example for raising children in all ages - love and affection, loyalty, cares, hard-work and diligence, truthfulness, faith, freedom, responsibility.

I think the best moral from this book for me is 'how simple their loves are, but how happy they are'. The simpler you are, the happier you can be! (less)

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Sep 21, 2010 Marilyn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book introduces an issue in each chapter and then wraps it up neatly with the corresponding moral by the end. My sis calls it a cute little preachy book. I liked the TJ ed theory made practice (fictional, but you feel like you know the characters and sense that their actions and reactions are plausible--true to my own experience of myself and others). I think the greatest thing I sense for myself after reading this book is how much I need to focus on treating my children and others as I hop...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Liss Capello rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've read this dozens of times at this point, but was in the mood for an adult rereading, and am not sorry I did. It's more interesting as a follow-up to Little Women (to see the adult dynamic at work between the main characters from that book) than it is as a story in its own right, because it's extremely episodic and there are rather too many characters to pay attention to and not enough structure to the story. How rambunctious, rebellious Jo March becomes the clever, wise, and sedate Mrs. Bha...more

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Jan 13, 2010 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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't huge chan...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Alana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-youth, classics, historical-fiction, in-a-series

Where Little Women focused on the exploits of four girls growing up in their home, Little Men takes its focus to young boys growing up in the home provided for them by Jo and her husband. Their passion and relaxed way of teaching the boys in a practical manner is touching and, from history, effective. They are never expected to act like women or to deny their male instincts, yet their natural abilities are molded and encouraged into gentlemanly behavior. They are allowed to be different from gir...more

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Jan 19, 2010 Deborah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 one of my favorite charcters (being a tomboy mys...more

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About Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 29, 1832. She and her three sisters, Anna, Elizabeth and May were educated by their father, philosopher/ teacher, Bronson Alcott and raised on the practical Christianity of their mother, Abigail May.

Louisa spent her childhood in Boston and in Concord, Massachusetts, where her days were enlightened by visits to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s...more Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 29, 1832. She and her three sisters, Anna, Elizabeth and May were educated by their father, philosopher/ teacher, Bronson Alcott and raised on the practical Christianity of their mother, Abigail May.

Louisa spent her childhood in Boston and in Concord, Massachusetts, where her days were enlightened by visits to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s library, excursions into nature with Henry David Thoreau and theatricals in the barn at Hillside (now Hawthorne’s "Wayside").

Like her character, Jo March in Little Women, young Louisa was a tomboy: "No boy could be my friend till I had beaten him in a race," she claimed, " and no girl if she refused to climb trees, leap fences...."

For Louisa, writing was an early passion. She had a rich imagination and often her stories became melodramas that she and her sisters would act out for friends. Louisa preferred to play the "lurid" parts in these plays, "the villains, ghosts, bandits, and disdainful queens."

At age 15, troubled by the poverty that plagued her family, she vowed: "I will do something by and by. Don’t care what, teach, sew, act, write, anything to help the family; and I’ll be rich and famous and happy before I die, see if I won’t!"

Confronting a society that offered little opportunity to women seeking employment, Louisa determined "...I will make a battering-ram of my head and make my way through this rough and tumble world." Whether as a teacher, seamstress, governess, or household servant, for many years Louisa did any work she could find.

Louisa’s career as an author began with poetry and short stories that appeared in popular magazines. In 1854, when she was 22, her first book Flower Fables was published. A milestone along her literary path was Hospital Sketches (1863) based on the letters she had written home from her post as a nurse in Washington, DC as a nurse during the Civil War.

When Louisa was 35 years old, her publisher Thomas Niles in Boston asked her to write "a book for girls." Little Women was written at Orchard House from May to July 1868. The novel is based on Louisa and her sisters’ coming of age and is set in Civil War New England. Jo March was the first American juvenile heroine to act from her own individuality; a living, breathing person rather than the idealized stereotype then prevalent in children’s fiction.

In all, Louisa published over 30 books and collections of stories. She died on March 6, 1888, only two days after her father, and is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord.(less)

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Quotes from Little Men

“Love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive.” — 96 people liked it

“Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us.” — 94 people liked it

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Little Men (Little Women #2)

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