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Little Women (Little Women #1/2)

by Louisa May Alcott

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 730,381 ratings · 10,370 reviews

Little Women is the delightful story of the four March girls and their approach towards womanhood.

Meg, the eldest and most beautiful, shrugs off her vanity and social ambition, discovering fulfillment in romantic love. Boyish Jo on the other hand, with her contempt of all "lovering", turns impetuously towards writing for solace. Gentle Beth rejects worldly interests, prefe...more

Paperback, 217 pages

Published 1994 by Penguin Books (first published 1868)

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Jan 09, 2013 Rory rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I hated this book.

I can't even begin to go into all the reasons I dislike this novel. It's dull and preachy through out most of it--aside from Jo who is a truly inspired character. But everyone else seems one note, most of the chapters come off as morality plays than solid scenes or plots. And just when Miss Alcott has something seemingly interesting she breaks it for no other reason than to do something.

Whether its the pairing of Amy and Laurie (huh?), the point made CONSTANTLY that Beth's life...more

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Oct 04, 2007 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile

Someone I know claimed this no longer has value, that she would never recommend it because it's saccharine, has a religious agenda, and sends a bad message to girls that they should all be little domestic homebodies. I say she's wrong on all counts. This is high on my reread list along with Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and a Tree Grows in Brooklyn--you could say that I'm pretty familiar with it.

Let's see--there's a heroine who not only writes, but is proud of the fact and makes a profit from...more Someone I know claimed this no longer has value, that she would never recommend it because it's saccharine, has a religious agenda, and sends a bad message to girls that they should all be little domestic homebodies. I say she's wrong on all counts. This is high on my reread list along with Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and a Tree Grows in Brooklyn--you could say that I'm pretty familiar with it.

Let's see--there's a heroine who not only writes, but is proud of the fact and makes a profit from it in a time that this was somewhat out-of-the-ordinary. Reading this, and especially knowing later that the main character is (for all practical purposes) Alcott herself, inspired me to write myself, and I haven't forgotten the writing lessons even today: don't let money cloud your vision, write for yourself first, take criticism, write what you know. Still wise even today. Also in this book, we see the perspective of a family coping with the financial and emotional strain of having a loved one away at war, something that is unfortunately all too relatable today. There's also (extraordinary in those times, common in ours)a platonic, though not uncomplicated, friendship between a man and a woman that is sort of a different kind of love story in a way and a powerful one at that. We see people getting married, but marriage is never portrayed as The Answer to Everything--many of the matches involve sacrifice and struggling. The girls, though good at heart, aren't a picture-perfect family of saints. They're flawed and human. The paragon Beth would seem the exception, but the message with her is more about how even the quietest among us can make an impact on the world--not parading her isolated life as an example, only her kindness.

I won't lie. Someone dies, there's a war and a father's away--so yes, God is mentioned: I think there's a few Pilgrim's Progress references in passing and there's some talk of faith at moments when the characters most need it. To contemporary readers, this may seem like a lot, but heavy-handed it is not. It was probably somewhat unusual for its time. The thought that everyone's relationship and perception of God could greatly vary, and that to be true to your religion was entirely non judgmental and meant being kind to other people and trying to make yourself better, not other people? The thought that each person must be allowed to deal with these feelings in their own time in their own way? Wacky stuff.

I admit it seems like a tough sell to today's kids, packaged in somewhat formal sounding-language, and bearing every indication of being literary broccoli, but this book is a classic for a reason. It might be a tough sell, but I don't think we should give up on trying to think of ways to do it anyway. What's inside still counts. Don't write it off.(less)

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Nov 28, 2008 Abigail rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone Who Reads...

Shelves: childrens-fiction, literature-classics, sweet-youth

Review Temporarily Removed.

27 likes · like · see review

May 28, 2008 Annalisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: teenagers: read this instead of Twilight

Shelves: book-club, classics, movies

I'm definitely a victim of modern society when I find this book slow. Had I read it in its day (or even as a youth) it would probably be fantastic, but as it is I'm finding the life lessons saturated in every chapter a little much, not sweet. Which brings me to Beth. Back in the day sweet, mild, submissive were prime female qualities. Now I look at the picture of her on the front cover with her empty eyes and blank stares and she looks sweet in a mentally challenged way. And Jo who is endearing...more

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May 08, 2008 Corrie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book begins:

"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents, grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

It's so dreadful to be poor! sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.

