Louisa May Alcott - "Little Women"

     Long time, no blog, I know, but here is the latest edition, and it's hot off the press too!  I've just finished Louisa May Alcott's famous classic, "Little Women."  I read it when I was a kid, and have enjoyed the movie over and over so I figured it was time to revisit this much beloved book.  I don't even know if I can do this book justice here in my humble blog.  It's so good, and I'm afraid there's nothing I can say here that will express the greatness that is this story.  Seriously?!?!?! What does one write about "LITTLE WOMEN"??? I'll give it a go regardless...

     This lovely little gem tells the story of four sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March.  It is both written, and set in the 1860's during the Civil War.  The story starts in the winter while their father, Mr. March, is away doing his duty with the Union army as a chaplain, and the five March women (the four girls and their beloved mother, "Marmee") are home waiting for his return.  The family is suffering financial poverty, and the book tells of how they all learn to make do with what they do have.  The story begins when the girls are young, Meg is about 16, Jo 15, Beth 13, and Amy is 10 or so, and it follows their lives throughout their, "coming of age." 

    Each of the girls has their own passions that are explored throughout the length of the novel.  Meg is a very prim and proper young lady who longs to have a carefree life, and to be able to "live in the lap of luxury" as some of her wealthier friends do instead of have to work as a governess.  She's very conscious of others' view of her.  Jo is a tomboy who fancies herself a playwright, actress, "man of the house," adventurer, poet, and author.  Beth is quiet and caring; she's a homebody, the mother to a family of dolls, the care-taker of cats and their kittens, and a gentle domestic servant of the household.  Beth is the musician in the family; she loves to play her piano, and continually longs for new music to learn and play for the family.  Amy is a precocious little blond girl who wants to marry a wealthy man and be a gracious and elegant gentlewoman in the upper echelons of society as well as a great artist.

Little Women (Oxford World's Classics)

    The story tells of both the public and private lives of all of the characters, and I found myself getting attached to them all.  Each girl's story is about their own struggles they face as they experience the rites of passage one encounters on their journey to womanhood.  It's an interesting peep into what life was like for girls in that era.  So much has changed since then, some things for the better, and others...not so much. 

     There is a very strong "message of morality" woven throughout the book, and for the most part it is truly, "woven into" the story as opposed to being preached outright.  The girls all make decisions throughout their coming-if-age and are all experience the consequences.  These little women are encouraged to live rightly and to become good women. 

     As I said before, there's no way I can do justice to such an enduring classic, and I haven't really, so I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the past, and what it was like to live as a woman then.  As cliche as it may sound, reading this made me want to be a better person.  It contains a truly heartwarming tale, and I'm so glad I re-read it to refresh my memory.

     Enjoy the classics; they're "classic" for a reason ;)