I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all, added little Amy, with an injured sniff.

We've got Father and Mother, and each other, said Beth contentedly from her corner."

There's an undercurrent of anger in this book and I think Louisa May Alcott would have gone much furthe...more

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Dec 16, 2008 Dottie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-ya, perennials, trgbc, 1001-read, own, 1944-1966, favorites

My copy of this is probably 55 years old -- I've probably read it at least twenty-five times. One of my all-time favorite books. One of my favorite authors ever. Yes, it is old-fashioned -- it was old-fashioned fifty-five years ago. But that is the point pretty much in my opinion. This is a story of times past, of a family which functioned in a particular way in a particular time. This is also a story of what one person in a family might have wished were so all of the time in the family but wasn...more

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Sep 11, 2007 Karschtl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children_teenie, classic, drama, movie, part_of_series, read-in-2002

I once did a short presentation on this book, the following text was part of it.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, which is now a part of Philadelphia, in 1832. But soon she moved with her family to the Boston-area, where she and her three sisters Anna, Elizabeth and May grew up. The four girls were educated by their father Bronson Alcott, who was a member of the New England Transcendentalists. Through him Louisa met other Transcendentalists like Theodore Parker, Henry David Thoreau and R...more I once did a short presentation on this book, the following text was part of it.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, which is now a part of Philadelphia, in 1832. But soon she moved with her family to the Boston-area, where she and her three sisters Anna, Elizabeth and May grew up. The four girls were educated by their father Bronson Alcott, who was a member of the New England Transcendentalists. Through him Louisa met other Transcendentalists like Theodore Parker, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Influenced by these great writers it is not surprising that Lousias greatest passion was writing. She had a rich imagination and often made up stories that she and her sisters act out for their parents or friends. She started her career as a serious author partly because she needed to earn some money to support the family who was not always wealthy. In the beginning, Louisa wrote poetry and short stories, later on the novels.

At the age of 35 her publisher asked her to write a novel for children. That’s how she wrote „Little Women“ where she describes the four March sisters coming of age in New England at the time of the Civil War. The father serves as a preacher in the war, the girls are left alone with their loving mother. The five women live in poverty but try to make the best of it.
The story is very autobiographical. Lousia resembles Jo, who is a tomboy only interested in literature. The eldest sister Anna was the model for Meg, who is pretty and rather vain about that. Elizabeth is portrayed as the gentle Beth, she is the quiet and shy one who enjoys playing the piano. The equivalent of the youngest sister May is Amy, the little girl that often wants to be the center of the attraction. You can see the similarities even in the names: Elizabeth and Beth; May and Amy. „Little Women“ was followed by several other novels about the March family, such as: Good Wives, Little Men and Jo’s Boys.

Especially children books always have a moral (or even more than one). Here for example in the second chapter, where the sisters give their Christmas breakfast to a hungry family and content themselves with bread and milk. They were really looking forward to this breakfast, because they are not rich and don't get all those good things regularly. But they saw that this other family was suffering a lot more. They are rewarded for this altruistic act on the same evening with a delicious dinner, donated by their neighbour who has heard of their generous gift. Only who gives something, gets something in return.(less)

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Jun 21, 2011 Martha added it · review of another edition

This book is so great. It has character's every girl could ever relate to. ( EX. From being a complete girly-girl or such a tomboy you demand being called the boy-ish version of your name ) This book represents so many different kinds if love and how they change over time; and how some, will last forever. I admit I cried through the story, but the way it was so raw and real. Simple perfection.

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Jan 03, 2010 April rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, bbc-s-the-big-read, classics, ereader, childrens, highly-recommended, mooched, ya

I'm sure everyone reading this has heard of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, be it through the various movie adaptations, school, or even through a children's illustrated classics edition. I can remember when I was little, my parents would often bring home Great Illustrated Classics after a visit to the super market. If we (my sisters and I) were good we would get to pick out a Great Illustrated Classics book for the week. Little Women was one of the first Great Illustrated Classics books we g...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

No wonder there's a children's version of this book. Most kids haven't experienced actual pain, and these characters obviously came from a bad fairytale. O gee, I'm awfully glad that you girls have become so happy in life. Too bad their lives are hardly realistic. O no! Their father's fighting in the war, AND they are poor. O my, how selfless! They gave food to an even poorer family. Everybody loves each other to death. They even have an artist and writer in the family. But some of the girls hav...more

15 likes · like · see review

Dec 26, 2008 Sarah Null rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american-as-apple-pie, classics, childrens, page-to-screen, page-to-stage

I first read this book nearly twenty years ago, and at that age I think I was far too young to really appreciate it.

Alcott wrote this as a response to a request for a "book for girls" which I think can explain much of the preachiness about morals and virtues. That Marmee is just so darned virtuous! I think it was also an outlet for Alcott's frustration with being constricted to the expectations and limitations of her gender in 19th century New England. At first I thought Jo's tomboyishness was g...more

14 likes · like · see review

Dec 13, 2011 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childhood-favourites, re-read, kindle

Reading this book again after an interval of some forty years was much like returning to a place known well in childhood, but not seen since. Memory distorts the landscape and the size and the shape of things contained within it. The place is both totally familiar and completely unknown at the same time.

Little Women is one of the first novels that I remember reading. I can still see the book – a red hardback with small print, the dust jacket long gone. It took me to a time and a place that was c...more
Reading this book again after an interval of some forty years was much like returning to a place known well in childhood, but not seen since. Memory distorts the landscape and the size and the shape of things contained within it. The place is both totally familiar and completely unknown at the same time.

Little Women is one of the first novels that I remember reading. I can still see the book – a red hardback with small print, the dust jacket long gone. It took me to a time and a place that was completely foreign to me. I knew nothing about 1860s Concord, Massachusetts, about the American Civil War, about what it would be like to have an absent clergyman father, about having to earn a living at a young age. Indeed, when I first read this book, all of the March sisters seemed very grown up to me. What I related to was not the specific circumstances of their lives, but being a girl, growing up, wanting something more than I had and not knowing what the future would bring. I read Little Women and its sequels several times between the ages of 9 and 14 and the experiences of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy became part of my life.

Re-reading the novel forty years on, the first thing I noticed was how very young the March girls are. The next thing I noticed was the pervasiveness of the moralising. Marmee is, of course, the chief proponent of right and proper behaviour, with every negative experience turned into a teaching moment. This was not something I noticed at all when I was a child, so the moral lessons worked either subliminally or not at all. Another thing I noticed was how time flew by, particularly in the second part of the book (that section which I knew previously as Good Wives). I also noticed the emphasis on gender roles. Even though Jo wants to be a writer and Amy an artist and both girls engage in those activities, the proper role for girls of being a good wife and a good mother is emphasised again and again. Given the period in which the novel was written this is not surprising, but it is not what I remember of the book from my childhood.

Coming back to Little Women after all of this time has reminded me what I loved about the book when as a child. It has also given me a different perspective on the novel. For example, I’ve spent forty years not liking Amy March ((view spoiler)). I don’t feel that way anymore. I used to think that Marmee was the ideal mother. Now I think that I would have been driven crazy if my mother had had a moral lesson for every occasion.

I’m very glad to have re-read this novel. I’m also glad to have done so as a buddy read with my friend Lynn. I don’t know that I would give the book four stars if it was not a childhood favourite, as there is no doubt that it is very dated. However, the fact that it has been a treasured literary experience for more than forty years keeps it firmly in four star territory.
(less)

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Feb 26, 2009 Antof9 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-read, americana, charming, fathers, faves, made-me-cry, made-me-think, re-read, women

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,...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Sylvia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-readers, challenge-2012, read-2012

I never read this book before. Although famous also in Holland under the title Onder Moeders Vleugels I never could set myself to read it, because it was recommended by my mother when I was about fourteen. She loved the book, because it resembled more or less her own familie - we were with three girls. I think she wanted us to take an example at Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy.
The book is full of doing your best, try to overcome your flaws and grow up as a lady. This kind of moralistic sermons didn't att...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Kat (Le Pauvre Cœur) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: school, classics

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Review, *cough*rant*cough* to be written. I will have an edited, clean version that I had to write for school as well as my ranty explicit version that I wrote for myself.

Clean School Version

Little women follows the life of four sisters growing up in the New England during the Civil War.
The diverse group of girls include timid, quiet Beth, selfish little Amy, pretty, sensible Meg, and tomboy bookworm Jo. They go through life confronting difficulties like poverty, loss, and grief, but also meet...more

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Apr 16, 2009 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, fiction, juvenile, young-adult, ebook-read, read-in-2009, frequently-re-read, ebook-owned, favorites

Caught the last 2/3 of the Winona Ryder version of the movie last night and had to read them all again. It has been long enough that I can't remember all of the details! It feels like visiting with old friends, so wonderful to just slip away into this wonderful family. It's remarkable that a book written over 140 years ago still feels so fresh and vibrant. I've also had a lot of fun reading it for the first time in the computer age. I've looked up several words already that I've been skipping ov...more

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Mar 24, 2008 Brandon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Heather Mills

Shelves: librivox

I couldn't help but imagine James Dobson smiling down upon me as I read this book, nodding and gently whispering, 'That's right, that's right,' and then exhorting me to give this book to my daughter to read, to which I would respond, 'Womenfolk don't read in my house. Learnin' leads to suffrage.' To which James would jump out of his chair and shout, 'THAT'S RIGHT, THAT'S RIGHT!'

I mean, it was charming in the way that those drawings at Lascaux are charming, but I'm not going to be preached to abo...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Linda Cee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

I love this book! There are only two writers that can make me cry and Louisa May Alcott is one of them, I can't help but draw comparisons to my own life when I read about Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy.
I have something in common with each of them so I guess that's why I get drawn into the story and literally can't put the book down despite the fact that I've known how it ends for the past 13 years (and multiple readings each year, makes it hard to forget even the tiniest details)

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Sep 28, 2008 Laurajsouthwick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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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Mar 27, 2009 Ayu Palar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Ayu by: Sherien

Shelves: favorites-ever, classics

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 re...more

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Aug 27, 2008 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who has sisters, or ever wished they did

This is another period piece that surprised me - or, rather, that made me surprise myself. Instead of being put off by the fact that the tone of this book is so clearly dictated by the era in which it was written, I found it really charming, and the characters are drawn in such a lovely way. Skip the movie versions; none of them do it justice.

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Feb 08, 2008 Jacqie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: all girls

I have read this book like 6 times!! And I still love it! One of the reasons I like it so much is because it shows the daily life of the 4 March sisters...it isn't a fairy tale book at all. I like reading about the events in the "old days" like the balls and parties that Meg and Jo went to. I think this is a must read for all girls!

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view all 405 comments

Amanda Hahaha; yeah. Yep, he HATES it.
I've been outside in the past year or so more than I have my whole life. lol j/k But I shoot hoops and stuff more. Bu...more
Apr 29, 2008 03:07pm

Matt bailey Yeah I am pretty good at sports I just don't feel like playing them as much as I use to in PE classes. But now a days I don't even care for sports I m...more
Apr 30, 2008 01:15pm

May 23, 2011 Anastasia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classici, usa

Nel progetto "un capitolo al giorno" è impossibile non affezionarsi alle sorelle March. Diciamocelo, c'è troppo moralismo in questo romanzo, però a lungo andare si fa l'abitudine.
Visto che è sempre meglio dire le cattive prima delle buone, parliamo proprio del moralismo di Piccole Donne.
In realtà non si potrebbe di certo criticare, le signorine di quei tempi dovevano comportarsi in un certo modo. Però che nervoso, eh! Più che altro con l'affare Jo, che deve per forza cambiare carattere. Ma io...more Nel progetto "un capitolo al giorno" è impossibile non affezionarsi alle sorelle March. Diciamocelo, c'è troppo moralismo in questo romanzo, però a lungo andare si fa l'abitudine.
Visto che è sempre meglio dire le cattive prima delle buone, parliamo proprio del moralismo di Piccole Donne.
In realtà non si potrebbe di certo criticare, le signorine di quei tempi dovevano comportarsi in un certo modo. Però che nervoso, eh! Più che altro con l'affare Jo, che deve per forza cambiare carattere. Ma io dico, è tanto male se è un po' maschiaccio? Che poi tanto maschiaccio a me non sembra. Si esprime in modo un po' gergale (vallo a vedere questo gergale), ha modi un po' bruschi etc. Certo, per la società di quel tempo sì. Era proprio un problema. Però..._. *impotenza*
Altre note negative non ce ne sono. Le ragazze sono molto care, tutte quante. Come dimenticare Beth, che spavento che mi sono presa verso la fine! Per un momento ho creduto che non ci fosse più niente da fare.
Al contrario di quanto si possa pensare dopo questa frase, Jo è la mia preferita. Sarà la sua passione per i libri, i suoi modi vivaci. Meg all'inizio mi stava antipatica, poi mi sono affezionata anche a lei. E comunque, se diceva di no a John montavo su tutte le furie. u_u Amy è buffa, davvero buffa. Non riesco a rimanere seria davanti ai suoi pavoneggiamenti e alle continua storpiature involontarie del suo vocabilario! Beth è semplicemente Beth, ed è tanto adorabile. Non si discute.
Mrs March sembra la morale in persona. :| Quando parla dice sempre qualcosa che illumina le sue ggggiòvani!
Laurie è proprio un bel personaggio, fra i miei preferiti del libro. Dopo Jo, naturalmente.

E' stato uno spasso vederle improvvisare un loro personale Circolo Pickwick! Acculturate queste donnette, molto, molto bene. u_u

Non dimenticherò facilmente le vicissitudini di questa bella famigliola, e mi sono già presa dalla libreria di famiglia il continuo, che metterò in coda per questa estate!

PS: e il rattismo continua. (less)

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Apr 01, 2009 bookczuk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, bookcrossing, worth-the-reread, thank-you-charleston-county-library

Random thoughts-- this was a re-read. I think I last read the book when I was 12. Funny how differently it was in memory than it is now. Still dear, but much more moralistic than I remember. Like a little book of lessons and fables. And I'd forgotten the language differences. When did "doesn't" come into acceptable parlance (or maybe when did "don't "stop being used as broadly as it is in this book. Took me aback for the first 100 or so pages to hear it used instead of didn't or doesn't).

I foun...more Random thoughts-- this was a re-read. I think I last read the book when I was 12. Funny how differently it was in memory than it is now. Still dear, but much more moralistic than I remember. Like a little book of lessons and fables. And I'd forgotten the language differences. When did "doesn't" come into acceptable parlance (or maybe when did "don't "stop being used as broadly as it is in this book. Took me aback for the first 100 or so pages to hear it used instead of didn't or doesn't).

I found myself both charmed and impatient with the story almost simultaneously, but ultimately charmed.

Also, I'm struck by the fact that the differences in the world between 1868 (when Little Women was published) and 1968 (when I originally read it) is not nearly as great as the difference in the world between 1968 and 2009. We are indeed speeding up and as a result losing a lot. It's a pity, too.

Things that charmed me: "Funny angels in hoods and mittens" when the girls bring their Christmas dinner to the Hummels, the post box set up between the two houses, Mr March teaching Demi the alphabet using his body to create the letters.

Things that made me roll my eyes: The foreshadowing of Beth's death and how long it actually took, Jo's initial aversion to Meg marrying that nice Mr Brooke, And the thickheadedness of Jo in terms of realizing how she felt about dear Mr Bhaer (who has become, in this re-read, my favorite character in the book, supplanting Jo.)

Interesting to note that in the interim between readings, I have seen several versions of this story in the movies, but that the one that "stuck" was the 1933 version with Katherine Hepburn as Jo. As a result it is her voice I hear in my head making all those Jo-isms and she's the one I picture in my mind's eye as the character. Sorry Winona. (was kind of astonished to see who else I'd blocked in that 1994 film).

All in all, I'm glad I revisited the story. I'm not so sure I'll do another re-read, but this one was worth it. (less)

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Nov 22, 2008 Christy added it · review of another edition

This is considered a classic for a reason. Aside from the occasional moralizing (or more than occasional), and from the "little women" domestic speak, this book is a gem of characters in miniature: vain Meg, slangy Jo, angelic (boring) Beth, temperamental Amy, not forgetting the rich and handsome "Laurence" boy. I still have not reconciled myself to the fact that Jo turns Laurie down, and although Jo's eventual mate, Prof Bhaer is dear and says "Prut!", I find refuge in the fact that he is old a...more

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Sep 22, 2012 ☯Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to ☯Emily by: Goodreads Classics

Shelves: classics, children-s-lit

It is interesting to reread a book that one loved as a child. As an adult, you get a different perspective which leads an opinion that is not the same as one had as a child. I did find the book preachy, which I did not remember as a child. This made the first half very difficult to get through. I did appreciate the love triangle and how that resolved itself. I enjoyed the early marriage difficulties of Meg and John and completely related to those chapters. However, I questioned Beth's death. Wha...more

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Oct 29, 2009 Emilie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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

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Mar 25, 2012 Ąйα ｼ ÇαԻեՅԻ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Ąйα ｼ by: teacher

Shelves: my-ebooks, authors-a, i-own, on-my-blog, 2012-reads

A great read! This book is a classic, and I think it is a beautiful coming of age story that tells the story of the March family. The four March girls are taught about kindness, charity, good deeds and the importance of family and friends, as they grow older they enrich their lives with love and growth in lieu of wealth.

The Author Louisa May Alcott prefaces Little Women with an excerpt from John Bunyan’s seventeenth-century work The Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegorical novel about leading a Christ...more A great read! This book is a classic, and I think it is a beautiful coming of age story that tells the story of the March family. The four March girls are taught about kindness, charity, good deeds and the importance of family and friends, as they grow older they enrich their lives with love and growth in lieu of wealth.

The Author Louisa May Alcott prefaces Little Women with an excerpt from John Bunyan’s seventeenth-century work The Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegorical novel about leading a Christian life.
This story begins with the March girls sitting in their living room. Marmee comes home with a letter from the girls’ father, who is serving in the Civil War. The letter inspires the girls to bear their burdens more cheerfully and not to complain about their poverty.

The girls have various adventures. Amy is caught trading limes at school. Jo refuses to let Amy go with her to the theater and as a result, Amy burns Jo’s manuscript, and Jo, in her anger, nearly lets Amy drown while ice skating. Meg goes to Annie Moffat’s party and allows the other girls to dress her up in high style. Meg learns that appearance is not everything.

The family receives a telegram saying that Mr. March is sick in the hospital in Washington, D.C. Mrs. March the girls mother, goes to tend to him. Beth becomes very sick, she contracts scarlet fever from the Hummel baby. Beth recovers, though not completely, and Mr. Brooke, Laurie’s tutor, falls in love with Meg, much to Jo’s dismay. Mr. Brooke and Meg are engaged.

Many years pass before Part Two begins. Meg marries and moves into a new home with Mr. Brooke. Meg struggles with the duties of keeping house, and gives birth to twins, Demi and Daisy. Amy goes to Paris. Jo thinks that Beth loves Laurie. Jo moves to New York so as to give Beth a chance to win his love. Jo meets Professor Bhaer. When Jo returns home, Laurie proposes, but she turns him down. Beth dies.
Amy and Laurie reunite in France, and they fall in love, marry and return home. Jo begins to hope that Professor Bhaer will come for her. He does, and they marry a year later. Amy and Laurie have a daughter named Beth. Jo inherits Plumfield, Aunt March’s house, and decides to turn it into a boarding school for boys. The novel ends with the family happily gathered together, each sister thankful for her blessings and for each other.”

This is the first time i've read this book and i loved it! This book shows the daily life of the 4 March sisters and their struggles.

A must-read!

(less)

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May 30, 2012 capobanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

La povera Beth è la povera Beth e non si tocca.

La dolce&saggia Meg è interessante quanto una scopa mop e ci sta che ce la ritroviamo a quarant’anni seduta in cucina, circondata da un branco di mocciosi in attesa dell’uscita dal forno della 1483esima torta di mele, che guarda Sentieri mentre tracanna una bottiglia di sambuca (ammenoché la saggia non abbia prevalso per tempo sulla dolce e non sia fuggita col nerboruto analfabeta della porta accanto per un futuro radioso di abbecedario&sessoselvaggio)....more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 08, 2012 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Emily Shepard
Historical Fiction
Little Women is based on an incredibly diverse group of sisters. The oldest being Meg, the tom-boy Joe, soft spoken and musically talented Beth and the youngest Amy. You see these characters living in 19th century Massachusetts, during the middle of a civil war. Times were hard then; money was tight and social class was a hot topic. Meg, was especially drawn to nice things and finding a husband, while Joe was busy writing and could care less if a man came along, Be...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 Women

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — 1,139 people liked it

“Your father, Jo. He never loses patience, never doubts or complains, but always hopes, and works and waits so cheerfully that one is ashamed to do otherwise before him.” — 664 people liked it

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